Fables - Forest Gump and the 'New Disability'
Reprinted from Interaction, Vol.9 Issue 2, 1995, National Council on Intellectual Disability, Australia. Simple is the description used for the Forest Gump character in the popular film starring Tom Hanks, but Gump's below average IQ does not keep him from realising the American Dream of success. "Gumption" is a term used in the Southern United States to describe a special tenacity of character, a person who survives life's tribulations with courage, ingenuity and integrity. Gump was born with "gumption." Transformed into a sporting and military hero, Gump meets successive presidents, achieves great wealth, gains recognition on the cover of national magazines and marries if albeit too late, the girl of his dreams. But does Forest Gump suffer from an intellectual disability? Well yes, but this is a minor inconvenience. Early in the movie, a young, crippled Gump magically sheds his leg supports and physical disability, and thus begins his exceptional run to fame and fortune, even though his intellectual capacity doesn't increase. His lack of intellect does not diminish the character's grasp of spiritual and emotional truth. He is in short "not the full quid," but it really doesn't matter. Gump is the latest entry into literature's and cinema's holy fools suffering from a range of intellectual and physical disabilities. Charles Laughton's performance remains outstanding as the misunderstood and misshapen Quasimodo, in one of the numerous screen adaptations of Victor Hugo's, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men adapted twice to the screen, contains a sympathetic portrait of Lennie, a man with an intellectual disability, who has no comprehension of the complexities of the world around him and the consequences of his actions. Gelsamina in Fellini's La Strada (1954) is "simple," faithful, and loving but in return is emotionally abused. Silent and slightly sinister, Boo Radley appears fleetingly in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and Peter Sellers, saintly character, Chance, walks on water in Being There (1979). In Laurel and Hardy, the slapstick comedy team, Stan Laurel or "Olly" also plays "the innocent" operating in the named world where goodness and good intentions are pitted against stupidity, cynicism and a general wickedness. Harpo, the voiceless clown of the Marx Brothers, uses his disability as a device to comically deflate the pretensions of those around him. Movie critic Richard Corliss describes this as a "the familiar movie moral that wounded creatures are powerful ones, with powerful lessons to teach those who would presume to educate them." Is the Gump legend simply a reworking of a familiar film formula or are we witnessing the rise of another social affliction, the "new disability"? His rise from rags to riches extols the view that disability should be understood as "difference," possibly eccentricity, but emphasis should be on the person's individual ability not on their "handicap." This is a term now out of fashion for its negative connotation along with "idiot," "moron," "geek," "dunce," "mental defective," "freak," "imbecile," "backward," "slow," "simpleton," and "retard". Does Gump's story of exceptional achievement reflect changing and more progressive attitudes towards disability or rather, is it about a mythical new disability, which really only exists in the preconceptions of others, and can be self supporting without institutional care or government support? Hollywood is no stranger to intellectual or physical disability. Tod Browning directed the unsavoury horror film, Freaks (1932) where individuals with severe physical disabilities appear as performers in a travelling "freak" show. The ending is frighteningly surreal as the performers seek revenge by physically mutilating the villain so that she becomes another, so called, "freak." Now considered to be voyeuristic and the "pornography of disability," travelling "freak" shows have virtually disappeared. The Wizard of Oz (1939) is so familiar that we often forget that Munchkinland is populated by dozens of performers who are "small people." Hollywood began to take a less fantastic approach to disability with semi-documentary style films like A Child is Waiting (1960) with Judy Garland cast as a teacher for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. The supporting cast included people with disabilities who attended the California Institution where it was filmed. Characters with a disability offer a good opportunity to gain the Oscar-winning approval of peers. Forest Gump had thirteen Oscar nominations. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for Rain Man (1989) with his portrayal of an autistic savant who had an exceptional ability to do mathematical equations and win effortlessly at poker. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke Austin won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards for their performances in The Miracle Worker (1962) based on the true story of Helen Keller, deaf and mute after a childhood illness, who later achieved great academic standing to become famous world-wide. Cliff Robinson in Charley (1968) won an Oscar for his portrayal of a man with an intellectual disability and in Ryan's Daughter (1970) John Mills won an Oscar for his performance as the town "simpleton." Children of a Lesser God (1986) won Marlee Matlin, who is deaf, an Academy Award for best actress. Disability is more palatable and inclined to win Oscars when it is a symbol for something else-the dangers of science, the pursuit of excellence, success in the face of great odds, or a political satire. Are these performances outstanding because as Director Stanley Kubrick said, "If you can talk brilliantly about a problem, it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered." And do we feel more comfortable viewing these performances of disability because we are assured that when filming is over most of these individuals, who are not suffering from a disability, can return to a normal, existence in the next film. Individuals who have children, friends or relatives with intellectual disabilities