The 1989 film My Left Foot stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown, an Irishman born in 1932. One of 13 surviving children, Brown’s Cerebral Palsy left him without the use of his limbs except for his left foot. He was considered mentally disabled until he famously snatched a piece of chalk from his sibling using his foot.
The trailer for My Left Foot highlighted a scene in which Brown is on the ground during a soccer match, in front of a goal, using his head to stop a ball that an opponent is kicking, repeatedly. While this type of marketing effort might have prepared viewers for a flick full of disability potential, the clichés delivered ended up centering more on Irish culture than disability culture.
For instance, Christy is painfully poor, often deprived of essentials, but is also quite determined. The first word he writes with his foot is “mother” and his earnings from the sale of a painting far exceed his father’s income.
Artist with a Disability
What’s much more poignant and far more relevant are scenes such as the one of Christy’s first art showing when his dealer declares that “He is not a great crippled painter but a great painter.” In another scene, during a speech delivered in his honor, Christy rolls his eyes when the orator describes him as “quite the bravest man I’ve ever known.”
Many people believed that the part of Brown should have been played by an actor with Cerebral Palsy. Instead, Day-Lewis was chosen and, before filming began, he spent time studying the movements of people in wheelchairs and learned to mimic them. He also learned how to paint with his foot. Reports indicated that the method actor stayed in character on set even when the cameras were not rolling. Day-Lewis won a best actor Oscar in 1989 for his performance.
Still, some critics claim that My Left Foot’s success was based on a largely able-bodied audience’s acceptance of Brown as a person with a disability who was willing to take the help of the medical profession to improve his situation. In the movie, Fiona Shaw plays Doctor Cole, who helps Brown to the point where he can be understood when he talks, which in turn enables him to become first a painter and then a writer. Throughout this journey, Brown seemingly strives for “normality”—he wants a loving wife, a family, and a home.
The film ends with Brown's marriage in 1972. It does not go on to reveal that Brown choked to death at the age of 49.
