The Representation:Disability:

By Zak Labiad

What is It?

Disability:Noun: disability;plural noun: disabilitiesa physical or mental condition that limits a person's

movements, senses, or activities.

General Perspective of disability through Media: Nearly through every form of media. Disability is seen as something of a negative of ant portrayal of that character.

Negative examples:Mental Disabilities:

• Forest Gump: normally the ‘butt’ of all jokes in the distinguished film. It’s known the character Forest has learning/mental difficulties, yet the film decides to focus around all the misfortunes that surround him, encapsulating his incapability in everyday activities.

• Hannibal lecter: the madman whom is known for his cannibalism. Being very severely disabled of course he would be seen as the villain of the film, relating him to such frowned upon activities such as eating human flesh, the once professor is seen as a disgrace and a failure in life, as is the negative representation of disability.

• The Joker: an arch enemy of Batman, and considered a very unhinged psychopath, the constant retelling of the white skin, bleached hair and lips as well as his immoral viewpoint that killing and destruction can be seen as fun as well as a joke really does create the perception of people with a disability being horrific and unhinged just like this character.

Physical Disability:

• Captain Hook: A very well known fictional villain known for his cruelly to children, and of course the loss of his hand and the hook that replaces it. Evidently the hook gives of negative connotations of evil, but is regularly seen as weapon highlighting the suggestion that because he has a disability he is seen as different from normality thus immediately an enemy.

• Bond villains: classic James bond villains nearly always have an odd disability of disfigurement (Blofeld with the scar, Jaws with the silver teeth, Dr No with the metallic hands) all are seen as very evil of which they rightly are, yet the disability adds to oddity of the character as though the films encourage us to mock and look down upon the villains, not just for immorality but again for a very evident disability.

• Superheroes Villains: all villains in superhero comics/films/TV are either deformed. Take the Penguin Batman Returns for examples, a small fat ugly grotesque man who kills for revenge and pleasure. Yet because of his appearance he wants revenge and therefore because of his disability to fit with the appearance of normality he is therefore of representation of characters with a visible disability to be untrustworthy and horrid.

• Richard III: Evil, calculating and ruthless, as well as being seen portrayed as a Nazi in the 1996 film, being written by Shakespeare this figure with the Hunchback is widely known for his disability and therefore can be seen as a common, and thus excepted viewpoint of people with disabilities.

Positive Examples:There are very few positive examples of disability from within any form of media yet there examples of

which the disability can be seen to be used as a way of power and positivity:

Professor X: Charles Xavier is the head of an organisation of the mutants in the X-Men films. Despite him having the disability of him being in a wheel chair is portrayed as both charming, ruthless, a key figure that speaks outwards against injustice and discrimination, as well as being very intelligent. The fact that such a powerful figure in these seriesof films, not only helps to fight against the stereotypes of people with disabilities as being ‘incapable’ but also the disability helps to signify the characters intelligence as well as his power.

John Watson (SHERLOCK): At the beginning of the first series of Sherlock, the detectives companion, Jon Watson, comes back from his disturbing war troubles from Afghanistan with the war wound of being shot in the leg, making it very hard for him to walk, as well as him having to use a cane to move around. Yet despite the fact that John starts of with a disability, John steadily learns to overcome that disability as he begins to help others as well as solving crimes and seeking justice with his detective friend Sherlock.