The number of disabled characters in film, TV and radio is growing every day, as more and more producers become aware of the issue of representation. A growing number of disabled lobby groups are making themselves heard amongst the correct audience of film and program makers. This is great news, in our quest for a more inclusive society.
However, whilst the quantity of portrayals increases, the quality of these portrayals is poor – and often those portrayals border on the insensitive and insulting.
Still too often we see non-disabled actors playing roles written for disabled people. Imagine, in this day and age, if you had a blacked-up white actor playing Othello! It’s no exaggeration to say the use of non-disabled actors is as hurtful as the Black and White Minstrel Show was in its time.
Similarly difficult to accept is tokenism. So many parts for disabled actors are entirely incidental to storylines – to such an extent that they feel shoe-horned in to scripts. Of course I advocate a fair & realistic number of representations of disability in the media, but too often representations feel totally unrealistic.
Producers are beginning to hear the need for inclusion by portraying all of society, but they’re not always featuring real people with real experiences, or disabled characters often look like they’ve been thrown in to make up the numbers.
