Disability in TV Drama

Disability Stereotypes and Countertypes in TV Drama

Disability in TV Drama is a common occurrence. A man named Paul Hunt said that
there are 10 main stereotypes in the media. Pitiable or Pathetic, Object of curiosity or
Violence, inister or !"il, The supper cripple, As atmosphere, #au$hable, His%her
&orst ni$htmare, 'urden, (on)se*ual and +nable to participate in daily life.
Pitiable or Pathetic stereotype is the most common in the ,edia and TV Drama. -t is
mainly sho&n &hen the disabled character is faced &ith a difficult situation or is
facin$ prejudice from other characters such as bullyin$. Object of curiosity or
"iolence is &hen people are presented as unusual or disfi$ured. This stereotype is
lar$ely hi$hli$hted and made into a spectacle compared to the physically able.. The
supper cripple stereotype puts people &ith a disability in the position to be admired
by society. This stereotype is used to admire the attitudes of the disabled. An
e*ample of this &ould be in the Paralympics. The lau$hable or humour stereotype is
to pleasure the misfortunes of other people. Disability has been used as a source of
humour since the ancient .ree/s sho&in$ that it has been around for centuries. The
humour or lau$hable situation is mainly to&ards the character0s1 &ho are disabled.
How is disability presented in TV Drama through the four areas of
textual analysis
2amera shots are used to sho& po&er throu$h different an$les and mo"ements.
hots such as the lon$ shot are used to sho& the audience the character0s1 disability
but shots &hich are predictable and a lot of TV dramas use this is a shot that sho&
t&o characters, one character bein$ physically able and the other bein$ disabled and
the camera shot has intentionally made the physically able character hi$her than the
disabled character to sho& po&er and the lac/ that the disabled character has. ,ise)
en scene is used to represent the disabled character to not fit in. This is outlined by
the clothin$ they &ear and the li$htin$ &hen they are in the scene . ound is used
a$ain to outline a characters disability, for e*ample sound is used to create the
atmosphere &hen a disabled character is introduced or comes into scene, a common
sound used is silence, this creates an a&/&ard situation and ma/es the audience
feel sorry for the disabled character. !ditin$ is used to emphasise a disability, mainly
scenes are prolon$ed to ma/e an a&/&ard atmosphere &hich disabled characters
and people li"e throu$h on a daily basis.
How disability links to the other 6 areas of representation.
A$e) -n my opinion - do not thin/ that a$e effects the disability of a person, as all
a$es can be disabled. 'ut in some situations the youn$er ha"e more sympathy than
an elderly or an adult &ould ha"e.
!thnicity) #i/e a$e, disability is not effected by ethnicity. 'ecause of this their are no
positi"es or ne$ati"es to ethnicity.
e*uality) Disability a$ain is not effected by &hat se* you are, this a$ain means that
it has neither positi"es and ne$ati"e.
2lass and status) The effect that class and status has on disability is a major effect.
3or e*ample a person of a lo&er class &ould find it hard to be disabled due to the job
they mi$ht ha"e as the lo&er class are /no&n to ha"e labourin$ jobs meanin$ that
they ha"e to be doin$ physical acti"ities throu$hout and by ha"in$ a disability they
&ould not be able to do it. 4ere as a hi$her class person &ith a disability &ould be
able to li"e &ith it due to the lar$e amount of money they ha"e and the job that they
mi$ht ha"e mi$ht not be physically demandin$ comparin$ to a lo&er class person.
.ender) -n my opinion - do not feel as if $ender has any effect on disability, because
of this in my opinion there are no positi"es or ne$ati"es.
5e$ional -dentity) A$ain - do not feel as if re$ional identity has any effect on disability
a$ain it has no positi"es or ne$ati"es.
An e*ample of this &ould be in .lee, the actor 6e"in ,cHale plays the character
Artie Abrams, a disabled boy &hose disability lea"es him in a &heelchair, unable to
&al/. This character is used for pity to&ards the audience as he is bullied for his
disability and situations he is put in that physically able are able to do and he is not
a$ain ma/es the audience sympathies him.