"I'm Not Remarkable. And Neither Are You": Why Apple's New Disability Film Does not Resonate with Me

In short, I haven't watched the film. However, I absolutely agree with your opinion. "I'm not remarkable, and neither are you", does almost sound degrading. Your last line of "I'm remarkable because everyone else is" is a much more positive and non-degrading way of saying the same message.

Hi, I think the way you put this sums up my feelings in response to this promotion quite well. The whole way through viewing it and reading your post I thought why couldn't the line have been I'm remarkable and you are too; or we can all be remarkable together. Like many things in life this is nuanced and could have many facets for people. there's a train of thought that expresses pride in being blind. I've never felt pride in nor ashamed of being blind. For me it's just another part of who I am just as having opposable thumbs and pinky fingers are. All that to say I don't think any ill intent was meant but messaging is powerful and I found it somewhat troubling just as you did.

I don't mind when folks tell me I'm inspirational or whatever. I am. I inspire myself all the time. I like that about me, and my prayer (among others) for others is that inspiration fills their every day in every way. Smile.

I'm also inspired by others, especially those who can see. And why not? It's amazing what sight dependent people can accomplish despite their dependence on sight!

Joy, brothers and sisters!

Bruce

Michael: Very well written! I totally agree with you.

I'd go further in saying that though the video is good in principle, it's Apple virtue signalling to the world. There are many students who don't use Apple products, what about them?

Apple again is using the anvil of disability to beat out its shining armer. Disability or any type of marginalised people should never be used in this way. I hate the idea that people without disabilities are watching this and saying "good for Apple" or "good for those people" and coming away with the fuzzies and connection to Apple.

It's all rather shameless and a big fat grab for attention to prove just how "nice" and "good" Apple is.

Fact is, if you're going through university doing anything other than a humanities degree, even then it's pushing it. As a blind person, you're not using a Mac. I did an MA in creative writing and got a Mac for it and had to contort my workflow because, for whatever reason, Microsoft Word doesn't work on Mac very well at all. Yes, it might be Microsoft’s problem, it might be Apple’s though I do suspect it is the latter as VoiceOver is a decaying app.

Question was, who was this advert aimed at? Disabled people? Disabled people's parents? Or, and I know I sound very cynical... The general public whilst Apple does a lap of self-indulgent victory?

Also, stupid song. Doesn't make sense. May be a disabled composer but a bad song's a bad song.

And another thing... I'm on a real roll here... Grouping a bunch of disabled people together is stupid too. I've got no more in common with someone who is blind, or in a wheelchair, or deaf, than I do with anyone I've ever met with the same shoe size as myself. I hate the idea of sub-cultures made up of such groups... I completely understand they are a place to find support, to share experiences, but the world and people in such groups are missing out. Whacking a bunch of disabled people together only highlights their supposed commonality of being "other". Show me a promotional video where someone with a disability pops up in an unremarked way, not because they are disabled, but because they shockingly do something beyond the scope of their disability. The idea that disabled people do disabled things and are grouped with people with other disabilities is grotesque and damaging.

Okay, rant over.

Michael, thank you for your careful words. Mind, on the other hand, are less careful. So tired of labels, and badges, and... What is the collective noun for disabled people... Disability, to me, is not a commonality, the things that I've worked at, the things I love and cherish, my humour, my intelligence, are where I build bridges. I don't want to see any massive block of people... Where's the damn diversity here?

Hi Michael,
I have to agree, we are all remarkable in our own ways, well writen, amen!
Each person has a special gift, big or small, it does not matter, you are all valued.

The title of the video alone was enough to make me not care about it, and the general praise for it on the original thread actually caused the chilling effect on me because I tend to be rather dissonant when it comes to disability and clashing with lots of people, both disabled and not, as I try to strike a balance between self-advocation and fending for oneself which is not well regarded in our heavily polarized society.

Assuming that their intentions are good, stating that the disabled are not remarkable is quite counter-productive to our cause, because believing that we're helpless is already the default, so it's actually reinforcing that kind of preconception. Therefore I wouldn't consider interpretations of self-promotion at the expense of their disabled customers to be far fetched at all, because yes, this is essentially Apple telling the world that if we can even function in society, we owe that to their superior accessibility technology, and that is not even true.

I have avoided even watching this because that title, "I'm Not Remarkable", has been rubbing me the wrong way. I get what Apple is trying to do and it's good, but that wording... I may give this a watch after reading what you've had to say about it.

