My Left Foot 4

An Untypical Hero
Other qualities that set Christy apart from our notion of the typical hero of Hollywood cinema, are his occasional
outbursts of stubbornness and childishness. At one point in the film, when Eileen comes to visit, she finds him
sitting in his room with his head covered by a blanket. It is his way of refusing to communicate. On the other hand,
we can see that what is portrayed as childishness in this scene is in fact a symptom of a serious bout of depression
which later leads to a suicide attempt. Again this is not the act of an enduring hero. But it is precisely these qualities
or these flaws and this suffering that make him a more believable, and ultimately sympathetic, character. 
The film also refers to another flawed hero – Shakespeare’s
Hamlet
. When Eileen gives Christy the play to
read, and asks him to learn Hamlet’s famous speech from Act 3 Scene 1 – ‘To be or not to be’, (see appendix III)
there are parallels between them. Hamlet’s indecision about whether to take action or die is commented upon by
Christy. When he describes Hamlet as ‘a cripple who can’t act’, he is also revealing something about himself. At
this point in the film, Christy feels optimistic and hopeful about the future and decides to take action to express
himself as an artist. 
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M Y L E F T F O O T
Christy Brown; Hero?
Useful for study of: Hero, General 
Vision and Viewpoint, Literary genre,
Themes: gender, disability, change.
Explorations for students
1 What do you understand by the term
‘hero/heroine’? What are its origins?
Find a dictionary definition and compare
it to your own.
2 Identify the central character from two
other films you have enjoyed. Could these
characters be described as ‘heroic’ in the
context of these films? Why? What