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‘Daredevil’ casts light on blind workers of America
“Daredevil,” currently the nation’s No. 1 film, is unlike any other superhero movie. Hollywood’s latest big-screen comic-book hero can be distinguished from his courageous crime-fighting cohorts by his disability: He is blind.

At the end of the work day, attorney Matt Murdock (played by Ben Affleck) removes his tie and dons his costume, relying on his other superhumanly sharp senses to rid the streets of evil. But the film’s real superhero isn’t Daredevil himself, it’s the man behind the mask.

There are currently 3 million blind or visually impaired Americans who are of working age.

Unfortunately, only about 40 percent of working-age blind or visually impaired Americans are employed, according to a survey by the federal government’s National Center for Health Statistics. Almost no other social or economic group in this country has a higher unemployment rate than those who are blind or visually impaired.

In “Daredevil,” Murdock easily dodges thrown knives and leaps from the roof of a skyscraper before acrobatically arresting his fall. Hard to believe? How about when he takes off the shiny red suit and returns to the office, performing his job without his visual impairment being an issue?

That may be the movie’s most realistic scene of all.

Carl R. Augusto is president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind (www.afb.org) in New York City. This column was distributed by Knight