My Left Foot directed by Jim Sheridan and My Big Birkett by Lisa Shanahan. These two texts show two completely different experiences of growing up

by coolgirlruthhotmailcom (student)

Persuasive Essay

Growing up is a challenge for all, but some people have to overcome insurmountable odds to reach their full potential. Everybody’s challenge is unique. Some people have to struggle with disabilities or have to care full time for sick relatives and are forced to grow up quickly, where as some have a more relaxed, yet in their own way, still chaotic experience with growing up. The texts that illustrate these aspects of growing up are the film “My Left Foot” directed by Jim Sheridan and “My Big Birkett” by Lisa Shanahan. These two texts show two completely different experiences of growing up and they each show the challenges that children go through as they make that important transition from childhood to adulthood though their mistakes, decisions, and triumphs that mould them into the person they will become. The texts that I have chosen illustrate, in my opinion, the three critical challenges faced when growing up.

Being accepted by society for who you are is an extraordinary challenge involved with growing up. This idea is particularly expressed in “My Left Foot” as Christy Brown struggles to express himself with insurmountable odds against him because of his cerebral palsy to show the people around him that he is a normal thinking human being and that they should accept him. Children find acceptance extremely difficult anyway but children with any disability, gaining acceptance is even more difficult. In the extreme case of cerebral palsy children are discriminated against because they are looked down upon and they are not seen as “normal” human beings. Perhaps it is because they can’t express themselves since their bodies refuse to obey them. Perhaps it is because people automatically assume that because they are damaged of body they are damaged of mind as well. However Christy manages to overcome all odds and prove to his father that he is not a dumb animal, by scrawling the word “MOTHER” on the floor with a piece of chalk using only his left foot. In this scene we can tell that it is a pivotal moment in the film because the majority of the scene is focused on Christy as he writes. There are also close-up shots used where the camera stays focused several times on Christy’s face, screwed up in concentration, and on his foot. This action demonstrates that the smallest of actions can help children to be accepted into the hearts of their peers and adults around them. This struggle to be accepted can also be seen in the book “My Big Birkett”, where Raven tries to show his affections for Gemma, trying to overcome the insurmountable odd of negative public perceptions because he and his entire family have always been viewed in a bad light. This is expressed when Raven and his two older brothers are placed in a life threatening situation that results in the death of one brother and the severe injury of the other two where the town’s people say things like; “Once a De Head, always a De Head” and “They’re sick, it’s genetic”. This also illustrates that the struggle to be accepted isn’t only because of physical barriers but social ones as well. Negative public perceptions of people can hinder the development of a child’s character, forcing them down and not giving them the opportunity to show the world who they truly are. For any child, this is a challenge that only gets harder as they grow up. Negative public perceptions in turn make it extremely difficult for children to be accepted for who they truly are. Eventually they believe that they have no choice but to succumb to how society perceives them and this is a real hindrance for them reaching their full potential.

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Discovering love for the very first time is a challenge that has to be faced through the process of growing up. This is portrayed in both “My Left Foot” and “My Big Birkett” because both stories involve unrequited love. In “My Left Foot” this unrequited love is portrayed when Christy takes a risk and expresses his affections to a girl whom he has held a crush on for the majority of his teenage life. In any child’s life crushes come and go, but it takes extreme courage and determination to express your feelings to somebody. In “My Left Foot” this crush is particularly displayed when Christy and a group of teenagers play a game of spin the bottle. In the beginning of the scene the camera is focused on the bottle and Rachel’s arm spinning it, Rachel being Christy’s crush. One of Rachel’s friends teases Rachel by saying, “If it lands on Tom I’ll kill ya,” showing that Rachel is smitten with Tom, rather than Christy. When the bottle finally stops, at first we think that the bottle stops on no-one because the camera retains its focus on the bottle, suggesting that it has indeed landed on no-one. Rachel’s friend says mockingly, “It’s pointing at Christy,” who is sitting away from the circle in his wheelbarrow. Rachel then says “But he’s not even playing,” proving that she had taken no notice of Christy and suggests for the first time that Christy’s love is in fact unrequited. One of Christy’s brother’s defends him by saying, “He is if it’s pointing at him,” telling the audience that his brother is aware of Christy’s affections and wants to help his brother out. Tom then mocks Rachel by saying, “I don’t think it’s pointing at me.” She glares at Tom but eventually gives in to the group’s teasing and gives Christy a quick peck on the cheek. She says to Christy “You know you’re the nicest out of the lot of them and just my size too.” Christy radiates happiness and shyness and his brother’s tease him while he shifts around shyly and smiles sheepishly. Throughout this banter the camera is only focused on Christy, showing that this is an important moment for him. Encouraged by that kiss, mistaking it for genuine affection, Christy expresses his feelings for Rachel by painting a picture and composing a poem for her. Christy demonstrates extreme determination and manages to overcome what would seem to be insurmountable odds, that is, being able to express his love for Rachel. However Christy becomes heartbroken when she returns the picture and says, “I can’t take it, sorry.” Heartbreak requires healing and through healing you learn that pain is just another aspect of growing up. The real challenge, however, is to overcome that pain and move on to face a new day. Christy manages to get through this traumatic rejection and learns to face a new day. This act of taking a risk and expressing your feelings for another is also expressed in “My Big Birkett”. The insurmountable odds that Raven has to overcome are not only plucking up the courage to express his feelings in the first place but also the disparity between their social status. Raven expresses his affections for Gemma through a Shakespearean sonnet;

