Alex Keaton of Family Ties meets Parkinson’s disease portrayed as cunning person with disability

Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning, the cunning lawyer on the Good Wife

In a guest role on the CBS program “The Good Wife”, Michael J. Fox plays a lawyer who lets his Parkinson’s-like condition go unchecked by medicine on purpose. Hollywood stops short of calling it a disability – its a “condition”.

Louis Canning is a very clever use of disability in a television program.

When in court, Fox slyly uses his uncontrolled muscle movements and shaking to build sympathy for his client, a large pharmaceutical company. Rumor has it he goes off his medication on purpose when he wants to show the effects of Parkinson’s.

It’s startling to watch since the usually Hollywood portrayal of people with disabilities is negative or neutral. You know the person in the wheelchair with a bad attitude toward life, the blind person who can hear things we can’t or the person in the wheelchair who appears totally able but assumes a wheelchair role (aka faking it). Sometimes people with disabilities do roles that could be played by a lamp. They are in the scene for background only.

Michael J. Fox’s Canning is cunning. He uses the obvious distraction of his shaking display to throw his opponents off guard and build sympathy in court.

The role is well played. Fox is a veteran actor and the role felt a grown up and more sophisticated Alex Keaton, hard edged and out for himself.

It also plays into prejudices people have about disabilities. He can’t be smart, mean, or vicious: he’s disabled right.

Wrong. People with disabilities are the exact same as everyone else except something is working right.

When I had to start using a wheelchair in 2001 it was amazing how many people wanted to pat me on the head. A year before I was the CEO of a publicly traded company. Did I lose my intelligence, drive, business and life skills by sitting in a wheelchair?

It’s only human to react to cues we receive including obvious visual ones like Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s symptoms. However, Fox shows it can be a mistake to judge a book by its cover.

The role also gives us a good idea that people use whatever advantage they have to win in life. Even disability can be an advantage in some situations.