Best and Most Beautiful Things

You gonna light this candle?

Don't you think lighting a candle

is kind of cliche?

What do you mean?

Everyone does that in movies.

"Concentrate on the candle.

Concentrate on the flame."

It's works. Really?

Have a candle.

I feel it's getting warmer. Is this my imagination?

No, honey. It's not... it's not lit.

I can't see anything.

I'll help you.

I'll talk you through it, OK?

- OK. - So here's the match... - Oh, OK.

And the matchbox comes with a striker on the side.

It... it's scary. Yeah.

You just do this like that and light on fire...

and harder.

I'm afraid of it.

Why are you afraid of it?

Because I'm afraid of fire.

Now hold on to the candle with the other hand,

almost there, and you'll see when it lights.

Up a little bit higher. Now just keep it right there.

Keep your... keep your match right there.

It'll light that on fire.

It's getting shorter and shorter.

Yeah. Good.

Good. See?

When can I blow it out?

Want to blow it out now?

Daria, on computer: I can't believe you're trying

to bribe me with singles.

Sweetie, it's not a bribe.

It's a deal. Honestly...

Oh, my God, did I really just say that?

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

I have the cutest, little pores, don't I?

You really do.

I wish I had pores like yours, Daria.

Michelle, voice-over: It's... it's a freaking genius show.

It's a show about outcasts that tells you

it's OK to be an outcast.

Michelle, voice-over: I've always felt

like I was not normal, like I did not fit in.

First of all, I am legally blind.

I cannot see your face from this distance at all

unless I'm literally almost nose to nose with you.

I forget that the camera's over here, not up there. Ha ha!

Oh, crap.

Michelle, voice-over: I have something called

Asperger syndrome, otherwise known

as high-functioning autism.

It's that I get very obsessed with things in my head,

and, um, like, it takes over my brain, basically.

I'm a little surprised, Daria.

That makes two of us.

I didn't figure you to believe

in all that mumbo-gumbo.

Gee...

I hope this won't lower your opinion of me.

Ha ha ha!

Michelle, voice-over: Basically, my childhood, it was mostly

things that were... quote, unquote... "normal"

for little girls to like, but I liked them in the extreme.

Hello, Mumsy. Hey, honey.

Um, smells like sandwiches.

Yeah. It's roast beef and salami...

Ooh, yummy.

And... yes, and tomatoes.

Michelle, voice-over: Nowadays, I feel like I need to have

some tangible success in my life.

What about, uh, banana peppers?

Top shelf on the right.

Oh.

Michelle, voice-over: When I get up in the morning,

pour myself a cup of coffee and think,

"OK. I'm going to work," and when I come home

in a evening, feel like I've...

you know, I've had a... you know, a long,

fulfilling day and I'm earning my money,

that... that feeling that all kids want,

which is to be an adult.

Woman, voice-over: Michelle was a very good baby.

She didn't cry a lot.

She did a lot of looking around, and we didn't...

we didn't know until she was 3 months old

that she even had a vision problem.

Michelle, voice-over: When I was in kindergarten,

my parents said, "If the kids laugh at you, just ignore them,"

and I was thinking, "Why would they laugh at me?"

Pick up the pace.

Well, this is an exciting day.

Huh huh!

What are you gonna do today?

I don't know, but I'm a little nervous.

You are? Yeah.

How are the first day of school?

Going back is a little nervous, isn't it?

Yeah...

especially in fifth grade because fifth grade...

Ha ha! Ha ha ha!

Michelle, voice-over: I was never popular in public school.

The kids'd literally be like, "Ew, there's Michelle.

We're gonna catch her disease," and then just, like, run away.

That was probably the worst,

um, because I couldn't see the faces people made,

but I could hear the words, and that... that hurt the most.

I wasn't angry at them.

I didn't want to go punch them,

but it felt like emptiness.

Woman, on computer: Hey, guys, it's Nik here,

and, as requested, I'll be doing...

Michelle, voice-over: When I'm on the computer,

I can see things, for the most part,

the way the sighted world see things,

and people talk to me online, a lot of times,

they don't even know that I'm blind,

and so I feel like it... it equalizes me,

but then when I leave the house and... and go out into the world,

it's not like that.

Hey, Mom, do you know what happened to my backpack?

No.

Ohh...

Ohh...

uh...

Ohh!

Uh, can't find it, like, at all.

Wonderful. I didn't... haven't gone anywhere.

I didn't left... left the house.

No. I don't see it anywhere.

Yeah. Yeah. I know.

Ohh...

You didn't go... No.

I didn't go anywhere for, like, a week.

I don't know what to do.

It isn't anywhere. It's just nowhere.

Ohh...

This is my life.

Oh, why are you guys still filming me?

I mean, there are less than 4 things

I could think of that could've happened.

And so what?

There it is. Oh, my God.

I found it, and I'm so sorry that I freaked out at you guys.

Michelle, voice-over: I want to see all aspects of life.

Just because I'm legally blind doesn't mean I have to miss out

on what the world has to offer.

This is Picture Day Abbey Bominable.

Abbey Bominable is the daughter of the Yeti,

and she's, like, my favorite character

because she's really blunt, plus she has a cool accent,

so 7, 6, and 4, then 4, then two.

Michelle, voice-over: I want to experience, you know, like,

working and... and romance and partying and all that stuff,

going to bars, going to museums.

20, 21, 22, 23... 23 dolls.

Yay. I'm in doll heaven.

Michelle, voice-over: I'm ready for the uncensored world...

you know what I mean?

Even the good, bad, and the ugly...

so I went and got a job,

uh, working for this woman

and a, um... a post office,

and every Wednesday and Friday, I would come in

and wash my hands and say, "What do you want me to do?"

and I would do it.

I would do it to the best of my abilities,

and sometimes I would get a little nervous

and a little bit, "Oh, I feel like I'm not doing this right."

I did all these little things, apparently.

Like, I made excuses when they said I did something wrong.

I freaked out.

I went into another room and cried,

and then I got fired from it.

That's basically my first job experience.

The really pathetic thing is that it wasn't even a real job.

It was training. I got fired during training.

Like, uh...

Julie, voice-over: The thought that Michelle had was,

"If I can get fired from that, where do I go from here?

What do I do now?"

Julie, voice-over: She certainly does feel

that the struggles and losses in her life

have, um, helped define her.

Each and every one of you has the talent

and the ability to create your own life.

Know yourself and know all the challenges you face

and don't put yourself on the sidelines.

Not everybody's gonna understand you

or see you as capable, or, in some cases,

they may even pity you, God forbid,

but you can't let that stop you from being

the most important person in your own world.

You know, all people are great in their dreams.

The point that I want for you guys

is to be important in your own life,

not just in your dreams, but in your real life,