PORTRAYAL OF DISABILITY IN THE MEDIABy: Bethani DunlapIAH 207Curation Project

CURATOR’S STATEMENT According to the ADA National Network, disability is defined as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. People with disabilities face discrimination, oppression and disparities due to their conditions. They are stereotyped as a villain, hero or a victim to justify their condition and label them as abnormal. Disabled people are a part of a subordinate group of people and face many obstacles do to this. Many people judge disabled individuals as incompetent and unable to live a “normal” everyday life compared to a nondisabled person. Majority, if not all stereotypes about people with disabilities are created and influenced by the media. The media is an extremely important part of everyone’s everyday lives and is the main source of relaying information to a mass population of the public. The article, Impact of a film portrayal of a police officer with spinal cord injury attitudes towards disability: A media effects experiment, explored how the media can influence society’s perception of disability positively and negatively. An experiment was performed to study the way that a short film effects the attitudes and perception of nondisabled and disabled people. Three questions were asked to 480 study subjects before and after watching the film that featured a police officer with paraplegia. The non-disabled subject’s ratings of eligibility of employment for someone that is paraplegic increased after watching the film. The film had no effect on the ratings given by people with disabilities. This article provides key experimental evidence that proves that the media has a big effect on the way that society views disabled individuals. The influence that the media holds over society is not always to society’s benefits and adds to the discrimination of disabled people.

CURATOR’S STATEMENT CONTINUED

What people see, hear and learn from the media is decided by a small group of decision-makers and impacts such a large group of people. I’ve explained the way the media has portrayed disabled people through ads and entertainment such as movies or television shows. Entertainment portrays disabled people in a negative way such as villains, heroes or victims, which may seem harmless but deep down it stigmatizes them and creates stereotypes. By identifying and labeling people with disabilities by their condition, it dehumanizes them and categorizes them as being dependent, evil or courageous. The media also portrays people with disabilities in positive ways such as sports and super models that are disabled. I have explained this by using the Nike ad with Matt Scott and supermodel Jillian Mercado as an example of disabled individuals used to encourage people to follow their dreams and goals despite any obstacles that get in their way. Overall, all these example are ways that the media has portrayed people with disabilities and the positive or negative impact it has had on society. In the future, I plan to research the influence these portrayals have on not only nondisabled people in society but also the impact it has on the way disabled people view themselves. According to the article titled, Media and Disability, “attitudes regarding many issues could possibly affected by these media, especially attitudes toward disability” (Timothy R. Elliot & E. Keith Byrd, Ph. D., 1982). The American culture depends heavily on the mass media system to obtain information so much of what the media says is trusted and taken in as a fact. Stereotypes have been created and obtained by the mass media. TV, movies, literature and the news are examples of the media that relays misinformation regarding disabled individuals. 

THE “HERO”

Picture from “Avatar”https://disabledpeoplesassociation.wordpress.com/

2014/10/31/disability-in-movies/

In Avatar, there are a variety of disabilities that are displayed. In Avatar there are four main characters that display a mental, physical or emotional disability. Teo, who has a wheelchair; Zuko who has a speech impediment, PTSD, visual impairment and slight depression; Azual who has very toxic mental ilness; and Toph who is legally blind. These disabilities are used to assist the narrative in unfolding. Instead of exploring the disability itself, filmmakers of Avatar use these disabilities to fit certain stereotypes in the show. Avatar uses disabled people to fit the stereotype of a “hero”. The supercrip portrayal defines disability different than how it really is in reality. It ignores the reality that disabled individuals have to face such as finding handicap accessible entrances and transportation rather than saving lives and being a hero. It also implies that disabled people should only be applauded and looked at as normal if they can perform extraordinary, superhero-like acts. To be disabled is to be a member of a subordinate group, which causes oppression and discrimination against this group of people. Although the hero trope may seem like a positive and courageous portrayal of disability, it is actually very problematic. According to TVtropes.org, the hero trope may be problematic because a character who was disabled for an extended period suddenly regains the use of their disabled organ(Dr. Strangelove). These may seem problematic because usually extensive disabilities don’t tend to go away after an extensive period of time.

Picture from “Peter Pan”http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Captain_Hook

THE “VILLAIN”

Captain Hook’s main depiction is an amputee. He is driven by his missing arm and this portrays to children that an amputation is a negative thing and a hardship in life. With this being said, it makes it hard for children to understand Captain Hook as a person without labeling him by his disability. His disability defined him and identifies who he is. Captain Hook is a mad, angry man and goes insane by the end of the movie. He uses his disability as a reason to be revengeful against Peter Pan. Disney uses his disability as a reason to be mad, angry, revengeful and dissatisfied with life, which portrays disability as a negative thing and that you should avoid people with disabilities in life. Captain hook becomes insane and obsessed with defeating and wanting to kill Peter Pan and this leads children to believing that a disability makes you insane, crazy and want to cause harm on others. According to Joarain Ng, “the villain stereotype dehumanizes persons with disabilities.” He explains that it defines these individuals as being driven to revengeful and criminal acts due to resentment of their disabled condition. Captain Hook is one of many examples that Hollywood uses characters and movies to portray disabled people as someone who should be looked down upon, feared and overall a negative depiction.