However, I can't help a bit of snark that pops into my head every time I see the title right now: I'm not remarkable, but I could be if I could still use my email and access this technology to its fullest capabilities without some of these long standing, fixable bugs! Some of us can use Apple products at higher speed and more efficiently than any sighted user, but we are being hampered by issues that are putting the lie to a film like this, at least right now. Maybe we can be unremarkable in our ease of access again soon.

I'm not a native English speaker, but the first time I heard the title, something felt off. So yeah, this is exactly what I had in mind. I really appreciate that we can all be critical about this, even though we love Apple.
Man, maybe instead of making movies, they should just release a special accessibility update or fix across the whole Apple ecosystem. That would be cool, right? With the amount of money they spent on the movie, they could easily do that. Good try, Apple, but it doesn’t mean much to me at least.

i appreciate the tone and the delicacy with which this article was written, and all the responses.
i kind of have the "pandora's box" feeling. just kind of wishing that they had never made this ad at all.

If i am not mistaken though, doesn't apple have a track record for making ads in bad taste?

Personally, I've never seen this Apple commercial, but from reading your review, it seems like I don't like it.

Especially the subtext that to get a good education, you need to use Apple products. The truth is, I hardly ever use Apple products in my studies. I only use my iPhone for communication or occasional work outside. Mostly, when I'm working seriously, I use Windows.

Apple does a good job on smartphones, but I find Windows easier to use on computers.

I only got to check out about half the song before it closed but I agree with the message. i'm not remarkable, i'm just me, just Brad.
Have and am I over coming challanges, yeah, but who isn't in life?

Reason being, the title. I just didn't like it, it rubbed me the wrong way.

Couldn't have put this better myself. Perhaps Apple should put their money and effort into fixing bugs in their software, rather than producing pointless films nobody asked for.

FYI, I am and the world is bless for it. Apple to get an education? Interesting. For work I use windows and it work for my work. Long live cats.

How I miss Stella Young who coined the expression "Inspirational Porn" for me the advert did not invoke any emotions but this post has surely diverse point of views and that is all good, all I ask of the community and want from the community is be Champion!

Thank you for sharing the link to the video and writing your POV Michael, much appreciated!.

I would recommend listening to the song lyrics again. specifically, listen to the last words in the song which is:

I’m only remarkable because everybody is.

When many people see us, all they see is the disability. No matter whether we do something remarkable or unremarkable, all they see is the disability. When they comment on how remarkable we are, they are frequently saying, "remarkable for a blind person."

You get up and get dressed by yourself in the morning. You are pretty remarkable for someone who is blind. You score top scores on your college entrance exams and you are remarkable for someone who has low vision.

it doesn't matter how little or great your accomplishment might be, others think it is remarkable because you have a disability. And people like us shouldn't be able to do any of those things.

But with the last lyric, the song's author lets the listener know we are remarkable, but not because of our disability, but because we are remarkable individuals.

I think the secondary message which is much less obvious is about how accessible technology allows us to change and overcome the inaccessibility of the world which allows us to find the full potential of our individual remarkable selves.

That doesn't really help, because independent blind life is life on hard mode, and most people, including myself back in my sighted days, have absolutely no clue of how hard it actually is for us. Therefore when people say that my ability to power through life humbles and inspires them, I truly believe that they are expressing a genuine opinion, because that's likely something that I would think about other blind people back in my sighted days, as I had absolutely no contact with the blind community whatsoever.

Most people waste their whole lives complaining about everything without ever putting any kind of investment into self-development, which is something that I've always done and has set me apart even back in my sighted days, and guess what, I was highly recognized as a result of that in my professional field. With this I'm not stating any kind of opposition to social services, regulations, or altruism, only that I think that people should strive to educate themselves in order to remain functional even in the absence of all those things. Therefore to me anyone who actually comes up with their own strategies to be considered a valuable asset in this world is truly remarkable due to being a statistical outlier, anyone who can provide value from an extremely disadvantaged position which is the case here is even more outstanding, and anyone who can outclass most people from a position of extreme disadvantage than most people with no disadvantage at all should be studied as a role model.

What I feel is wrong about that video, at least the way it's described, which I assume to be accurate because nobody is really contesting that, is that it diminishes all the effort employed by disabled people just to function in society, and may even come across as implying that the disabled cannot be remarkable. Even if stating the latter is not intended and even if it factually states the opposite, there's still a communication problem, because what matters is how the public perceives the work, not how the author intended the work to be perceived.

