Nine Movies with a Paraplegic Heroine

Hunting high and low I have dug up these movies that have a female paraplegic character in them. Most of them are the main character, a couple it is a side character.

It's sad to me how few movies there are showing the variety of lives and experiences that women using wheelchairs have. I hope there will be more of them in the future and more that show real life instead of cliché and stereotype.

{Image from http://www.mobilewomen.org/2011/06/collision-movie...}

Collision

This one is likely to shoot to the top of my list when it comes out!

From the Facebook page:

"As the first film to feature two female wheelchair users in leading roles, Collision is breaking barriers. As an action film that pushes the boundaries of wheelchair stunts, Collision will forever change your perception of disability."

This is the story of two vigilante assassins who are also women with paraplegia! How awesome is that?

Collision The Movie Facebook Page

Ready, Willing, & Able: A difficult to find 1999 movie staring an actress named Christopher Templeton as a CIA agent who is wounded and then forms a team to uncover a mole. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281122/

An indie movie following a few days in the lives of twin sisters, one of whom is a paraplegic. Apparently the actresses are real life sisters as well.

It focuses on realism and making it feel like people that you know. I think it does accomplish that, feeling very much like real life!

A made for TV movie about a woman who breaks her spine falling from a horse and her healing process, both physically and emotionally.

It's quite literally about "getting back on the horse."

It doesn't seem to be available on DVD. You can go to the Hallmark Movie Channel website to see when it is playing:

Hallmark Movie Channel

Unlike Sympathy for Delicious, which hinges on the pain of the main character being able to heal everyone except himself, this healer is able to cure herself of paraplegia.

It's the story of a woman who was in a car accident that killed her husband. She is left paralyzed, but soon discovers that her brush with death gave her healing powers. She doesn't feel the need to put these powers into a religious context, but those around her do.

This movie is from 1980 and you have to be careful to get the right one because there are several movies of the same title!

A critically acclaimed movie about the relationship between an injured woman and her caretaker.

It follows a plot more common in romance novels about injured men, where the bitter and angry paralyzed man chases off all the potential nurses/therapists/caretakers.

This is a great one. Even though the paralyzed character is not the main character, she is a good support character. She is shown having a family and a life. There are a few pity moments, but not many, and the climax scene includes this woman using her disability to social engineer a situation and I love that!

A disjointed movie about a band of misfit characters on a road trip. Renee Zellweger (looking rather unattractive as a brunette) plays a former singer who is now a paraplegic.

The main character is a writer whose books are about serial killers. She was attacked by a serial killer who was copy-catting her work and left paraplegic. Now she's writing a sequel and the killings have started up again.

I haven't seen this one, so I'm not sure how prominently the disability is featured. It was recommended in the comments, so I'm adding it in!

An Affair To Remember, Cary Grant, De...

Buy From Art.com

I highly recommend this web series, all completely available for free on YouTube. I hope they have a new season soon! It's written and starred in by paraplegic actress Teal Sherer and she just keeps hitting the nail on the head with her sharp sense of humor.