Tommy Edison has been blind since birth and producing videos online that reveal a glimpse into his life and the funny challenges that he faces daily. Tommy has showed us what it’s like for someone who is blind to use an ATM for the time and how some people who are visually impaired may organize their money.
Plus, Tommy is living his dream of reviewing movies as the Blind Film Critic. With his unique and interesting perspective, Tommy says “I watch movies and pay attention to them in a different way than sighted people do. I’m not distracted by all the beautiful shots and attractive people. I watch a movie for the writing and acting.”
In addition to critiquing films, Tommy adds humor to his reviews. When he watched “Water for Elephants”, Tommy said, “I didn’t think Robert Pattinson was all that much to look at. I gotta be honest with you. I don’t know what all the kids see in him, but okay! Ha ha!”
Also, Tommy has a unique rating system. When he reviewed “Scream 4”, Tommy said, “Sighted people, I think you will really enjoy this movie. Blind people stay home. I’m going to give this 2 out of 4 eyes open!”
In addition to being the Blind Film Critic, Tommy has been a radio professional for nearly 25 years, having spent the last 19 at STAR 99.9 FM in Connecticut as a traffic reporter. Tommy’s engaging personality, along with his on-air excellence and entertaining demeanor has garnered him much media attention.
In April 2011, Roger Ebert endorsed the Blind Film Critic when he posted Tommy’s first two movie reviews on his Chicago Sun-Times blog. Plus, Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 shared Tommy’s review of “Water for Elephants” on their blog, and NBC Connecticut (WVIT-TV) produced a feature story about the recent success of the reviews. In 2009, the Governor of CT, Jodi Rell proclaimed May 21, 2009 as “Tommy Edison Day” for the service that he has provided the community throughout the years. In 2004, Tommy made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Plus, he has been featured on a variety of other news programs on CNN and Headline News.