Disability On Film

Best disabled character

Which disabled character do you most enjoy? Which had the most profound impact on you? Which is the most skilled portrayal of a disabled character? Pick your favorite disabled character and explain your criteria.

Re:Best disabled character

apulrang:

Which disabled character do you most enjoy? Which had the most profound impact on you? Which is the most skilled portrayal of a disabled character? Pick your favorite disabled character and explain your criteria.

I'd have to go with what might be one of the big icons of historical people with physical disabilities, The Elephant Man.  John Hurt's performance in the David Lynch film is certainly a classic.

Re:Best disabled character

Risselada:

apulrang:

Which disabled character do you most enjoy? Which had the most profound impact on you? Which is the most skilled portrayal of a disabled character? Pick your favorite disabled character and explain your criteria.

I'd have to go with what might be one of the big icons of historical people with physical disabilities, The Elephant Man.  John Hurt's performance in the David Lynch film is certainly a classic.

Kudos on that one... years since I saw it but it certainly is a memorable and moving performance.

Re:Best disabled character

Risselada:

apulrang:

Which disabled character do you most enjoy? Which had the most profound impact on you? Which is the most skilled portrayal of a disabled character? Pick your favorite disabled character and explain your criteria.

I'd have to go with what might be one of the big icons of historical people with physical disabilities, The Elephant Man.  John Hurt's performance in the David Lynch film is certainly a classic.

It has been so long since I saw Elephant Man that I don't retain any particular feelings about it. Gotta see it again!

Re:Best disabled character

I'm going to go with Sean Penn in I Am Sam.

While the ridiculing of his performance in Tropic Thunder was hilarious, I didn't think it should be a bad thing for an actor to accurately portray a person with disabilities. If anything such an actor should be lauded for helping movie watchers better understand the tough circumstances that can arise for such a person when they are taken advantage of. Most people simply aren't mature enough to handle such realities, which is unfortunate.

Re:Best disabled character

rjsprague:

I'm going to go with Sean Penn in I Am Sam.

While the ridiculing of his performance in Tropic Thunder was hilarious, I didn't think it should be a bad thing for an actor to accurately portray a person with disabilities. If anything such an actor should be lauded for helping movie watchers better understand the tough circumstances that can arise for such a person when they are taken advantage of. Most people simply aren't mature enough to handle such realities, which is unfortunate.

That's another one I need to see. Though, I have to say that my impression from clips I've seen and reviews I've read is that he film romanticizes the "Sam" character's pure wish to be a Dad, without adequately exploring the real challenges and how they could be solved. If I'm wrong about that, I'll be glad to see it in the actual film.

Re:Best disabled character

rjsprague:

I'm going to go with Sean Penn in I Am Sam.

While the ridiculing of his performance in Tropic Thunder was hilarious, I didn't think it should be a bad thing for an actor to accurately portray a person with disabilities. If anything such an actor should be lauded for helping movie watchers better understand the tough circumstances that can arise for such a person when they are taken advantage of. Most people simply aren't mature enough to handle such realities, which is unfortunate.

Wow I didn't know that Tropic Thunder ridiculed my least favorite movie of all time!  Now I have to see it.

Re:Best disabled character

apulrang:

rjsprague:

I'm going to go with Sean Penn in I Am Sam.

While the ridiculing of his performance in Tropic Thunder was hilarious, I didn't think it should be a bad thing for an actor to accurately portray a person with disabilities. If anything such an actor should be lauded for helping movie watchers better understand the tough circumstances that can arise for such a person when they are taken advantage of. Most people simply aren't mature enough to handle such realities, which is unfortunate.

That's another one I need to see. Though, I have to say that my impression from clips I've seen and reviews I've read is that he film romanticizes the "Sam" character's pure wish to be a Dad, without adequately exploring the real challenges and how they could be solved. If I'm wrong about that, I'll be glad to see it in the actual film.

You aren't wrong.  You are right.  And I Am Sam is my least favorite movie of all time.  Pure manipulation.

Re:Best disabled character

I'd give a nod to Jean-Dominique Bauby in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Certainly the most disabled of them all. The same thing happened to a friend of mine; I used to visit him 4 times a week. But he was worse that Bauby, in that he couldn't even blink in a consistent way.

Re:Best disabled character

Heh. I enjoyed Am I Sam, but I saw it years ago and maybe I just had different ideas at the time. I don't recall feeling manipulated, but everyone comes to films with their experiences and emotional baggage in tow.

Tropic Thunder was painfully hilarious. Robert Downey Jr.'s character has a somewhat lengthy monologue about a mentally impaired character that Ben Stiller's character played in one of the fictional films in Tropic Thunder, and he relates it to Sean Penn's performance in "I Am Sam".

I'm sure that if I watched "I Am Sam" now I'd probably hate it. I don't know why that is though.