The Portrayal of Disability Through Film (Part 2)

With the arrival of Rain Man in 1987 “autism” was thrust upon the public consciousness and even became a household word. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise presented an emotionally moving picture for all the world to see of the extraordinary ability of some individuals who are caught up in the exploding phenomena of autism. Perhaps no other single film has had a more dramatic impact than Rain Man to expand the awareness of autism in the general public’s consciousness. The film was rightly awarded numerous Academy Awards and a whole new life was launched for Kim Peek, the savant whose life inspired the story of the film. Interestingly enough, Kim is much more complex than Raymond Babbitt in that Kim possesses some fifteen areas of encyclopedic expertise and is currently adding a sixteenth, music. Quoting from a recent “Scientific American” (December 2005) article by Dr. Darold A. Treffert and Dr. Daniel D. Christensen:

“The filming of Rain Man and the movie’s subsequent success proved to be a turning point in Kim’s life. Before then, he had been reclusive, retreating to is room when company came. Afterward, the confidence he gained from his contacts with the filmmakers, together with the celebrity provided by the movie’s success inspired him and his father, Fran Peek, to share Kim’s talents with many audiences. (In fact, Kim’s father says that Dustin Hoffman took him aside and said, “Kim belongs to the world; you must share him with the world.”) They became enthusiastic emissaries for people with disabilities, and over the years they have shared their story with more than 2.6 million people.” (p113)

Rain Man was by no means the first or the only film to portray some area of disability so that the public at large could gain a greater understanding of the complexity and at times the rewards to both the individual and the society of raising the consciousness of the public to be aware of the ever increasing segments of the population that often lie outside the “normal flow” of the activities of a culture. More and more persons with disabilities have taken their rightful place as members of a society that has for years either pretended they didn’t exist or denied public access to the benefits of society.

1983 saw the premiere of With Eyes Wide Open: The Life and Art of Richard Wawro. This documentary about one of the world’s foremost autistic savant artists (featured in “Scientific American, June 2002) received three international film awards and four national awards and continues even after twenty years to be in demand throughout the United States and Europe (see www.savantsyndrome.com and www.wawro.net for more information about Richard Wawro and other savant artists.)

Then in 1984 a stunning Australia film titled A Test of Love based on the acclaimed best seller, ANNIE’s COMING OUT, presented the true life story of Annie McDonald. From age three, Annie had been confined to an institution for the severely retarded. Annie, like Christi Brown (My Left Foot) and Bill Porter (Door to Door), has cerebral palsy, but unlike Christi and Bill, Annie had no supportive family and had to win at eighteen years of age through the courts her right to life outside the hospital warehouse for the severely mentally retarded. The film features many performances by actual “real-life patients from Australian rehabilitation centers including an amazing nine-year old Tina Arhondis as Annie.” After her release, Annie went on to receive her college degree.

While legislation has certainly played an important role, media, especially film, has had the most significant impact on changing the hearts and minds and actions of many people in our society. Often the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded its highest honors to films, actors, and directors whose stories have portrayed forms of disability.

In a penetrating and perceptive essay written several years ago for “Kaleidoscope Magazine, Diane Carson in “Hollywood’s ‘Handicap’” first calls Hollywood to task for its largely superficial and inadequate portrayal of disabilities. The essay does conclude, however, with a lengthy and affirmative evaluation of two foreign produced films: My Left Foot (1990), the story of Irish author and artist Christi Brown, and The Wedding Gift (1994). The author states that “with a clear-headed presentation of this remarkable man’s life, My Left Foot reminds us of the essential beauty of the human condition in all its manifestations and it does so form his point of view.” While certainly Hollywood may be found wanting by some in its production of quality films employing or depicting persons with disabilities, the Academy has not shied away from awarding many of its highest honors to just such films.

Two years before Rain Man (1988) and four years before My Left Foot, Marlee Matlin had received an Academy Award for her role as Sarah, a deaf-mute, in Children of a Lesser God (1986). Matlin, who is herself deaf, became the youngest actress to receive the Academy Award. Currently she has the leading role as a deaf photographer/explorer in the highly successful film What the Bleep Do We Know? And the sequel What the Bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole. Also some three years before My Left Foot, a very similar film, Gaby (1987) staring Liv Ullman and Academy Award winning support actress Norma Aleandro, made its debut. Gaby Brimmer, like Christi Brown, has severely limited movements with only her left foot, but because of her brilliant mind and supportive family and nurse, she became a college graduate and critically acclaimed author. Gaby is an equally sensitive portrayal of an extreme disability, but from a feminine point of view.

