I am always keenly aware of two things: what shows my children watch and how scoliosis is portrayed in media. Recently, I came across two shows that my family loves and happen to touch upon scoliosis in a beautiful way. It was a welcome surprise to see scoliosis featured on TV in this way and one that I hope will keep happening.
The first show beautifully featuring scoliosis is Mighty Ducks Game Changers (Season 1 Episode 5). I was raised in Minnesota and was living there when the original Mighty Ducks was filmed. When my boys were scrolling through Disney+ and came upon this new Mighty Ducks, I was all for watching this during family movie night at my house.
One of the girls on the hockey team, Lauren, reveals she had to wear a back brace in 3rd grade because of scoliosis. She was very body conscious, and as a gift, her dad gave her a cape to wear, to cover up the brace.
You see the two girls on the team talk about this, work through friendship issues, and eventually break through some emotional barriers together to be great friends. I hope all the teen girls with scoli my staff and I see (both at Spiral Spine and virtually around the world) watch this. I definitely not only give this one episode, but also all the episodes of Mighty Ducks Game Changers two thumbs up.
The second scoli media instance was on The Chosen (Season 2 Episode 3). Jordan Walker Ross, who plays Little James (one of the 12 apostles of Jesus), has severe scoliosis and cerebral palsy. By casting Jordan, a beautiful conversation happened between him and another apostle about why Jesus was healing so many people but hadn’t healed Little James.
I watched that conversation at least five times. It went like this:
-Little James kept saying people were believing in Jesus because He was healing them. In frustration, Little James wondered how many would believe in Jesus if He chose to not heal them.
-Another apostle asked Little James why Jesus hadn’t healed him.
-Little James says he’s grateful that he’d been chosen to follow Jesus despite of his bodily issues and has reservations about bringing up his issues to Jesus.
-The apostle he’s speaking to starts to laugh, pointing out that he’s pretty sure Jesus already knows Little James’ body struggles, and chose him in spite of that.
Oh, how many of us with scoliosis think that our spines are hidden from God and that we are struggling with this all by ourselves? Do you really think that the God of the universe is oblivious to the struggles you face with your body? Just because God has chosen to not miraculously heal your body and give you a straight spine doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you.
Actually, the opposite seems to be the case for me. On days when my spine hurts, I find the rest, peace, and love that the Lord gives me to be such a blessed gift. I’m forced to lie down, give my spine a break, breath, and be still. In that stillness is when I can so beautifully feel the presence of the Lord. I wonder if I wasn’t forced to pause in my busy life if I would voluntarily search out those blessed quiet moments with God.
I absolutely love The Chosen and would highly encourage you to watch not just this episode, but all of them.