Disability- where have you seen disabilities represented in TV Drama?

1. Disability- where have you seen disabilities represented in TV Drama? • Give as many examples as you can.

2. LO: To explore stereotypical representations of ability/disability in television drama

3. Colin Barnes (1992) Media continues to use stereotypes to portray disabled individuals in a negative/un-empowering way. Colin Barnes (1992) Disabling Imagery and the Media explains the stereotypes of disabled people in the media: • Object of violence • Sinister and evil • Atmosphere or curio • Super cripple • Object of ridicule • Their own worst and only enemy (having a chip on their shoulder) • Burden • Sexually abnormal • Incapable of participating fully in community life (Pitiable and pathetic) • Normal

4. Jenny Morris (1991) argues that cultural portrayals of disability are usually about the feelings of non-disabled people and their reactions to disability, rather than about disability itself. Disability thus becomes: “...a metaphor...for the message that the non-disabled writer wishes to get across, in the same way that ‘beauty’ is used. In doing this, the writer draws on the prejudice, ignorance and fear that generally exist towards disabled people, knowing that to portray a character with a humped back, with a missing leg, with facial scars, will evoke certain feelings in the reader or audience. The more disability is used as a metaphor for evil, or just to induce a sense of unease, the more the cultural stereotype is confirmed” (Morris, 1991).

5. Villains…!

6. Katie Piper…?

7. 4 Models of Disability • Moral • Personal Tragedy • Medical • Social

8. Moral Model • Two Parts • Religious and Spiritual origin • Punishment from God (ie: due to displeasure) • Evil spirits (possessed) • Witchcraft • Bad Karma (did something evil in the past) • Gift from God (cross to bear, angelic) • Character weakness • Corruptness • Immoral-ness • Examples: villains in movies, refrigerator mothers, faking, unmotivated

9. Personal Tragedy Model • Disability is considered a tragedy • Society needs to take care and protect persons with disabilities • If someone with a disability achieves something that a “normal” person does, then the person with a disability is looked at as inspirational (super crip) • This is often mixed with the Moral and Medical Models • Examples: inspiration news story, telethons, charities

10. Medical Model • An individual with a disability has a physical or mental impairment • The disability is within a person • Media has always depicted disability through the use of impairment “Impairment is made the most important thing” and disabled characters are “objectified and distanced from the audience.” - Tom Shakespeare, Disability Discourse, 1999 • Media focuses on portraying impairment through the influence of the medical model of disability • Medical model: ‘Disabled people’s inability to interact in normal daily life is direct result of their physical and/or mental impairment’ • Example: Tiny Tim in ‘A Christmas Carol’ - crippled child is defined by his disability and will only survive through medical intervention • Call for adopting the social model of disability has seen improvements, although media’s been slow-moving

11. Social Model • Instead of disability originates within the person, disability originates from society • Disability results from barriers in society and the environment • Physical barriers • Attitudinal barriers

12. Social Model • “...disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference” - Scope, registered charity no. 208231 • “It looks at ways of removing barriers” so that “disabled people can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives” – Scope • Example: wheelchair user wants to get into a building with steps. Under social model solution, a ramp would be added to the entrance so the wheelchair user is free to go into the building with ease. • Using medical model, there are very few solutions to help wheelchair users to climb stairs, which excludes them from essential and leisure activities

13. The Inbetweeners (5.18) Character is: • mocked • irritable • self-involved • self-pitying • there's a theme of not being able to say anything negative about him because he's disabled • "other"-ing

14. The Undateables • The Channel 4 series received both positive and negative praise. • Why?

15. Sam Wollaston – The Guardian • "I don't think there's anything exploitative about The Undateables. It's sensible, sensitive, kind. Not too kind though, not worthy, not head-on-the-side, sad-face, we feel so sorry for these poor people."

16. Disability Arts Online • "Disabled people are portrayed as lonely, desperate and overeager to find that ‘special someone’, often pushed by their mum. I have yet to see another dating show where mums are as ubiquitous as in this one."

17. Sheldon • Sheldon is one of the main characters from the extremely popular comedy The Big Bang Theory. • Sheldon is a socially awkward physicist with Aspergers syndrome. Asperger’s is a type of autism. • This show uses his Autistic traits to make people laugh. This works because what people find funny is usually things that our outside the social norm

18. In this clip, Sheldon is having trouble breaking his usual routine. This is very common in people with autism. They usually have stereotypical, compulsive behaviour. • This is a serious problem in which they must follow a very specific routine they cannot be broken or else they have temper tantrums or even go as far as to self harm. This ritualistic behaviour becomes very dangerous because it is extremely difficult for them to do anything that they aren't familiar with or in locations that they aren't used to.

19. This entire show is based on Sheldon's social awkwardness which is another serious issue that autistic people have. They see his lack of social understanding as funny because he doesn't realize that people are making rude comments about him or being sarcastic. This makes him look ignorant in the same way a "dumb blonde" stereotype would.

20. Visible Disabilities • Lauren Potter (Glee) • Jamie Brewer (American Horror Story) • Luke Zimmerman (Secret Life of the American Teenager) • Sean Berdy(Switched at Birth) –Deaf • RJ Mitte(Breaking Bad) – Cerebral Palsy • Herve` Villechaize(Fantasy Island) • Peter Hayden Dinklage(Game of Thrones) Downs Syndrome Dwarfism

21. Cerrie Burnell • The CBBC Presenter caused a stir when she first appeared as a presenter for the children’s TV channel.

22. Finding Nemo • Variety of characters suffer from 'abnormality‘ • Nemohas 'lucky fin‘ • Dory has short-term memory loss • Marlin has emotional disability and anxiety. • Gurgle has OCD • Gill has facial deformity • The film presents an accepting view of disability and abnormalities that differs from most narratives

23. Disability Studies Online • "'Finding Nemo' becomes an act of rescue, maturation, and acceptance of self and others for all the characters. Marlin learns to trust Nemo and his self-defined abilities, as prescriptive stereotypes of disability are tested and disproved and the protagonist's triumph is enabled." (2004)

24. The R-Word • Language used in media to describe disabled people offers a good indication whether social change has occurred. • However, language (especially colloquialism) is also becoming a barrier to this change.

25. TESCO & ASDA • Mental health stereotype Halloween costume taken off the shelves.

26. Despite this… Newspaper photographs do not help remove these stereotypes • The tabloids are a particularly potent source of disability representations. The Daily Mail, featured a Muslim cleric who had his hands blown off in Afghanistan. • He was pictured with his hooks on prominent display, described in the article as ‘metal claws’. • The article aimed to expose the supposed glut of ‘bogus asylum seekers’ who are also ‘terrorists’ and who are claiming social security benefits funded by taxpayers in Britain. • It thus combines iconic images of Muslim fundamentalist masculinity with disability in order to create and to maximise the fear of ‘foreignness’ associated with post 9/11 society.

27. To conclude… • The media is guilty of "other"-ing disabled people and widening the gap between people with impairments and those without. • Although it's evident that attitudes are changing and high profile media coverage of disabled people without the stereotypes are slowly becoming more frequent.