"Me Before You" is a love story about a woman who falls in love with a paralyzed man while being his caretaker. However, there's a tragic twist: he decides to kill himself through assisted suicide. As most of my readers know, I was involved in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. Although I was more fortunate than the male lead, I completely relate to all of the painful feelings and struggles he endures throughout the movie.
You don't see a lot of disabled characters in the media these days. Even though there are over 2 million people using wheelchairs in America, we are rarely portrayed in a lead role. Before my accident, I saw people in wheelchairs the same way most people do — and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have to live that way. Watching "Me Before You" as a handicapped person made me more infuriated than I would like to admit.
At one point, Will says: "This could be a good life, but it's not my life, it's not even close. You never saw me before. I loved my life. I really loved it. I can't be the kind of man who just accepts this."
Being in a wheelchair sucks... Really badly, trust me. I can't say that I don't feel the same way majority of the time. I'm angry because of the events which follow and what they express to the rest of the world.
Our lives aren't over just because we can't walk or run or do most of the things we want to do so badly. Choosing to let Will off himself was a very selfish and one-sided decision by the author of the original book. Don't even get me started on the fact that the man playing Will can walk!
My life is so much different than it was before, but that does not give me an excuse not to live up to my full potential. Being disabled is so much harder than people will ever realize and there are days when I don't want to get out of bed in the morning or go on anymore... But I do it anyway. This movie makes it seem that death is a greater alternative to being disabled, which was a massive discouragement to me. 
Every single person faces challenges. Being in a wheelchair happens to be mine. I refuse to let anyone or anything make me feel like I am unworthy of deserving the best possible life for myself. It is a great disappointment that others will not see it this way due to an insensitive movie plot generated only to make money, regardless of how it affects anyone else.
