The Visibility of Disability: Disabled Representation in Media



Recall the last movie, TV-Show, or book you have read. Were there any characters that had a disability in it? More importantly, did you notice that there was a lack of disabled representation in the media you were consuming? In a society that treats disability as an oddity, it is rare for disabled people to see themselves represented in the media. Oftentimes, writers and TV-producers choose to exclude disabled people in their movies, books, and TV-shows because they are fearful that including a character that does not fit into the mold of a “normal” person would make the audience uncomfortable. On other occasions, a disabled person will be included, except the character is an offensive caricature of a disbaled person. Because good representation of disability in the media is scarce, disabled people feel even more alienated from a society that prefers able-bodied people. Fortunately, there has been an increase in accurate diasbled representation in the past few years. Netflix's hit show, Daredevil, features a three-dimensional blind character that fights crime. On the big screen, Lauren Ridloff plays the deaf superhero, Makari, in Marvel’s Eternals. In her interview with The New York Times, Ridloff shares her feelings about disbaled representation, “ I thought I was one of only a few deaf people walking on this Earth. Now, as an adult, I’m aware there are at least 466 million deaf people and hard-of-hearing people out there. I’m not the only one. And that’s what it means to have a deaf superhero — a lot more people will see a lot more possibility.”

Comments

  1. Shambhavi SalgaonkarJanuary 30, 2022 at 9:57 AM

    Wow Sydney! I like how you included the interview from the Marvel's Eternals actress, it supported your claim about proper representation for disabled people well, and so did the link. It's nice to know that media is getting better at accepting accurate representation, and quote that you used further proves this point. Thank you for talking about this important topic. Good Job!

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  2. HaajirahJanuary 30, 2022 at 7:01 PM

    The way you connected what we did in class to a real life example was really smooth! It is a step in the right direction now that there are more shows and movies being released with characters with disabilities and from other minority groups are being given representation as well. Great blogpost!
    ~Haajirah :)

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  3. Kaitlin CalleFebruary 1, 2022 at 8:29 PM

    I loved how you tied everything from the Nancy Mairs essay into the real world in a way that made it so significant. Bringing up the media and it’s portrayal of certain minorities is such a vital part of understanding how representation currently is and what would need to change further down the line in order to have equality within all groups of people, specifically people with physical disabilities (as talked about in your post).

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