The recently released Me Before You follows Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a once successful businessman whose life is drastically changed when he is paralyzed from the neck down. His wealthy parents hire bubbly caregiver, Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke). The unlikely pair eventually fall in love and Louisa attempts to make a pessimistic Will see the positive side of life, even in a wheelchair.

Me Before You ends with Will deciding to end his life. Despite the wealth he possesses and his girlfriend who loves him, he decides that a life while disabled is not a life.

Even though the plot is deeply problematic because of the portrayal of Will, the marketing of Me Before You is even more troubling. The tag line that was used to advertise the movie was “live boldly.” After watching the movie, it was clear that “living boldly” is for able bodied people. When a disabled character is euthanized and  is marketed with “live boldly”, filmmakers are exclusively talking about able bodied people. The movie portrays disabled people as merely catalysts for able bodied people. Yes, “live boldly” is a great message but, it is deeply hurtful when “live boldly” excludes the entire disabled community.

The movie is yet another reminder for disabled people that life is not worth living. Despite Will’s loved ones initially urging him against euthanasia, they eventually agree because his life, while disabled, is not worth living. In no other genre of film could the normalization of death be so prevalent. From Million Dollar Baby where a ‘mercy’ killing of a person with disabilities is painted as justified to the continued use of slurs targeting people with disabilities in the media, the disabled community is constantly told that they don’t matter.

“When artists create works about minorities with little research or attempt to  understand the lived experience, they should expect questions about representation,” Alice Wong, founder and project coordinator of the Disability Visibility Project, said.

Me Before You is not just another romantic movie, it is a reminder of the discrimination that plagues people with disabilities.

It is time for narratives involving people with disabilities to be respectful in their portrayals and it is time for people with disabilities to be played by actors with disabilities. It is time that the media recognizes that people with disabilities are people.