Well, when I first saw the video, I was shocked as well. A huge corporate behemoth, sending out a message for very tough to tackle subject, in a very risky, but yet catchy way.
May be it's cultural difference, but, I don't find the line offensive. I am not remarkable, neither are you. In a world where people find you impressive just because you can text without looking at screen or, order food without looking at screen, I feel tired of getting recognition for seemingly small day to day tasks. I am not a child. It's almost as though I expect them to expect even more from me. And why not. We do expect more from sighted people, we should have people expecting more from people with disability as well, that's how we grow.
In my mind, I didn't see it as message from a corporate behemoth. I looked at it from people with disability telling it to non-disabled people, we are not remarkable for our day to day functions, just as you wouldn't call yourself remarkable for those things. That's how it's depicted in video as well. I've even said it to people on their face, you wouldn't be praising the sighted guy next to me for ordering his food on his own, why praise me. My way of doing it is naturally different due to my disability, but, I think even you can understand that from first glance. It's different, it's not brilliant or remarkable. If you lived with my disability for more than 20 years, I assure you, you would be learning these alternative ways of doing things as well, perhaps doing them even better than me.
People ask me how you understand something talking more than 500 words per minute. I say, if you lived with your spouse for more than a decade, won't you understand her even when she mumbles to you something incomprehensible in her half sleep? That's how it is for me and my talking lady friend, Zoe.

In my mind, I didn't see it as message from a corporate behemoth. I looked at it from people with disability telling it to non-disabled people, we are not remarkable for our day to day functions, just as you wouldn't call yourself remarkable for those things. That's how it's depicted in video as well. I've even said it to people on their face, you wouldn't be praising the sighted guy next to me for ordering his food on his own, why praise me. My way of doing it is naturally different due to my disability, but, I think even you can understand that from first glance. It's different, it's not brilliant or remarkable. If you lived with my disability for more than 20 years, I assure you, you would be learning these alternative ways of doing things as well, perhaps doing them even better than me.

... and this is why I initially gave the video the praise that I did. Because I, too, saw it the way SeasonKing describes it above. Come at me if you must...

Well... I kind of smile to myself while reading your essay.

In my opinion, true inclusion will do away with pity/patronisation/special status. It is a deal. You get to be taken seriously, which also might mean you are being treated like everyone else. If that ever happens, it will be a great relief.

To me, the sentence you are disliking is a step in that direction. And I applaud Apple for being so progressive as to actually using it. It is true. I am not remarkable, and neither are you. First and foremost, we are human beings. Yes, we might have to deal with a lot of things others (sighted) epople don't have to. But that doesn't make us special. Everyone has to deal with their lives in some way or another. Getting rid of this "you are so cool" thing would be a wonderful achievement towards true inclusion.

I think that diminishing your own accomplishments is a form of self-sabotage. I believe that there's a reasonable amount of evidence supporting the possibility that if someone trains piano from a very young age, like 4, and never gives up on learning, by 20 they are very likely to have become a virtuoso and thus remarkable, not because the formula to get there isn't known, but because the amount of people who actually do it is quite small, so the remarkable part here is becoming a statistical outlier, which is also what happens when the disabled come up with strategies to push through life independently, as the fully able rarely if ever need to do anything like that.

Agree. If you are good you are good and let the world know. If others see you as a inspiration more power to them and you. Saying you are not remarkable is bring yourself down. Long live cats.

I think we all, each and every one of us, is remarkable. Some folks actually take their remarkability seriously and try to live their lives so that not only they themselves but others can benefit from a life lived with excellence as well. I know I personally find the exclammations of "You can really do that?!" when it comes to being blind highly annoying, & I understand that's what the lyrics mean. But I think anyone who tries to live a good life really is remarkable, because there are lots of others who could care less about whether their lives benefit others. But remarkability's not about disability per se. It's about caring for others and trying to make life better for everyone, whether that be across the street or across the globe. And yes--those who live remarkable lives usually vehemently deny it. So back full circle we come.

Wishing everyone blessings for the holiday season, whether or not you celebrate.

I love this article and all the comments - thank you.

However, I am in a quandary about the ad -- which has been forwarded to me 15 times already. Here's why. On the one hand, I have low vision and am having to learn how to live with that, and on the other, I am a tech marketer who's always loved the Apple brand.

So while I applaud the company for making the ad and what I believe it was trying to achieve, I do feel remarkable when I achieve things i used to take for granted - such as living another day after walking home in the dark. And, I believe that positive thinking is imperative.

In any case, the goal of the ad was to get attention, and it has certainly done that.

Is this disability film actually targeted at disabled people?

Good question, first time I heard about it here. Long live cats. PS, Bella thought me that I am remarkable and worth all the praising.

I think everyone here has made some really good points. Personally I think that the message has good intentions behind it, but at the same time I think it could have been worded better. I'm not remarkable does sound... not the best phrasing.

I've thought about this for a bit, and feel like responding to a commenter, because nobody seems to have tackled this.

