Why It Matters: Accurate and Diversified Disability Representation in the Media
When I became a Disability Studies minor, I underestimated how much of what I learned would influence the decisions I made thereafter and the way in which I defined “diversity”. As an African American Studies major, I am trained to look for the flaws within society and critique the system accordingly. These “flaws” can present themselves within a workplace setting, college campus, and most notably, within everyday media, such as news outlets, TV shows, and movies. This “training” has, in turn, complimented my research in Disability Studies, only instead of looking for the accurate and plentiful representation of people of color within the media, I have the same expectations for the portrayal of people with disabilities. As I become more passionate about Disability and Racial Justice, it becomes harder to not “bring my work home” and truly assess the impact of what society, including myself, sees and believes to be true through the media’s portrayal of marginalized communities. Whether we’re watching the lives of fictional characters or even enjoying a movie “based on a true story or recollection”, it all plays a part in how we view people with disabilities.
Segarra, from the article “Problematic Representation of People with Disabilities in the Media”, argues that in the media, people with disabilities are portrayed through the false narrative of victimhood, meaning their disability is always seen as a tragedy or cause for emotional distress, which ultimately propels the stereotype that all people with disabilities are “charity cases”. An historical example of this is the “Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon”, which was widely criticized because of its portrayal of people with disabilities as needing charity and a cure. While “Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon” was eventually cancelled, we do see the same narrative within the media and popular films, for example Segarra uses the movie Me Before You, “a movie about a quirky woman who becomes the caretaker (and love interest) of a wealthy banker paralyzed in an accident. The wealthy banker is portrayed as a bitter, miserable man because he has a disability - sending a message that people with disabilities are incapable of living happy and successful lives” in order to propel her argument that characters with disabilities in mainstream movies, today, are not only hopeless and depressed, but in need of an able-bodied person (or character) to ultimately give their lives purpose again.
Another common stereotype within the media surrounding characters with disabilities is the desire to “overcome” or cure their disorder or disability in order to live a seemingly more fulfilling life or achieve a goal. Oftentimes when there is a disabled character within a TV show or movie, they have no purpose outside of their disability; no goals, interests, or overall concrete character development. Ultimately, the character is simply created for the sake of “representation” without much thought given about their personhood as a character outside of their disability. In the article by Kayla Brown “Dis-course: Disability Representation and the Media, Part One”, she provides an example of the many negative portrayals of disability, one character being from the show Glee. She states “The reason [I watch] Glee is because the show boasts at being highly diverse and forward thinking…[with] many people of color on their cast, and...some characters that have disabilities. Artie, for example, is a high school student who uses a wheelchair. The reason his plotline is problematic is because he always longs to be able to dance. Instead of the writers using this part of his character to, you know, develop his character (i.e., let Artie learn he can dance while also using a wheelchair), they come up with a dream sequence where Artie gets up out of his chair and dances as an able-bodied person. This just perpetuates the idea that people with disabilities can only achieve happiness if they are ‘normalized’ or ‘cured’ of their disability” (Brown, “Discourse: Disability…”). Nothing is wrong with a disabled character having dreams or aspirations, but when their entire story is centered on how badly they wish they weren’t disabled, it perpetuates a false narrative that everyone with a disability strives to be or live a life similar to those who are able-bodied. As a result, when those who know little to nothing about disability or the disabled experience meet someone with a disability for the first time, they unknowingly prejudge the individual and assume their wants, needs, and lifestyle based on what they’ve been “spoon fed” by the media. Furthermore, there is a flipside to the “charity case stereotype” that can be just as detrimental and that’s the portrayal of people with disabilities as “superheroes”, or as I’ve learned throughout my studies, the “supercrip” narrative. The “supercrip” narrative is a term used to describe how people with disabilities are used as propaganda to highlight their “bravery” and “courageousness” in the effort to conceal the everyday discrimination they face. The “supercrip” stereotype is most notably used by able-bodied people for inspiration; “If that disabled person can do it, so can I!” This notion only displays how there is little expectation for people with disabilities to succeed or live content, even happy, lives. People with disabilities are not superheroes with powers to help them overcome discrimination, racism or intersectional and systematic oppression, instead they combat these prejudices as everyday people do, one day at a time.
