Jillian Bleackley

Recently, I was scrolling through the list of movies on Netflix, and I stumbled across The Prom. Earlier that day, my dad and mom encouraged me to watch it because I love musicals, so I did. To me, this film had all of the makings of a great movie except for one glaring omission; there were no people with physical disabilities represented in this movie, except one character who portrayed Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a play.

This is unfortunate because The Prom is a show advocating diversity and acceptance. If one marginalized group is excluded, does that really advocate for acceptance?

Why is it so hard for directors to appropriately and correctly represent people with disabilities in their work? In my estimation, this comes down to possibly being uneducated. It’s also due to fear of not accurately portraying disabled people. But people with disabilities are humans too.

To solve this problem, directors could have more consultations with people with disabilities so they can accurately depict disabled people without infantilizing them. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are treated as much more innocent, younger, or weaker in both real life and in the movies. Examples of movies with characters like this include Rain Man, Forest Gump, and I Am Sam. If you’ve ever seen or heard an adult disabled person being spoken to or treated like a child, you understand what I mean.

The Way Disabled People Are Portrayed Is Appalling

When people with disabilities are portrayed, they are often depicted as one-dimensional characters. Ryan Murphy’s other famous show, Glee, had a lot of one-dimensional disabled characters in it. Becky is a cheerleader with Down syndrome whose disability is used to make other able-bodied characters feel better about themselves. Teachers intervene to make sure that she’s on the cheerleading team “for the right reasons” because it’s implied that she would never make it on her own merit. Although the actress who plays Becky has Down syndrome in real life, her character is still totally one-dimensional.

Artie is yet another example of Glee’s one-dimensional characters. Artie, who’s played by a nondisabled person, is in a wheelchair on the show. The one episode that stands out in my head is called “Wheels,” where, at first, Artie is not able to go on a school field trip with Glee Club.

On the show they were trying to get a wheelchair-accessible bus for him to go to a singing competition. Some of the characters were sympathetic to his dilemma, but some of them minimized it and just asked— and I quote—”Why can’t his dad drive him, as he does everywhere?” That repeated over and over in my head like a movie reel because I had similar experiences in school. My dad had to drive me from Abbotsford, Canada, to Vancouver to see a play in the seventh grade. Unfortunately, people can be shortsighted and not inclusive, even if they don’t mean to be.

One of the most offensive parts of “Wheels” was when the entire able-bodied cast got wheelchairs to use as props and did disabled dance as a way to placate Artie. Another word for this is appropriation.

Glee is not the only show in which disabilities are portrayed negatively. Throughout my research, I have discovered how disabilities can be amplified to make characters look scarier—for example, Darth Vader or Captain Hook. As for Captain Hook, literally, his name speaks for himself. When you think of Captain Hook, what do you picture? In terms of Darth Vader, I think Obi-Wan Kenobi nailed his description when he said, “he’s more machine now than man, twisted and evil.” Darth Vader’s disability unequivocally makes him evil.

There are several other examples of the deplorable depictions of people with disabilities in movies—case in point, Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump has been able to lead an enriched life because of his disability. Forrest Gump’s character is trumpeted as an inspirational character, and we are urged to feel sorry for him throughout the movie. The infamous scene of “run, Forrest, run,” when his girlfriend Jenny urges him to run away from the bullies so hard that his braces on his legs break, is ridiculous. In real life, that would never happen, and it would leave nasty marks if it ever did. Also, how can a disabled person suddenly become nondisabled?

Unfortunately, Forrest Gump wasn’t blessed with the highest IQ, but he was able to be successful at things that most people could only dream of and that require a lot of training. One of the central plotlines of Forrest Gump is his and Jenny’s relationship. I find it fascinating that Jenny could be so ignorant of Forrest’s feelings. I also find it very interesting that she blatantly uses him throughout the movie.

People with Disabilities are often Overlooked for Parts—Even of Disabled Characters!

After extensive research and watching movies and TV shows, I’ve come to the startling conclusion that there isn’t enough representation of people with disabilities in the film industry. Even characters that have disabilities are not played by people with disabilities—for example, Kevin McCale in Glee. Able-bodied people play ninety-five percent of disabled characters on television.

We all know the rapper Drake, but on the popular show Degrassi, he played the character Jimmy Brooks who was injured in a school shooting which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Again, and I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall, Drake is not disabled.

I’ve also been racking my brain, and I cannot come up with a single actor or actress with a disability that is as well-known as Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Sometimes I feel like society just ignores me altogether. I would like to change this desperately. I’m still wrestling with a way to change this. As the disabled community, we need to become our own activists and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Sadly, it comes down to four things: money, laziness, lack of awareness, and infantilization. We need to sit down at the communal table and promote access for all.

Promoting Accessibility through Awareness

Let’s work together! Here are a few good places to start.

• Sensitivity readers should be used to make sure that people with disabilities are being portrayed accurately and not infantilized in scripts.
• People with disabilities should get priority for roles of disabled people.
• Budgets should include creating equal access for all on sets.
• Grants and scholarships should be given to disabled directors and screenwriters.
• There should be no more rampant stereotypes of people with disabilities and disability appropriation in film, and no more discrimination against people with disabilities.