Roll 'Em | Seven Days

BURLINGTON — Last Friday 13 viewers rolled up to the Roxy to see Murderball, a rousing documentary about quadriplegic rugby players in wheelchairs. They weren’t there only to see the feel-good film, which is inspiring to the able-bodied as well as the disabled. They came en masse, courtesy of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, to make a statement: “There is a misconception in Vermont that people who have mobility issues don’t want to go out and enjoy shopping or a movie,” states the group’s press release. “It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s because we cannot get up a stair or maneuver a wheelchair through a store.” Murderball, says VCIL public relations director Ericka Reil, ” shows that even if your legs don’t want to work, you can still enjoy life. What better way to do that than go out to a movie with friends?” The statewide organization served about 1300 disabled Vermonters last year. The Roxy had room for one wheelchair, but, says Reil, “they delayed the movie an hour and took out a row of seats to accommodate us.”