The Representation of Disability in Movies : Disability as a Problem of Communication

Abstract

Since the inception of film history, disability issues have been treated in a variety of movies. Because there was little understanding of how to communicate with the disabled, until recently films have portrayed disabilities as a condition evoking discrimination, fear, and pity. In recent years, however, films have emerged that present disability as another form of diversity with which we coexist. This has happened due to improved methods of communication. At a glance these portrayals of disability appear to invite the audience to confront disability issues, but in actuality these films fail to acknowledge the variety of types of disabilities. The films are framed within a stereotypical style of communication that is no more than a mechanism used to introduce disabilities in a way that the audience can understand. This paper illustrates the depiction of disabilities in film, discussing the (im) possibility of analyzing these representations in terms of the medical and social models of disability. The paper concludes that the portrayal of disabilities in film is "a problem of communication."