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Now he began to move his mind in the direction of finding a cure. He had been surprised by the hundreds of thousands of letters he had received from well-wishers, from strangers who admired him. He began to understand something about the special character of his celebrity. Though Reeve has made several "serious" movies like The Remains of the Day, it was his awkwardly charming portrayal of Superman, especially in the first two of the four-movie series, that endeared him to a vast public. He knew that the role of Superman had a resonance, and he knew further that each era in which it is depicted on television or in film requires a different conception of the character.
Reeve had deliberately played the part in imitation of Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby--the handsome bumbler, shy in the presence of a self-assured woman but clearly a superior being. He was the Superman who had landed in time for post-Vietnam, pro-tenderness and sensitive America. (In the first of the series Superman introduces himself to Lois Lane as "a friend.") Not only to America but to much of the world, this was Chris Reeve. If anything, his injury had enlarged his celebrity. He began to see that he could use this affection, for which he was grateful on personal grounds, to lead a movement.
"No one was writing to me and saying specifically, 'You could lead the charge on spinal-cord and central-nervous-system disorders," he says, "but hearing from certain important people gave me the idea. Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska wrote me a very telling letter. I heard from Paul Simon and Pat Leahy. I heard from President Clinton a couple of times. I had developed relationships with these people over the years when I was working for environmental issues and for the Arts Endowment. I realized that those relationships were in place and could be useful when the time came to do something for spinal cords."
He was visited in Kessler by Wise Young and by Arthur Ullian, who is paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a bicycle accident and who has been lobbying Congress for years. Ullian was the first to impress upon Reeve the unique role that he could play. At the same time Reeve was contacted by Henry Stifel, chairman of the American Paralysis Association, to which Reeve was drawn because "they are dedicated solely to finding a cure for paralysis, nothing less. I liked that ideal. They're not into lower sidewalks and better wheelchairs."
Every television show wanted an interview, and Reeve decided to use the media to further his cause. In his appearances, he evoked a clock ticking toward his 50th birthday. "I thought I had to put a human face on a condition that the scientists were not really able to dramatize. You have to move politically, but you also have to reach the people's hearts." He developed the economic argument as well. Spinal-cord injuries occur mainly to young people. Many are kids shot in gang wars or in drive-by shootings. There is also a preponderance of mishaps in sports. One reason billions are spent on the care of spinal-cord injuries is that the injured people live a long time.