often comment that one of the hardest adjustments can be the acceptance that there will never be certain changes in these individual's lives. They will never in many cases, as we understand it, grow up to leave home, find jobs and have families. It is also no coincidence that many of the characters, stories are ones of exceptional achievement or extraordinary events. In Rain Man, we discover that the Dustin Hoffman's character is a mathematical genius. Hoffman spent over a year researching his character by visiting institutions and studying people with intellectual disability. In Nadia Tass and David Parker's Malcolm (1986), the central character is "simple" but also an engineering genius, and creates a series of wacky inventions that help pull off a robbery. Cliff Robinson's character in Charley plays a character with an IQ so low that he can't write his own name and undergoes an experimental operation to increase his intellect with spectacular success. In Lucky Day (1991), a girl with an intellectual disability wins two million dollars in a lottery and is suddenly the centre of her relatives, attention. And now we are introduced to the "good ole" boy Forest Gump who is an outstanding talented athlete and will play an outstanding role in American history, by accident. Physical disability and deformity has always fascinated filmmakers, actors and audiences. Lon Chaney known as "the man of a thousand faces," starred in silent versions of the Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). Chaney wore elaborate and painful disguises to create an illusion of disability and disfigurement. His skill was so great that it was celebrated in a joke of the period, "don't step on that spider, it might be Lon Chaney." Mary Shelley's 19th century tale of Frankenstein is frequently recycled in the cinema, and her creation of the doomed child-man, with a terrifying physical appearance, has provided inspiration for horror films ever since. Artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who was physically disabled from a series of accidents as a young child was the subject of Moulin Rouge (1952). David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980) told the remarkable story of David Merrick who was severely physically deformed, discovered in a travelling circus and was rescued by a compassionate Doctor. Mask (1985) is based on a real story of a boy named Rusty who suffered from a rare terminal illness which enlarged his head and one critic described it similar to "a twentieth century Elephant Man." In an increasingly familiar reversal society is at the greatest disadvantage for its inability to accept people with physical and other disabilities. But attitudes have progressed. In the previous century, Merrick was hidden from the public behind layers of tent-like clothing, while Rusty moves through his life without a disguise. Rusty apparently could take clever advantage of his disability and on Halloween he used his startling appearance as a way of getting more candy. Disability and war continue to offer a powerful subject for filmmakers with a social conscience. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) starred Dana Andrews, Frederick March and Harold Russell, who had lost both of his hands in an explosion in WW2. Russell, who had appeared in only one previous documentary film, plays the role of a disabled returned veteran with such touching honesty that fiction and fact become inseparable. His genuine disability became the outward and painful symbol of all those returning WW2 soldiers trying to readjust to civilian life. Russell's moving performance earned two Academy Awards. The Men, starring Marlon Brando as a war veteran who had lost the use of his legs, was filmed in a rehabilitation hospital for veterans. Brando prepared for his role by living in the hospital for a month and moving around in a wheelchair to accustom himself to paraplegia. A story is told where Brando and a group of men in wheelchairs were drinking in a bar when an evangelistic woman exhorted them to accept religion, promising that his newly acquired faith would enable them to walk. In an outstanding performance, Brando slowly stood and stiffly walked across the room to the explosive hilarity of the other men. The shocked woman fainted. More recent films have explored the emotional, physical and social adjustments of disabled veterans from the Vietnam War. A premier of Coming Home (1975), starring Jon Voight and Jane Fonda, was the scene of staged protests by people in wheelchairs chaining themselves to the cinema building. Ironically, the theatre's long flights of stairs was not accessible to those in wheelchairs. Born on the 4th of July (1990), the story of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic's progress to become one of America's leading anti-war demonstrators had its pacifist message dismissed by one critic when it was called just "another wheelchair story." Sexuality and physical and intellectual disability still remains an uncomfortable subject for many filmmakers. Tim (1979) was extremely progressive, if unlikely, with a story of a friendship that progressed to love and marriage between an older woman and a handsome, intellectually disabled young man played by Mel Gibson. In Being There, Peter Sellers, character, unaware of its sexual meaning, passionately embraces a woman and mimes a kissing scene from television. In My Left Foot (1989) based on the true story of Irish writer and painter Christy Brown, Daniel Day-Lewis, in a remarkable Oscar winning performance, shows the frustration and thwarted passion of Brown as he struggles to be taken seriously as an artist and as a man and the discomfort of those around him as he fights for recognition of his needs and desires. The Forest Gump fairy-tale character is emotionally and physically monogamous while waiting for his childhood sweetheart to take him in her arms. As a college student, she unsuccessfully tries to introduce him to sex. Eventually he accepts the offer and a child is produced as the result of one sexual union. Later, we assume, that her AIDS will interfere with any other sexual advances hence providing a