Board and Care (1980)

“Ricky” (Richard Goss) works with his dad “Briggs” (Sunshine Parker) whilst “Lila” (Laura Jean Ellis) lives in a care home. Both of these teenagers have Down’s Syndrome and when they meet at a town fair, they take a shine to each other. Social worker “Carolyn” (Luanda Anders) is sympathetic when “Lila” announces that she wants to abandon her plans to go to college, and instead stay here with her new beau - but ultimately controls all the information that the girl needs, and the real question is - does the facility really want the hassle of a loved-up couple? The two performances are engaging enough here, but I couldn’t quite decide if the point was to show that folks with DS ought to be treated just like ordinary citizens and left to make their own decisions or whether the somewhat condescending attitude of the authorities was supposed to reinforce a message that “Lila” lived in an atmosphere of responsible care? It’s clear from the conversations amongst his dad’s drinking buddies that “Ricky” isn’t considered capable of any sort of sexual relationship and so when he decides to walk the ten miles to meet his gal, a certain realisation dawns on his father - his is a different sort of care. Perhaps had it been longer and we had more chance to meet the kids, follow a few of their adventures and actually get to know them then this could have delivered better. As it it, though, it has nothing really to say beyond providing obvious proof that DS doesn’t stop you acting, being assertive or falling in love.