FILMS AS PROTEST: TOWARDS EQUITABLE DISABILITY REPRESENTATION IN FILMS

Abstract

Films can contribute to disability advocacies through a critique of ableist attitudes and discriminations against disabled people. Film’s potentials are found in its popularity as a mass medium and its unique quality as a storytelling media combining moving pictures and sounds. Studies have found that films have predominantly represented disabilities stereotypically through tropes such as pity and tragedy, thereby misrecognizing disability identity (Norden, 1994; Safran, 1998; Black & Pretes, 2007). Other studies have found that the prevalence of using nondisabled actors to play disabled roles represents media injustice and inauthentic portrayal of disabilities (Ross, 1997; Siebers, 2016; Kuppers, 2007; Haller, 2019). This paper offers initial recommendations on the use of films as protest for disabled people in a time where disability identity and inclusion are more salient. Arising from workshops held with disabled people and filmmakers to co-produce knowledge on authentic representation, the recommendations in this paper reflect ways forward for inclusive disability representation on screen.