- As the first animated film to star a character with Down syndrome, Freebird tells the coming-of-age story of Jon, a boy with Down Syndrome who learns to navigate the world with a loving mother, an absent father, a classroom bully, and a life-long crush. In just five minutes, we watch 45 years of his life flash by.
- Jon helps his elderly mother into her armchair and goes to make her tea in the kitchen. When he returns, his mother is asleep with an open photo album on her lap. Atop the photos is a note written on a napkin: You were right. He's perfect. In a flashback to the 1970s, Jon is an ultrasound on a screen. A beautiful woman is glowing. Her husband is overjoyed. Then the nurse hands the young couple a pamphlet entitled Institution. The husband can't handle raising a child with an intellectual disability. He walks away from his wife and unborn child. Despite the heartbreak caused by her ex-husband, she gives birth to a baby boy with Down syndrome named Jon. Fast forward several years, to when cute little Jon with thick-framed glasses. Jon's earliest years are marked by good and bad memories with his mother: burying a dead goldfish, washing dishes after dinner, getting ready for bedtime. Soon enough, though, it's time for Jon to go to school. School is not always easy for Jon. Bullies flick a green rubber band at the back of his head. At recess, Jon is fidgeting with the green rubber band. A girl with Down syndrome named Miranda approaches him with a big smile. She guides his hand towards her arm, offering herself the rubber band and turning it into a wristband. Now during class, bullies can flick all the wristbands they want at Jon. All his thoughts are on Miranda. He has a not-so-secret crush on her for several years. They're in their senior year of high school, and Jon's running for student president. His fliers say: "...are you DOWN?" Jon's many friends help him with the campaign. His biggest supporter, Miranda, holds a sign that says, "I'm Down." At graduation, Jon's at the side of the stage in a gown and cap. He waves at his teary-eyed mother. His mother then looks over to her left. A man she once knew is older and missing some hair, but it's him - Jon's father. He offers his ex-wife a sad smile. Jon walks up onto the stage and pauses. He then rips open the front of his gown to reveal a shirt with a Superman logo that says I'm Down. Everyone jumps to their feet to give Jon a standing ovation - everyone but Jon's father. His son's success in life overwhelms him. Jon is determined to make graduation even more special. He removes Miranda's green wristband and turns it into a wedding ring. While Jon and Miranda have the first dance at their wedding, Jon's Dad hands his mother a note written on a drink napkin: You were right. He's perfect. It's the present now, and forty-year-old Jon doesn't know what to make of the napkin. He shows it to Miranda. Neither of them knows where the note came from, but the message is clear. Jon lovingly wraps his sleeping mother in a blanket and turns off the light.—Alan B
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![Freebird (2021)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTFlYmVmNTUtOGE2Ni00NGZhLWJkZjQtYjU0NjJhMjA0YzVmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzk3NTA1OTU@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)