Analysis Of My Left Foot: The Story Of Christy Brown

The 1989 Irish biographic drama film, My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, is a true story about Christy Brown (played by Daniel-Day Lewis), a man born with cerebral palsy (CP). In the beginning of the film, Brown is an adult in a wheelchair and waits at the home of Lord Castlewelland to speak at a benefit for cerebral palsy victims. The private nurse accompanying him, Mary Carr, begins to read Brown’s autobiographical novel, and we follow most of the span of his life through a series of flashbacks. Brown’s disability affects all of his limbs and gives him spasticity, but he gradually gains control of his left foot, and uses the foot to maneuver himself around his house, write his first words with a piece of chalk as a child, and start …show more content…
The Centers for Disease Control (2015) explains that “Spastic quadriplegia is the most severe form of spastic CP and affects all four limbs, the trunk, and the face.” Brown’s increased muscle tone and stiffness impacts his ability to physically express his emotions and thus impacts his social experiences. John W. Santrock (2015), author of Life-Span Development, indicates that in emotional development, “facial expressions indicate specific emotions” (p. 236). It is important for Brown to be verbal in his interactions with others. At the same time, however, people may not always know what he is saying. Researchers Allan Colver, Charles Fairhurst, and Peter O.D. Pharoah (2014) claim in their journal article, “Cerebral palsy,” that “Adults with cerebral palsy have disadvantages in social life” (p. 1243). In the film, a social disadvantage is especially apparent when Mr. Brown admits to not understanding his own son and needs Mrs. Brown or Brown’s siblings to interpret for him. People around Brown might lack understanding or do not want to make an effort to understand him, but their responses shape his emotional responses. He sometimes has issues with regulating his emotions, which complicates one of his particular desires for a romantic …show more content…
She carries him up the stairs when he is a child, defends him, and secretly saves money for his wheelchair, even after the family complains about their poverty and not having good food to eat. In a study by researchers Raina Parminder, Maureen O 'Donnell, Peter Rosenbaum, Jamie Brehaut, Stephen D. Walter, Dianne Russell, Marilyn Swinton, Bin Zhu, and Ellen Wood (2005) called, “The Health and Well-Being of Caregivers of Children With Cerebral Palsy,” a significant finding is that “One of the main challenges for parents is to manage their child 's chronic health problems effectively and juggle this role with the requirements of everyday living” (p. 1423). Mrs. Brown patiently teaches her son how to read and write regardless of Mr. Brown’s certainty that his disability would prevent him from reaching these developmental