Samples and summary of faculty scholarly activities - St. John Fisher ...

major and minor parts can contest the idea that disability is an individual plight, and assert that disability
is a social and political issue that involves discrimination, negative imagery, and lack of opportunity
(Linton, Mello, and O'Neill 1995; Linton 1998). If read uncritically, a film such as Rainman, while a
somewhat accurate portrayal of some forms of autism, reaffirms the decisive separations our society
makes in "creating the normal versus the pathological, the insider versus the outsider, or the competent
citizen versus the ward of the state" (Linton 1998, 2). From the perspective of disability studies, critical
analysis of themes in film and disability imagery "puts into relief patterns of behaviors and policy that have
significant consequences for disabled people" (Linton, Mello, and O'Neill 1995). These representations
are the outcome of attitudes and beliefs that include a fear of disability and pity for people with disabilities.
Disability is around us more than we are willing to recognize or notice, and those who are temporarily
able bodied may hold anxieties about the possibilities of disablement, of themselves or someone close to
them. What we fear, we stigmatize, stereotype, and avoid (Longmore 1985; Safran 1998). Films reflect
this pattern, and often the representations of disability portrayed in film differ vastly from the lived
experience of disability. Typically, movies that depict disability often do so with the purpose of affirming
able-bodied audiences of their normality (Ellis 2003). Thus, film has the capacity to create "derogatory
stereotypes that reinforce negative social attitudes and result in prejudice and discrimination" (Safran
1998, 475). Although the intention of filmmakers is not necessarily to depict reality, these images take on
political meanings and consequently help shape the daily obstacles formed by public perceptions,
creating "negative outcomes for persons with disabilities" (Safran 1998, 475).
Stereotypic representations of individuals with disabilities in film include those that revolve around pity,
innocence, and adventure, culminating in heroic status. Norden's "sweet innocent" is a disabled character
who inspires pity, like Dickens' Tiny Tim, who is far more "reactive than proactive and seem[s] to bring out
the protectiveness of every good-hearted able-bodied person who [comes] his or her way" (Norden 1994,
33). Many disabled male characters are "comic misadventurers" (Norden 1994, 28), who may provide
comic relief, but who rarely get the girl. The inverse of the pitiable "sweet innocent" is the "civilian
superstar," or supercrip. This character is "a heroic disabled person" (Norden 1994, 28), who overcomes
his or her disability to accomplish amazing feats or to save nondisabled characters.
Characters with disabilities are usually pitied until they garner the respect of others and are then elevated
to elite status by acts of heroism. "Civilian superstars" sometimes become "tragic victims," whose deaths
are mired in the heroism of their actions, and the audience is led to believe that their deaths are
necessary; as a result, while audiences may weep for the victim, they understand that the disabled
character could not possibly remain in the world (Hayes and Black 2003). All of these conceptualizations
function to present disability as a narrative device to advance the plot of a film or to serve as foils to or
saviors of nondisabled characters (Mitchell 2002). This is certainly the case in Simon Birch and The
Mighty.
Reading Film in the Middle School Classroom
Middle school students, as adolescents, are increasingly able to "think beyond the concrete, current
situation to what might or could be … Instead of viewing problems as having black-and-white solutions,
they are capable of perceiving shades of gray" (Feldman 2008, 70). This developing skill plays an
important role as teachers help students understand that there are many ways to portray disability, and
critically reading film includes seeing multiple possibilities.