Since last class, I have been

A. Noticing the ways people use language about

disability.
B. Noticing the ways in which the media
portrays people with disabilities.
C. Noticing people with disabilities around me.
D. Thinking about what I already know about
disability and how I know it.

Plan for the day

3:00-4:00ish, Lecture
4:00-4:15ish, Break
4:15-5:45ish, Film When Billy Broke His Head
and Other Tales of Wonder and Feedback

Main Points from Introductory Lecture

The phenomenon of Disability can be understood through a
Medical Model or a Social Model
The social model laid the groundwork for federal protected
minority status and civil rights legislation.
The social model allows us to think about how disability is
constructed socially, politically, culturally, etc.
Language to describe disability is an example of how the
meaning of disability is a constantly changing construct.
Today: One of the ways disability is culturally constructed is
through narrative (stories across media, including film).
Representations of disability almost always serve a narrative
function. These narratives contribute to understandings of
disability in actual life.

Disability as a Narrative Device

How do we study representations of
disability?
What are the primary ways that disabled
characters are represented?
Where are actual disabled actors in film?

How do we study representations of

disability?
In this class, through the lens of Disability
Studies.
The academic arm of the disability civil rights
movement.
Shifts exploration of disability from medical
model to the social construction model.
Considers disability a human experience, part
of what it means to be human.
Is Interdisciplinary: grounded in the
Humanities & Social Sciences.

Disability Studies, cont.

Studies the dynamics of Ableism (aka
disability oppression, or the way in which
the world is organized around nondisabled
adults of average height and weight)
Supports social justice and increases power
for disabled people.
Does not individualize, marginalize, pathologize,
essentialize, medicalize, exclude, or segregate
Supports self-determination, self-definition

The following is an example of

Ableism (more than one may
apply)
A.
B.
C.
D.

No wheelchair access into a building

Films with no captioning or audio description
The fixed seating in this lecture hall
Doors that automatically open when
approached

Disability Studies, cont.

Involves disabled people as producers of
knowledge, not just its objects (Nothing
About Us Without Us)
Studies the history and contemporary issues
of actual disabled people, our institutions,
sub-cultural values
Studies mainstream and sub-cultural artistic
representations of disability (metaphors,
symbolism, political, etc.), historical and
contemporary

What are the primary ways that disabled

characters are represented?
Screening Stereotypes by Paul Longmore: a
disability historian, activist, one of the first to look at
the social construction of disability in the media
First published in 1985
Hundreds of disabled characters, but we overlook
their prevalence and frequent presence
Television and film supply quick and simple solutions
to complex problems of disability (for nondisabled
and disabled)
Popular entertainment alludes to the dominant
cultures fears and prejudices, reassure us about
ourselves

Longmore: Primary Stereotypes

Disability and criminality: evil, villainous, vengeful
against nondisabled people
Portrayals of adjustment: disabled war veteran,
maladjusted disabled person (disability is a matter of
psychological acceptance, not prejudice or
discrimination)
Compensated disabled person: granted a spiritual,
moral, mental or emotional gift to make-up for
their loss
Social integration impossible, character separated,
often chooses death (suicide)
Responsibility for the problem of disability put on
the disabled character

Which disability stereotype are you

most familiar with?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Evil doer or monster

Maladjusted disabled person
Gifted, or spiritually superior
I never noticed these stereotypes before

Narrative Prosthesis and the Dependencies

of Discourse by David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder (2001)
From identification of stereotype to how disability actually
functions as a pervasive narrative device
Narrative depends on disability as something out of place
Disability represents a metaphorical problem to be solved
by the narrative
Disability becomes the metaphorical embodiment of a social
problem.
Disability gives the metaphor flesh
Narrative solves this metaphorical problem by solving the
problem of disability through death, censure, resignification

Why do stereotypes and narrative

prosthesis matter?
The stories about disability and disabled people
become far removed from the actual lives of disabled
people.
They distract audiences away from the real problems
people with disabilities face (like prejudice,
discrimination, lack of resources, poor public policy)
Disability becomes laden with meaning, so that
stories about disability become formulaic.
Actual disabled artists are sidelined from
conversations about disability.

Where are Actual Disabled Actors in

Film?

Disabled People as Viewers

People with disabilities face barriers as
viewers
inaccessible buildings
lack of captioning and narrative description
the technology to use such accommodations

Stories told in film dont reflect the lived

experience of disability; they tend to fall into
predictable stereotypes

Access to the profession

Barriers to careers in film include:

Structural : buildings, theatres, rehearsal halls, audience spaces

Communication: lack of access to ASL, captioning, Braille,

censorship

Transportation: lack of affordable, reliable, and flexible

transportation for artists and audiences

Technological: assistive technology not always available for

artists or audiences

Stamina: long and erratic hours not suited to many pwds

Economic issues: lack of access to health insurance, personal

assistants, art-making materials

Education/Development

At each step in arts career development (aspirations

formal training career) people with disabilities face

low expectations

lack of access

discrimination

Professional training is essential but discriminatory

admission practices and lack of accommodation still exclude
many.

Attitudinal
Limited roles available for people with disabilities
The roles available for disabled performers often
contribute to negative attitudes about people with
disabilities, making them unattractive to disabled
actors.

Im back from break

A. And Im ready to watch the film
B. And Im still hungry
C. Wait! I forgot to pee!

When Billy Broke His Head and

Other Tales of Wonder (1995)
One of the first
documentaries post-ADA by
a disabled artist
Lays out issues faced by the
disability community
One of the first film to show
disabled people in
community
See tensions between the
medical and social models
Critically acclaimed

I stayed for the whole film

A. I earned my participation points!
B. I am beginning to see how the everyday
issues people with disabilities face are
complicated by media representations.
C. I am interested in how disabled people are
using media to combat mainstream media
representations.