"What I feel is wrong about that video, at least the way it's described, which I assume to be accurate because nobody is really contesting that, is that it diminishes all the effort employed by disabled people just to function in society, and may even come across as implying that the disabled cannot be remarkable. Even if stating the latter is not intended and even if it factually states the opposite, there's still a communication problem, because what matters is how the public perceives the work, not how the author intended the work to be perceived."

First, I acknowledge that this is a totally pointless response, if you're already convinced that even if you're factually wrong it doesn't matter because it's all about your perception, nothing I say really matters. That having been said, here are the two things that stood out to me from the video, keeping in mind I didn't read the transcript or get the audio description, because I don't care that much. But I mean, considering half the people here haven't even watched it, I feel like that's not really a problem.

The video opens with Voiceover reading an email or letter, saying that a student has been accepted to college/university. Then a bunch of people scream in excitement. The other place Voiceover speech shows up is in announcing that directions for an indoor route have been started.

It seems pretty clear to me that the point of the video is something like the following: Suppose we're in a college class. I'm listening, you're getting the lecture with sign language. You're not remarkable, because we're getting the exact same lecture, the same information, the same class. We're there for the same purpose, doing the exact same thing, it's just that one of us is listening, and the other is getting sign language.

Similarly, the remarkable part, the exciting part, is that a person got accepted to college. Sure, they're getting that information spoken to them. But they're getting the exact same information as somebody reading a letter/email. They're not doing anything remarkable, they're just getting that same information, they were accepted.

I'm not telling anybody how to feel about the video, you do you. I'm just saying, however badly you think they may have done at conveying this idea, this is the plain straightforward meaning of the video. Feel free to disagree because of course it's remarkable that we now have indoor GPS, essentially. Feel free to disagree because you hate the idea of anybody being unremarkable because we're all brightly shining stars bringing our unique light to the universe. I get it and kind of agree in some ways.

But no, the video isn't saying we can't be remarkable *because* we're disabled. It's saying that the fact that I can scan a letter and have the text spoken to me, for example, doesn't make me remarkable, or maybe that it shouldn't. I'm just getting into college and finding that out, like everybody else who gets into college and finds out that they've been accepted. Rather than focusing on the fact that I'm blind, in this case, you should be focusing on the fact that I'm somebody who just got into college, something quite a number of people can't do, for various reasons.

The video opens with Voiceover reading an email or letter, saying that a student has been accepted to college/university. Then a bunch of people scream in excitement. The other place Voiceover speech shows up is in announcing that directions for an indoor route have been started.

How often do people really scream in excitement about someone being accepted in college? To me that sounds exactly like the kind of behavior that the video intends to convey as wrong, because it just doesn't happen in reality, especially to sighted people. I did attend college math lessons in the past after going blind at Instituto Superior Técnico, considered the most prestigious engineering faculty here in Portugal, and to me the lessons themselves, which everyone else considers brutal in that specific faculty, were actually the easiest part of the whole thing for me, as pretty much nothing was accessible and I had to be really creative. Even basic stuff like college campus navigation and schedule were totally inaccessible, requiring implementing my own solutions on watchOS and iOS, asking teachers for the LaTeX source code of their worksheets, and searching for relevant materials online, all things that every other student took for granted and many would have considered insurmountable obstacles had they been in my position.

But no, the video isn't saying we can't be remarkable because we're disabled. It's saying that the fact that I can scan a letter and have the text spoken to me, for example, doesn't make me remarkable, or maybe that it shouldn't. I'm just getting into college and finding that out, like everybody else who gets into college and finds out that they've been accepted. Rather than focusing on the fact that I'm blind, in this case, you should be focusing on the fact that I'm somebody who just got into college, something quite a number of people can't do, for various reasons.

Totally valid reasons if you consider the example that I just gave above. While in theory accessibility should truly level the playing field, that's extremely far from being the case in practice, and I've been sighted most of my life so I know exactly what I'm saying here. We really do have it much harder than most people, and the fact that we can even function in society is already remarkable in itself, so I absolutely repudiate this kind of communication. Apple should be ashamed of themselves for diminishing our efforts when accessibility has factually always been a second-class citizen for them, especially on macOS where it's undeniably extremely neglected. Finally I have little doubt that the I'm not remarkable message does convey the idea that we aren't and can't be remarkable to the general public, even if that was not the intention, if nothing else then because it's expressed in the title which is the single most important feature in any kind of communication.

Be much better if was an email, saying, we went with someone else thanks and will keep you in mind. or email, from a lady saying sorry, found someone else. Long live cats. Hope you do not get one from the cat saying I am leaving.