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of disability in television
- According to the House of Commons within the British Parliament, about 22% of the general population identify with having a disability. 1
- "When characters have disabilities, they are often portrayed in negative, stereotypical, and unauthentic ways"
(Barnes,1992;Lane,2019;Longmore,1987). 2
People who identify as being disabled make up a large part of the population
- Without giving people with disabilities accurate and respecful respresentation within television, we are continuing to prescribe false metanarratives of what it actually means to be disabled
- It is important to be aware of these issues to support those with a disability
Metanarrative: a culmination of several other accounts into one; essentially a story within a story
- Metanarratives within disability studies are often defined by others who are not disabled
- In Bolt's writings, they emphasize this point by giving several examples of why metanarratives of disability can be wrong and harmful (2021) 3
- So called "notions of duty" which impose pity upon a disabled person. 3
- Disabled individuals only make up a small portion of the population
- Disabilities have to be visible
- It is ok to make fun of a disability
- A disabled person's identity is that they are disabled 3
"Mini-Me"
As Pritchard states in her Metanarrative of Dwarfism, this extremely negative narrative of a disability openly mocks the actor and makes his personality completely revolve around his dwarfism. (Pritchard 2021) 4
As television producers, you understand that people can interpret a show in several different ways.
Example of polysemic response: Do you see a rabbit or a duck?
Disabled people are also very likely to interpret a television show differently from one another.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to take into account polysemic responses from those who are disabled to a film or show that features a disabled person.
In 2014, a study was conducted at Towson University to better understand these polysemic responses to television and movies. (Haller & Zhang) 5
The study found that:
- Out of the total 390 disabled participants who watched several snippets of American films and shows portraying disability, most found each clip to be inaccurate of real life as a disabled person
- However, many disagreed on whether it was inherently a 'good' portrayal of disabled people
- This shows that although people who are disabled may agree on certain things, it is vital to remember that all disabled people are not the same and most likely differ in opinion
If you are portraying a person who is disabled in a show or movie, it could be beneficial to host a focus group with disabled people to view the show or movie in order to understand the possible responses and make it even better!
- Larger representation of people with a disability in television
- Accurate and respectful representation of disabled people in television
We Can Do this By:
- Employing more disabled actors
- Understanding the negative metanarratives surrounding disability as what not to do
- Taking into account disabled people's polysemic responses
- Avoiding psycho-emotional disabilism through film
Within cultural disability studies, psycho-emotional disabilism refers to a type of oppression on those with a disability. (Hernandez-Saca, 2016). 6
-This form of oppression is much more personal and for the disabled community, it often makes them feel 'not normal'
-This should be an important idea within the production of television as television is watched by so many and disabled individuals make up a great deal of that population
I hope that these ideas from cultural disability studies and from disabled people themselves help to make television greater for all to watch.
Other Possible Reasons to Use This Information:
- Avoid being 'cancelled' or even a lawsuit
- The disabled community makes up a large portion of the population and without their support you are losing out on viewers
- It is the right thing to do
1. Kirk-Wade, Esme. “UK Disability Statistics: Prevalence and Life Experiences.” UK Parliament House of Commons Library, 29 July 2022, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9602/.
2. Gulka, Heidi J., et al. “Acting the Part: A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of Actors with Disabilities.” Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, Canadian Disabilities Association, 31 Mar. 2022, https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/856.
3. Bolt, D. (2021) Prologue. In Bolt, D. (ed) Metanarratives of Disability: Culture, Assumed Authority, and the Normative Social Order. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. xvii-xix.
4. Pritchard, Erin. The Metanarrative of Dwarfism. Metanarratives of Disability, 2021, pp. 123–138., https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003057437-11.
5. Haller, B. & Zhang L. (2014). Stigma or Empowerment? What Do Disabled People Say About Their Representation In News and Entertainment Media? Review of Disability Studies. (9) 4. https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/article/view/45
6. Hernandez-Saca, David I., and Mercedes A. Cannon. “Disability as Psycho-Emotional Disablism: A Theoretical and Philosophical Review of Education Theory and Practice.” Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2016, pp. 1–7., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_456-1.