One of my all-time favorite movies is a Netflix original
called The Fundamentals of Caring. It
is about an eighteen-year-old named Trevor with muscular dystrophy who
basically has no life at all and is perfectly content with the same routine every
day. That is, until, he gets a new caregiver named Ben who wants to get Trevor
off the couch and help him live a little. They have a very good relationship
because they have the same sense of humor and basically just make fun of each
other all the time. Ben finally suggests the two of them go on a road trip
while Trevor’s mom is on a business trip so he can get out of the house. It takes
quite a bit of persuasion and planning but he is eventually able to get them
both on board and they take off to see a bunch of the country’s lamest roadside
attractions, including the world’s biggest bovine (basically a cow..?) and the
final stop being the World’s deepest pit. It starts out as a pretty typical
road trip, complete with lots of silliness between the two: pulling pranks on
one another, trying slim jims for the first time, Trevor peeing on Ben while
attempting to go standing up, all the normal dude things. But like any classic road
trip movie, of course, things never end up going as planned. They pick up two
other people along the way that completely change the dynamic of the trip; one
being a 21 year old named Dot (Selena Gomez) who develops a budding romance
with Trevor, despite him never having talked to girls before, and the other a
pregnant woman whose car broke down on the way to her mom who goes by Peaches.
Long story short, they end up changing paths a little and going to see Trevor’s
dad who abandoned him and his mother at the age of three when he was diagnosed.
Yeah, that’s not a coincidence, and it turns out the guy is a huge ass just
like you’d think. In the end, they do get to see the world’s deepest pit and
each character learned a lot along the way about life and themselves, yada yada
yada… It doesn’t sound super interesting when you explain it, but it is very
funny in my opinion.
When I thought of how to turn this movie into a learning
experience, several ideas came to mind. You could definitely use it to teach
about muscular dystrophy and the characteristics of the disorder. There are
also a lot of psychological aspects of the movie, especially involving Ben’s
past and why he went into the caretaking business. But the best lesson you can
get from this movie I think is actually more of an inspirational one: all the
best things in life happen outside of your comfort zone. This is the underlying
message of the entire movie if you ask me. Of course a road trip is not out of
most people’s comfort zones, but for Trevor this was the scariest thing he’s
ever done. His whole life he has eaten the same food everyday, had the same
exact routine every day, and stayed in his house at all times of the day. When
you put yourself in his shoes and mindset, going on a road trip is one of the
biggest undertakings you could ever have, especially when considering the
severity of his disorder. It’s safe to say, however, that this trip included
the most exciting things that would happen in Trevor’s life and that he’d never
be the same after it. He got to eat something other than waffles and sausage,
got closure that allowed him to forget about his dad, and got his first kiss
with the girl of his dreams that he could barely even say two words to when the
trip started. The point to be emphasized here is how scared he was to leave his
house in the beginning. Trying new things takes a leap of faith sometimes and
is not always the most fun in the beginning, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t
go for them.
This might all sound very cliché and lame, but if Trevor
can go across the country with basically a bunch of randos having barely ever
left his house for eighteen years, then anything that is scary to the rest of
us should seem a little less overwhelming. At the very least, this movie shows
us that scary things are worth doing in the end.
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