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand,

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”

Gemma replies to this by saying; “No way, I’m not ready for that.” Raven then says, “Why not?” “Because you should only kiss people you love. It’s wrong to do it so easily.” At this stage of the novel, this is a suggestion that Raven’s love for Gemma is also unrequited.

Possibly since he believed that there was nothing left for him and succumbing to the pain of heartbreak rather than trying to overcome it, Raven placed himself in a life-threatening situation which left him severely injured. The challenge of finding love for the first time is explored in each text, through the unrequited love between Christy and Rachel from “My Left Foot” and the unrequited love between Gemma and Raven in “My Big Birkett”. This is an enormous challenge that is a part of the journey of growing up and it aids children in reaching their full potential.

Growing up is also about learning to make the right decisions. The only way to learn is to make mistakes and growing up is a huge period of mistakes made and as a result, lessons learned. This is expressed in “My Left Foot” when Christy decides to uphold his father’s honour by kicking a pint of beer out of a man’s hand. Christy overcomes the insurmountable odds of his disability to show his support for his father in the only way he could. This ultimate decision ends up triggering a brawl. On the outside it may seem like a rash decision, but it holds more depth than that. This act of defiance expresses that even through Christy and his father had their differences Christy decides to respect his father’s memory. Christy could have let that man get away with that comment but he decided to act. In this scene the camera stays on Christy as he rolls towards the man in anger, this builds suspense as to what Christy’s reaction will be because just before he had told his brother’s to calm down because they had all stood up after the man made the offensive comment. Learning to make the right decisions is an important aspect of growing up because it is our decisions and actions by which we are judged. Decisions made in early life also set precedent to how we will act in the future, moulding us into the adults that we will become and helping us reach our full potential. In this moment in Christy’s life, he indirectly decides to uphold his father’s honour and memory for the rest of his life. If he had let that comment go, then he would have continued to view his father in a negative and scornful light, forgetting all the good and remembering only the bad. In “My Big Birkett” this act of learning to make the right decisions is expressed when Gemma debates whether or not she should go to Raven’s house for the first time to rehearse. In this moment in the book Raven calls unexpectedly and asks Gemma to come over for a rehearsal. For a while Gemma dodges his requests by saying things like, “I’m pretty busy,” and “maybe another time, my sister is getting married and I have to help her with some stuff.” Raven then asks “are you sure you can’t come….I’m starting with a disadvantage, you know not having done a play before. I don’t want people to think I’m a no-hoper.” Gemma replies scornfully with “It’s never bothered you before.” Having said this she decides to go to Raven’s house to take back the awful thing she said. When Gemma reaches that decision she overcomes the insurmountable odd of being judged by society by going over to his house. She decided to ignore society’s prejudices and only trusted her own beliefs. This goes to show that if Gemma had avoided Raven and hadn’t rehearsed, she wouldn’t have gotten into the play, she wouldn’t have gotten close to Raven’s family especially Mrs De Head and she wouldn’t have realised the true love that Raven felt for her. This shows that, at the time, the smallest of decisions can change a life for better or for worse, something that only can be realised in hindsight. Decisions are something that moulds us into the person we become because it shows a true side to our character. Gemma’s decision to go to Raven’s house shows that even though Raven, at first, is a shady character, she is truly kind and doesn’t want to hurt him. Christy’s decision, in “My Left Foot”, to protect his father’s honour, shows that he is truly loyal to his family and loves his father very much even with all his faults.

Growing up involves many challenges, some of them being; learning how to be accepted into society, as shown through Christy trying to express himself despite his disability in “My Left Foot” and through “My Big Birkett” through the negative public perceptions of Raven and his family; discovering love for the first time shown through the unrequited love between Christy and Rachel and the unrequited love between Gemma and Raven; and learning to make the right decisions shown with Christy deciding to honour his father and Gemma deciding to ignore the prejudices of others and trusting in her own beliefs. I believe that these challenges help mould children into the adults they will become. They also help them to learn how to reach their full potential and to learn how to overcome insurmountable odds that may block their path.