HISTORY OF THE VILLAIN TROPEThe villain trope has been around for centuries and is the most common stereotype of people with disabilities in the entertainment business. Throughout history, physical disabilities have been used to suggest depravity and evil (Common Portrayals of Persons with Disabilities). The most common example that dates back to history is the pirate with a missing hook hand or eye patch around their eye or amputated leg. More recent portrayals of people with disabilities driven by the villain trope include characters being driven to crime and revenge by resentment of their disability. A common example of an historical TV show that displayed the villain trope was the Wild Wild West and the villainous Dr. Loveless who has a disability. In the TV show he is a dwarf and in the film he has lost all his body parts form waist down.

THE “VICTIM”

Picture from “I am Sam”https://lunastarz.com/2016/04/17/i-am-sam-2001/

Sam Dawson is the main character in I am Sam and is mentally handicapped and autistic. Sam becomes a single father at 40 years old after a one-night stand. Lucy, his daughter becomes aware of her father’s mental disabilities around the age of seven and holds herself back in school to avoid hurting her father’s feelings. Social services soon got involved and removed Lucy from her father’s custody. He soon fought for the custody of his daughter back and eventually wins. The government saw Sam as being incapable of taking care of his daughter due to his mental disability. The courts initially ruled him incompetent of caring for a child, although he has done a pleasant job raising her entire life. This film is important because it shows how society treats people with disabilities and how they are seen. Society does not want to deal with people with disabilities and this film displays exactly that. It is important to address these issues and display them in a famous film, especially when it involves discrimination against people with disabilities regarding their family/parenthood issues. Sam displays a level of independence that society was unable to accept concerning disabled people. Society wants to control and monitor disabled individuals and strip them of certain freedoms to avoid dealing with them. This film also displays inequalities because Sam was stripped of his parental rights due to his appearance and disability. Stereotyping people with disabilities as a victim objectifies them as helpless. Helplessness leads to pity and sympathy and makes you want to feel bad for someone. This implies that disabilities are something people suffer from and they need care and protection due to their disability. All of these depictions are negative and makes it harder for disabled people to overcome their disability and try to live a life similar to nondisabled individuals. The victim stereotype strips these individuals’ rights, freedoms and power away from them.

THE “SPORTSMODEL”

Picture from “Nike”http://explosiveliving.com/

2008/08/16/matt-scott-no-excuses/

In 2008, Nike launched a commercial shoot with a wheelchair basketball player known as Matt Scott. The point of the commercial was to promote people with disabilities to live a normal, active life despite their conditions. The heart of the commercial was to show how important it is to pursue your goal and “just do it” despite the obstacles you may face along the way (Scott’s would be his disability). This Nike ad is an example of a positive portrayal of disabled people in the media. The commercial tried using Matt Scott’s disability as encouragement and motivation but it was Scott’s attitude about excuses, in his jokingly matter, that makes it easy for disabled and nondisabled people to relate and be encouraged. The ad is empowering and humorous, which makes it relatable and nonjudgmental for everyone, disabled and nondisabled. It is very easy and common for people with disabilities to feel like an outcast and used in a pitiful way to advertise brands. In this Niki ad, disability may be used as a marketing technique but it is used in a genuine and non-stigmatizing manner.

THE “SUPERMODEL”

Picture of Jillian Mercadohttp://www.refinery29.com/2014/01/61292/jillian-mercado-diesel-campaign

Jillian Mercado is a supermodel who was diagnosed with spastic muscular dystrophy as a teenager. Her modeling career began when she responded to an open casting call for a Diesel Jeans ad campaign on a whim and ended up getting hired after the audition. From there, her modeling career was on a rise and she soon became a nationally known model. Mercado has not only faced difficulties and hardships in life due to her disability but she is also a part of a minority racial group, which is Latino. Jillian being a well-known model despite her disability brings awareness to disabled people and is a positive portrayal of them. Most media portrayals of people with disabilities are negative but models that get the opportunity to express themselves and represent all disabled people encourage everyone, despite having a disability or not, to follow their dreams. Jillian went to her first casting call not expecting to get a call back but she did and that should motivate everyone to push through and follow their dreams.

B. (n.d.). What is the definition of disability under the ADA? Retrieved October 06, 2016, from https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada

Common Portrayals of Persons with Disabilities. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/persons-disabilities/common-portrayals-persons-disabilities

Elliott, T. R., & Byrd, E. K. (1982, November/December). Media and Disability. 43(11-12).

H. (2016). Nike Commercial Makes Eliminating Stigma of Disability Simple - "Just Do It!" - Words I Wheel By. Retrieved October 06, 2016, from http://wordsiwheelby.com/2013/09/eliminating-stigma-just-do-it/

Jillian Mercado made it as a model with a disability. Here’s what she wants next. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/04/28/jillian-mercado-made-it-as-a-model-with-a-disability-heres-what-she-wants-next/

REFERENCES

REFERENCES

Ng, B. J. (2016). Heroes, Villains, and Victims: Images of Disability in Movies. Retrieved October 06, 2016, from https://disabledpeoplesassociation.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/disability-in-movies/

Reinhardt, J. D., Pennycott, A., & Fellinghauer, B. A. (2013). Impact of a film portrayal of a police officer with spinal cord injury attitudes towards disability: A media effects experiment. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-6. doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.788219

Strangelove, D. (n.d.). Throwing Off the Disability - TV Tropes. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThrowingOffTheDisability