It wasn't hard to convince Christopher Reeve to narrate the HBO film "Without Pity: A Film About Abilities."
"HBO called me up and I said yes," Reeve said in a recent satellite interview.The actor, paralyzed since suffering neck injuries in a riding accident, is perhaps the most famous quadriplegic in the world. And he's happy to use that fame to promote "Without Pity," which debuts at 11:30 p.m. on HBO.
"I think that with my involvement perhaps it'll reach a wider audience," Reeve said. "But when you see the full film, it is so moving and so uplifting what people can accomplish in spite of adversity.
"I mean, I think my situation's nothing compared to the problems faced by the people in this film."
"Without Pity" profiles a cross-section of disabled people who struggle to lead lives as normal as they possible can. They include:
- Charlie, a bright 6-year-old born without arms or legs.
- Frank, a 74-year-old cerebral-palsy victim living on his own after having been institutionalized for more than 40 years.
- Josh, a 25-year-old whose life was turned upside-down when a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.
- Josh, who was maimed and blinded at the age of 4 when a deranged man poured acid on him.
- Paul, 49, who was stricken with polio at the age of 5. A professor, he teaches a course on the history and persecution of the disabled.
- Samantha, a woman afflicted with cerebral palsy. Her biggest goal was to become a mother - a goal she achieved, although perhaps at the cost of her marriage.
The point of "Without Pity" is not the tragedies these people have suffered, but how they've overcome them. And it's important to Reeve that not only the general public realize how much the disabled can overcome, but that the disabled themselves realize it.
Reeve, who admits that he had thoughts of suicide after his accident, acknowledges that disabilities can be devastating and that learning to deal with them can be a long, slow, painful process.
"But you will come through it. And you will see a brighter tomorrow, I promise you," he said.
"The turning point comes when you realize that while you'll have to adjust to a new way of living, it's worth it. The key is you relationships and the people around you."
Reeve credited his wife and his three children for helping him realize he had a reason to go on.
"I realized they were willing to accept me the way I am," he said. "And just because I can't teach my 4-year-old how to skate right now, it bothers me more than it bothers him. What he wants, what my friends want, what my wife wants is just the togetherness and the sharing of our relationship.
"And once you realize that, it gives you a new lease on life."
For himself, Reeve remains optimistic about "tremendous advances in research," adding that "It's now very realistic to believe that there will be new therapies and new cures for paralysis."
And he hopes that those who view "Without Pity" learn "that you must look at the disabled as human beings - that they have a lot to teach the rest of us and that they are entitled to live productive lives in the mainstream of our culture. That's it."