ABSTRACT
Keywords: Social movements, identity, American with Disability, Deaf culture,
instrumental and consummatory rhetoric
In May 1995, actor Christopher Reeves, perhaps best known for his portrayal of
Superman, was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition and was left
paralyzed from the shoulder down. Reeves, realizing an opportunity, readily accepted the
position of advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. In his numerous public
appearances he honored the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and proclaimed his
determination to advocate greater funding for research to bring about a cure for spinal
cord injuries. “I am going to get out of this chair, throw it away and walk,” he told Larry
King in an hour-long interview on CNN February 22, 1996. “We are on the threshold of a
cure-maybe in 5, 7, 8, 10 years.”