romantic resolution to a potentially messy plot point because Gump and the girl get married. The Waterdance (1994), based on a true story, explores the emotional difficulties, frustrations and physical and sexual adjustments for one character who has become a paraplegic after a climbing accident. This film offers little reassurance that the central character will necessarily, if ever, seek to have a physical relationship with a woman again. For many people with intellectual or physical disabilities, their sexuality is not necessarily diminished because of their disability, nor is it childlike in expression. Very few films realistically convey the complex effect of an individual's disability on families or friends. The film, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1971) painfully reveals the ambivalence and suppressed rage individuals can feel when facing a lifetime of supporting a child with a major disability. Based on a true story Bill (1981) describes the unlikely friendship that develops between a filmmaker and a man who lived for 44 years in a mental institution. Mickey Rooney's performance has a simplicity and humility which movingly expresses the hopes and vulnerabilities of a man living with an intellectual disability. The film ends on a very positive note showing that Bill, with an acceptance and love, can overcome negative preconceptions and stereotypes. Annie's Coming Out (1984) is based on another true story of one women's struggle to prove that a young girl's severe physical disability had caused her to be misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled and the friendship that develops between Annie and the woman who was to change the quality of her life. In My Left Foot, Christy Brown sleeps in the same bed as his brothers and sisters and plays with them on the city streets. The family's poverty is the disability which they all share, and there is no opportunity for Christy early in his life to be given exceptional time or more attention. Arnie's outlandish and unpredictable behaviour in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1994) becomes just one more expression of the family's difficulties and their inability to adjust to painful memories. Films that deal directly with disability and avoid the standard happy ending have not succeeded in attracting audiences. Director Kramer recalled after the premiere of A Child is Waiting "critics were embarrassed and angered by the film". The film was not well known or widely distributed and its sombre social statement was not welcome during the era of Kennedy and Camelot. The Men, it was also accurately predicted, would have little box office potential, "It was a great credit to all involved that a film on such a topic was made since it had no chance of being a top office attraction". Writer Dave Sargent commented, "Why is there a tendency in film narrative to reduce the stories of disability to the 'individual against society,' especially when in 'real' life the difficulties and conflicts that disabled people have to contend with are rarely resolved so neatly or triumphantly". With the outstanding success of films like The Piano (1994), Scent of a Woman (1994), Rainman, and Forest Gump, disability has become a worthy subject and more importantly, good box office for major Hollywood studios and actors. But many of theses films also perpetuate a stereotype of a neutered and sanitised disability, and one that can be very productive in economic terms. Rain Man and Forest Gump seem to suggest, under the right circumstances, people with disabilities will make a lot of money, despite physical and intellectual disability. They will be able to pay their own way either by inheriting wealth, gambling, lotteries and/or by being shrimp entrepreneurs. This is the real affliction fable. Forest Gump is disability's version of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, inter-weaving a number of standard film cliches to present an acceptable, sentimental and romantic view of disability with a new, 90's emphasis on productivity and success. Gump's disability offers a continuous joke and plotting device to comment on the values around him. But why hasn't there been wider public discussion to situate the film within the context of disability? Is this disingenuous on the part of writers, the result of the confusion many people feel when confronting the subject of disability, or in nominating a disability genre, is there a danger that we are inadvertently supporting a view of people with disabilities as separate from mainstream culture- a disability culture? This remains a very contentious issue for people with disabilities and the organisations which serve them. But one thing is certain, gumption,, luck and filmmakers good intentions cannot solve the dilemma of how a responsible and mature society will continue to assist people with physical and intellectual disabilities who will continue to require government funding, long term institutional care and are deserving, as is every person's right, of access to a reasonable quality of life. Characters with physical and intellectual disabilities and people with genuine disabilities have been an integral part of mainstream film-making since the 1920's. Disability has been multipurpose and has been adapted to horror, romance, science fiction, mystery and comedy films. Disability has been used as a metaphor for "innocence," "the childlike," or the "saintly" and finds its newest novice in the character of Forest Gump. Disability has been a mirror to reflect society's inhumanity to those that are less fortunate. Rehabilitation, access to a reasonable quality of life and the support of people with physical and intellectual disabilities emerged as a social justice issues in films after WW2 and continue to be the subject of filmmakers, concern. My Left Foot and Annie's Coming Out address a commonly held and disturbing assumption that physical disability is automatically equated with an intellectual disability. Few filmmakers have yet to accept the challenge to include people with real disabilities as performers without emphazising the character's disability within the story.