Furthermore, representation for people with disabilities is not only problematic as a whole, but is also lacking diversity. Since last reported by “Where We Are On TV”, GLAAD's annual report about diversity on television, the percentage of characters with a disability has risen a mere 1.1% from its original standing at 1% in 2011. Nevertheless,
with only 2.1% of characters on TV shows being disabled, an even smaller percentage are people of color. In a recent podcast, Vilissa Thompson, advocate and CEO of the platform “Ramp Your Voice”, she and other “comic book enthusiasts” discussed the characters that resonated with them as blerds, or black nerds. Most notably, during the podcast, Villissa was asked to give her opinion on current disability representation and her thoughts on current media representation of people of color with disabilities. Vilissa explained that “When it comes to disability representation, so many factors get in the way of characters and storylines resonating with members of the community and capturing how diverse we are. An issue that cannot be dismissed is “cripping up”, which is when a non-disabled actor plays a disabled character. On the small screen, there are two disabled characters I enjoy dearly that represent my identities, yet are played by non-disabled actors: Garrett from Superstore and Ivar the Boneless from Vikings. [It's] not every day where I see disabled people of color and characters with my rare disability represented on the small screen; yet the representations are not fully authentic because of the cripping up. Even when the representation is appropriate, the lack of diversity and hesitation to explore the person’s disability story falls flat [because it still] portrays the disabled experience that is typically illustrated regarding disability – white male characters and perspectives” (Center for Disability Rights, “Nothing About Us Without Us” – Disability Representation in Media). Representation is about the overall quality of the character’s story, not simply quantity.
Diversity, as Vilissa explains, it is hard to find, especially as a person of color who is disabled. There are many layers to representation, it isn’t enough to see yourself, or people that look or share a similar experience with you, accuracy of these experiences is just as important!
As we’ve discussed before, the disability community is not monolithic nor is it one race, gender or class etc. Just as there are many people of color with disabilities around the world, such should be reflected properly within the media. The media should ultimately reflect the varying social reality or overall structure of our society, but this cannot be done when only one narrative continues to be pushed onto society. Watching TV, going to see a movie, or even reading a comic book should be an enjoyable experience for everyone of all abilities, races, genders, sexualities etc. However, not all representation for people with disabilities and disabled people of color have been bad. To end this article- on a more optimistic note- here are some positive examples of disabled characters within the media, approved by people with disabilities. This is what accurate and diverse characters with disabilities represent and look like:
“One of the characters I enjoy is the Marvel superhero Misty Knight. Misty is a Black disabled woman, and became disabled after losing her arm while working for the NYPD. Misty represents me – a Black disabled woman with a visible disability”
Vilissa Thompson (Center for Disability Rights, “Nothing About Us Without Us” – Disability Representation in Media)
“The TV show Switched at Birth is a positive example. It has featured many individuals with hearing impairments and has aired an entire episode in ASL (American Sign Language). One of the reasons I love this show is that one of the main characters is hearing impaired, but that is not her main story arc. She is a high school student who plays sports, is engaged politically, and aspires to be a chef. Her three-dimensionality makes her a more accurate representation of a person with a disability: She is much more than her deafness.”
Kayla Brown (“Dis-course: Disability Representation and the Media, Part One”)
“The show “MasterChef” from Fox featured Christine Ha, a chef who has a severe visual impairment. Throughout the show, Ha answered questions about how she accomplished various kitchen tasks as a disabled person. ABC’s “Expedition Impossible” featured Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mount Everest.”
Name Unknown, (The Chicago Lighthouse, “Media and People With Disabilities: Are We Represented Accurately?”)
“While Hollywood has a long way to go in the way of disability representation, there are some films that feature more positive representation. Forrest Gump, Avatar, and the X-Men series all feature main characters with disabilities. Forrest Gump and Avatar use disability as a way for their audience to feel compassion toward these characters and realize they’re capable of significant accomplishments. The X-Men movies use both real disability (as Professor X’s paraplegia and Wolverine’s post-traumatic stress disorder) and metaphorical disability in their stories. [T]he message expressed in every movie can be summed up best by Storm in X-Men: The Last Stand, “They can’t cure us. You want to know why? Because there’s nothin’ to cure. Nothing’s wrong with you. Or any of us, for that matter.””
Devon McDevitt (Problematic Representation of People with Disabilities in the Media)