I just watched an amazing movie titled Music Within about the work of Richard Pimental the Motivationl Speaker who as the intro on my cable menu said, “… a driving force behind the Americans With Diabilities Act…” The movie is rated R - has some bad language and shows scenes of the Vietnam War and drug use. All in all it was one of the milder of this genre of movies that I seen.
From Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Within ) comes the following:
The true story of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant public speaker with a troubled past. As a young man, Pimentel (Ron Livingston) realized he had a remarkable gift for public speaking. Pimentel’s idol is College Bowl founder Dr. Padrow (Hector Elizondo), but upon trying out for Dr. Padrow, the ambitious young speaker is informed that he won’t have anything to talk about until he has lived a full life. …
But it is not as much about changing others’ perceptions of persons with disabilities as it is about altering their perceptions of themselves, and with a little help from foul-mouthed genius Art Honeyman (Michael Sheen)(who has cerebral palsy), free-spirited beauty Christine (Melissa George), and mercurial, hard-drinking veteran Mike Stoltz (Yul Vázquez), Pimentel will play a pivotal role in creating the Americans With Disabilities Act, and finally discover his inner music.
I enjoyed hearing some of the music from the Vietnam era and seeing a small glimpse of life in the public for people with disabilities before the ADA.
~ T. Jennings