The AOTA recently reviewed the movie, "Downsizing". In this movie, Matt Damon plays an occupational therapist. This movie just hit theaters in December so I have not gotten to see it yet; however, it is very exciting that occupational therapy is in the spotlight for the time being. In this movie, Damon describes OT as "more like physical therapy...my focus is preventing and treating work-related injuries- carpal tunnel, limb rehab, lower-back issues, stuff like that." While this description is partially correct-- those are things that an occupational therapist could work on-- he failed to mention the holistic approach, the various settings, and the many specialties or certifications that occupational therapy includes.
Another problem with the portrayal of occupational therapists in this movie is that at one point in the movie, Damon's character attempts to adjust a woman's prosthetic leg but ends up breaking it. The writers of this movie probably did not mean to do this, but this is what the audience will see (some of whom have never heard of occupational therapy before) and will think that all occupational therapists are careless and typically break prosthetic equipment. This movie's portrayal of occupational therapy is both good and bad. On the bright side, at least occupational therapy was mentioned in Hollywood and maybe that will increase people's knowledge of OT. On the other hand, the portrayal was not complete and did not truly showcase the profession in its best light.
