The New York Times reckons the current fashion for films with disabled characters is great, because it will encourage loads of people to give to charity.

The paper says that Oscar nominee Jamie Foxx, as blind musician Ray Charles in Ray, joins a noble tradition of actors who have helped "shake the money tree" (and the Oscar tree) by playing disabled, from "the cerebral-palsied Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot", to "the retarded Tom Hanks in Forrest Gum".

According to one expert quoted, if a non-disabled actor plays a disabled character, it helps him to "personally identify, and then use his clout to go raise money".

So there you have it. They weren't nicking your part, they were trying to make you rich.

Read more: For Disabled, It's Hooray for Hollywood, New York Times (free registration required).