Then in 1998 appeared a film staring Elizabeth Shue, acclaimed actress and Academy Award nominee for her role in Leaving Las Vegas. Shue stars in Molly, the story of an autistic young woman. At first glance the film seems to be a cross between Charlie (based on short story “Flowers for Algernon”) and staring Academy Award winning Cliff Robertson and Rain Man. However, “Molly, the film, is a joyous celebration of the irrepressible human spirit,” wrote a reviewer. Molly, the character, has a younger brother whose comfortable, bachelor life-style is suddenly turned upside down when he is forced to take custody of his formerly institutionalized autistic sister. While the development of the relationship between these siblings is much more genuine and positive, all be it challenging, than that in Rain Man, Molly as a film never received the recognition or acclaim of the earlier film and disappeared very quickly from the big screen.

Several additional films dating back as early as 1962 that explore disability in one form or another certainly are worth noting and need to be explored in further detail in perhaps a different context. I mention them here because, taken as a whole, the total number of films produced over the past forty years is, to my mind, quite impressive. Each of the films deals with a slightly different form of disability:

The Miracle Worker (1962) blind/deaf

Charlie (1968) mental retardation

Dominick & Eugene (1988) mental retardation

Awakenings (1990) physical disability

Forrest Gump (1994) mental retardation

Nell (1994) language and social development

Shine (1996) mental illness

The Eighth Day (1997) Down’s syndrome

The Other Sister (1999) mental and social retardation

A Beautiful Mind (2002) mental illness

Radio (2004) mental retardation

Murderball (2005) physical disability

Rory O’Shea Was Here (2005) physical disability

While this article is by no means an exhaustive survey of the many fine films which have portrayed disability, it is intended to serve as a beginning point for further exploration and discovery in the quest for knowledge and understanding. In this article I hope to provide an ever broadening and deepening of our awareness of life along the spectrum of humanity. My intention is invite you to re-view some of these films discussed here so that you may be surprised and amazed by the wonderfully diverse people you will meet as you continue your journey into film.

I close this discussion of the portrayal of disability in film with an anonymous poem that was shared with me during the Hemisfilm International Film Festival in San Antonio many years ago. It continues to proved me with a compass for my life journey as I share the stories given to me through film.

PERSONS ARE GIFTS….WRAPPED!

Some are wrapped beautifully: they are very attractive when I first see them.

Some come in ordinary wrapping paper.

Others have been mishandled in the mail.

Once in a while there is a special delivery!

Some persons are gifts which are very loosely wrapped, not sealed.

Others are tightly wrapped, practically locked, enigmas really, almost forbidding.

But the wrapping is not the gift!

It is easy to make this mistake…

It’s very amusing when babies do it.

Sometimes the gift is very easy to open.

Sometimes I need others to help.

Is it because some are afraid?

Does it hurt to be known truly, honestly?

Maybe they have been opened before and thrown away, discarded?

Maybe such a gift isn’t for me, too good for me?

Maybe I’m not ready; I’m not open? I’m indifferent?

Maybe I don’t recognize the gift, that is is for me?

I am a person…

Therefore I am a gift, too.

A gift to myself first of all – God gave me to me!

Have I ever really looked inside the wrapping?

Perhaps I’ve never accepted the gift that I am?

Could it be that there is something else inside than what I think?

Could God’s gift be anything but good?

Maybe it needs polishing – to bring out its value, its natural lustre!

Maybe it’s unique – hasn’t found its essential worth?

And I am a gift to other persons!

Am I willing to be given to others? A man for others?

Do others have to be content with the wrappings?…

Never permitted to enjoy the true me?

Every meeting of persons is an exchange of gifts.

But a gift without a giver is not a gift…

It is a thing devoid of relationship to giver or receiver.

Friendship is a relationship between persons who see themselves as they truly are:

Both GIFTS OF GOD…

to each other…for others…truesiblings!

A friend is a gift, not just for me, but to others through me.

When I keep my friend – possess him – I destroy his “giftness.”

If I save his life for me, I lose it; if I lose it for others, I save it!

Persons are gifts,

Gifts received and gifts given – God’s BEST GIFTS on Earth!

Finally, if I have omitted any of your favorite films, I invite you, please, to write to me and share them with me. May the journey continue…

Related posts:

1. A Shift In Understanding