JOIN US Lance Armstrong won the most gruelling cycling race in the world, the Tour de France, no less than seven times after treatment for a cancer, which had spread to his lungs and brain. Oscar Pistorius has no legs; both were amputated when he was a baby. Nevertheless, he competes and wins, running with artificial legs against able-bodied athletes.
There are many people with disabilities who do not make headlines; yet they are heroes in their own way, for every day that they get through is a victory against the hardships that they face.
Here are some wonderful award-winning Hollywood movies, all about people with disabilities, which I hope you will have an opportunity to see.
Wait Until Dark is a 1967 black and white classic, featuring Audrey Hepburn playing the role of a blind woman. Left alone in her apartment, she has to defend herself against three criminals. In the climax of the movie which takes place at night, she smashes all the lights in the house so that nobody can see. The incredible suspense holds the audience at the edge of the seat all through the movie.
Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 movie about a young teacher at a school for the deaf, who falls in love with a deaf woman who works at the school. The couple experience difficulties, but they win against the odds.
Rainman is a 1988 movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. In the movie, Charlie and Raymond (‘Rainman’) are brothers who were separated at a very early age. Charlie discovers the existence of Raymond, an autist in a psychiatric hospital, only when his father dies. Charlie is angry because his father left most of his money to Raymond. The movie describes how Charlie’s anger towards Raymond gradually dissolves. This movie combines humour with a depth of emotion.
As Good As It Gets is a 1997 romantic comedy starring Jack Nicholson who plays the role of a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder. After complication upon complication, Nicholson eventually manages to win the heart of the woman whom he loves.
A Beautiful Mind (2001) is a serious, true story about the personal and professional life of an American mathematician who, despite suffering schizophrenia, overcomes the voices in his head and the abnormal beliefs that he holds to eventually win the Nobel Prize for Economics.
I hope that you will enjoy these famous movies as much as I did.
Those who are interested can log on to the following website:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23483061/MOVIES-ON-PEOPLE-WITH-DISABILITIES-by-Samuel-Baltazar-Batara.
Happy viewing!