Disability and the media: disability in films

In our two-part article about disability and the media, Trailblazers ambassador David Gale shares his thought on the representation of disability on the big screen.

Following my recent look at disability in music and how it is portrayed, I thought the next thing to do was to look at films; those that have either had lead characters with a disability or are about disability.

The most obvious place to start would be Oscar winning films, of which there have been quite a few. One of the most famous is My Left Foot, which was released in 1989 and starred Daniel Day Lewis as Christy Brown, a man who can only move his left foot due to cerebral palsy.

Over the course of his film and life, he becomes an accomplished writer and artist, all through the use of his left foot. Daniel Day Lewis is renowned for being a dedicated method actor, meaning that on set he remained in character all the time, spending long periods in a wheelchair, slouched in a paralysed state.  Such was his dedication to his role that it resulted in him breaking two ribs.

He also did his research by spending time at the Sandymount School and Clinic in Dublin, where he learnt a great deal about what his character would have gone through in real life. This for me must be the most successful film involving disability. But what other films are there?

Forest Gump is a famous example, where Tom Hanks plays a character with a developmental disability who, during his youth, uses callipers to walk. The story follows his life from school days to being in the Vietnam war.

The Vietnam war leads me onto my next film Born on the Fourth of July, which starred Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic, who had a spinal injury from his time serving in the Vietnam war. Key to the film is his work as a political activist against the treatment of severely injured war veterans. This is based on a true story and is a good portrayal of how someone who was able bodied has to come to terms with becoming paralysed.

Another famous example is Rain Man, starring Dustin Huffman and Tom Cruise, who play brothers. The film follows the estranged brothers as they begin building a relationship, strongly focusing on Tom’s attempts to accept his brother’s autism. Amongst this, Tom’s character, who is in need of cash, fast discovers he can use his brother’s talent to count cards in Black Jack cards. This film was highly praised for its portrayal of autism and won the Oscar for best film in 1989.

In the 1954’s Rear Window, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, James’ character, who uses a wheelchair, amuses himself by spying on his neighbours through some binoculars. This leads to them suspecting that one of the neighbours is a murderer. It’s a great suspense film.

These are all powerful movies, but can we, the everyday people with disabilities, relate to them?

Well, that brings me to a fairly recent film, the 2004 Inside I’m Dancing. The lead character, played by James MacAvo, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and ends up befriending a lad with cerebral palsy. The film revolves around two young men trying to pursue independence in defiance of the institutional living and society attitudes towards disability. This film got mixed reviews but I feel the message it tried to put across was a good one and showed that life isn’t all doom and gloom if you are disabled.

Disability isn’t something most people would think to be a good subject for comedy, but there are a couple of films which spring to mind. The Farrelly brothers in particular have had disabled characters in many of their films such as Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There’s Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene, Stuck on You  and The Ringer.

The Ringer, in particular, has a number of disabled characters in it. Johnny Knoxville plays a guy who hates his job and runs up a number of debts. So, as he is good at sports, he decides he will pretend to have a learning disability so he can enter the “special” Olympics and get people to bet on him. This idea sounds offensive and in bad taste, but as this film progresses it turns out the joke is on the him and is not at the expense of the disabled characters.

Most of the cast have learning disabilities and are portrayed in a good light, unlike a lot of films. It even features real-life disabled athletes. The Farrelly brothers have both been praised and criticised for their humorous use of disability. But usually in their films it is able-bodied characters that are depicted in a more negative light and the disabled characters as aspirational. One of the brothers is a long time volunteer with Best Buddies, a group that helps mentor people with intellectual disabilities.

Also a recent portrayal of disability is in the 2099 film Avatar. The protagonist, Corporal Jake Sully, is a disabled former marine on earth who is recruited in the place of his murdered twin brother to operate an Avatar. He overcomes any difficulties as a wheelchair user by spending more time in his avatar body on the moon of Pandora, where the native inhabitants are contacted through remote controlled human hybrids. This is one of the most recent uses of a disabled character in a big blockbuster that was the highest grossing film in American history.

The list of disability in films could go on and on. In fact, here are a few just to give you an idea:

Benny and Joon – 1993 mental illness

The Bone Collector – 1999 quadriplegia

Daredevil – 2003 visually impairment

The Elephant man – 1980 Proteus Syndrome

Girl, Interrupted – 1999 mental illness

The Horse Whisperer – 1998 amputation

I am Sam – 2001 learning difficulties

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Next – 1975 mental illness

Scent of a Woman – 1992 visually impaired

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – 1993 autism

But I want to leave you with one final thought. While your opinion on films featuring disability may be varied, I doubt many would contest that we would all like to see more disabled actors in blockbuster films.

By David Gale

Tell us about the films featuring disability that you find controversial, insensitive or brilliant by emailing us at editor@disabilityhorizons.com, messaging us on Facebook, tweeting us @DHorizons or leaving your comments below.