Disability Erasure and Casting in Visual Media

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today is going to be another post about disability. This time it's about disability--or lack thereof--in visual media. Toward the end of this post, I will go into the best movies/media that have good disabled characters. 

There will be some spoilers included for the movies I discuss, so just be aware of that and click away if you don't want to be spoiled once I mention the movies.

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

Visual media can mean many things, but in this case I'm talking about movies and TV shows. However, not just any movies and TV shows. I'm talking about the movies and TV shows put out by Hollywood, movies in particular. My examples include, but are not limited to: The Hunger Games, Music, and Me Before You. 

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There's always the topic of diversity surrounding Hollywood, especially when it comes to backlash of the everyday person. This backlash usually happens because someone who is not part of that culture is casted as that specific character. It's been seen with non-people of color voicing characters who are people of color. It's been seen in movies about the LGBTQIA+ community that a person who is not part of that community is casted as the role. However, one that is mentioned (but seldom by everyday people) is the issue of disability representation in Hollywood.

There are plenty of disabled actors and actresses in Hollywood, yet you see numerous times in TV shows and movies where a non-disabled actor/actress is cast in as a disabled character. This can mean numerous and all disabilities including but not limited to: anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, autism, roles where there is a wheelchair-user, and other visible and invisible disabilities. Off the top of my head, I can think of seven instances where this is true, though I know there are numerous more.  

People with mental disabilities such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are commonly used tropes in horror movies as well as those with personality disorders. The disabled person is usually the villain, while the non-disabled person is the hero. This has gotten better in recent years, though it can still be an issue when it comes to the stereotype of 'ugliness' and 'beauty.'

In cases where it is possible to cast a disabled actor, they should be cast in the role. Some people will agree with me, while others will disagree. I saw a comment recently (I don't remember where) where someone mentioned that someone told them something along the lines of 'if we have to cast disabled people to play disabled characters, does that mean we have to cast actual murderers as murderers in films?' For one, if someone is saying that casting a disabled actor in a disabled role is akin to casting a murderer as a murderer, then I have to call nonsense.

Murder is a choice. Disability is not. Someone doesn't choose to be disabled. It's the same as being Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian. You can't choose your skin tone or your heritage. It's a part of you. To compare disabled people with murderers is a direct insult, and one of the exact reasons why the disabled villain trope still exists.

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Let's discuss Me Before You. For this, I'm not going to be discussing the plot of the movie, nor the plot of the book. I have heard the controversies regarding it, but because I have never read or watched it, I will keep my personal opinions to myself. What I will be discussing is the lack of casting of a disabled actor in one of the main roles. Sam Claflin was cast as Will Traynor, an active sportsman who is now a quadriplegic after being hit by a motorcycle.

I really enjoyed Claflin's performances in both Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as well as his role as Finnick O'Dair in Catching Fire, but in this day and age when Hollywood is 'trying to be more diverse,' it's offensive. I'm not a wheelchair-user, nor have I ever been a wheelchair-user, but this doesn't sit right with me nonetheless. However, perhaps it's good that a disabled person wasn't cast in this role as Will ends up dying at the end of the movie and book due to an assisted suicide. 

For Will's character, the directors/Hollywood couldn't do much. They were largely left at the mercy of the original source material.

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Another example is The Hunger Games movie. At the end of the first book, Katniss is forced to use a tourniquet on Peeta's leg in order to save his life. Because she used a tourniquet, Peeta ends up being an amputee and ends up getting a prosthetic leg, which he has for the entirety of the rest of the book series. This detail was completely left out of the movie.

I know that Josh Hutcherson isn't disabled. He isn't an amputee, but he doesn't have to be for them to say something. How hard is it to mention that Peeta's leg had to be amputated? How hard is it to allude to it? It isn't. A simple statement or action would suffice, yet that isn't done. Peeta's injury isn't as severe, and he ends up walking out of the Hunger Games with both his legs. When it comes to adaptations, why are the character's disabilities always being erased? It isn't fair to disabled people.

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Yet another example is Music, a movie directed by singer-songwriter Sia. There are multiple problems with this movie, one of which is that a non-autistic actress was cast to play the main character, Music. This sparked a whole debate on Twitter. There are links at the end of this post that explain this further for those who are interested.

The problem with this film is that it is not accessible to most autistic people. Supposedly, Sia did three years of research on Music. For spending three years on this project, there are a few things she should've found out during her research.

One, Sia mentioned that she partnered with Autism Speaks for the film. For those of you unfamiliar, the majority of the autistic community don't like Autism Speaks and even label them as a hate group. 

Autism Speaks actually released a horror-like commercial many years ago (the I Am Autism commercial) as well as a documentary where a mom said that the only thing keeping her from driving her and her autistic daughter off a bridge was the fact that she had another daughter, who isn't autistic. I've seen both of those videos on YouTube, and they are both equally horrifying. You can find both of these videos easily. While the mother one could perhaps be taken out of context and twisted, the horror-like commercial cannot.

Another problem is the use of restraints in the film. This is typically when someone crushes/restrains autistic people who are having meltdowns (usually in instances where the autistic person isn't endangering themselves or others). This usually leads to injury to the autistic individual, and in some cases even death. In my opinion, that doesn't seem like something that would be there if there was three years of useful, productive research learned.

I mentioned at the beginning of this section that the movie isn't accessible to autistic people. What I mean by that is this. Many autistics also have seizures. Strobe lights can cause seizures. In a movie that is supposed to have autism representation, it's quite disappointing that many members of the autism community can't watch the movie due to the dangers of having a seizure.

It's simply a movie about an non-disabled autism caretaker--the main character's sister--for a non-disabled, non-autistic audience.

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One of the best movies I've seen with disability rep in terms of casting disabled actors is Dolphin Tale, and that movie is already 10 years old. There are also many Disney animated movies that have good disability rep. The movies that tend to have the best reps for disability are animated movies.

One of my absolute favorites is Finding Nemo. Nemo, the titular character, has a bad/disabled fin due to a barracuda attack at the beginning of the movie that occurs when he is still inside an egg. Gill, one of the fish in the dentist's office, is also a good example of a physically disabled character in this film. 

Finding Dory is another example of fabulous disability representation with Dory, Nemo, Destiny, and Hank. There are numerous Disney/Marvel characters who are disabled including but not limited to: King Fergus (Brave), CeCe Jones (Shake It Up), Thor Odinson (MCU), Bucky Barnes (MCU), Della Duck (Ducktales), Coco Rivera (Coco), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and Lord Milori (Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings). Another character who tends to be grouped in is Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck-It-Ralph, a character many autistic people identify with.

While Disney movies have many villains who are disabled (Captain Hook [based on a book], John Silver, Captain Barbossa [though his story is a lot like Severus Snape's], and Davy Jones), they also have many disabled characters who are good, which I appreciate. Movies and TV shows can write a disabled character as the villain, as long as it makes sense and also has a disabled character/history of having a disabled character who is good.

One of my favorite non-Disney movies with disability rep is How to Train Your Dragon, a trilogy released by Dreamworks. The main character, Hiccup, ends up with a prosthetic leg at the end of the first film and has the metallic prosthesis for the rest of the film franchises and its respective spin-off shows. 

Toothless, the main dragon in the franchise also ends up with a prosthesis on the left side of his tail. Both Toothless and Hiccup are disabled on the same side. From what I can tell, Hiccup and Toothless don't have these disabilities in the original books. Instead, they have matching scars on their chests. Personally, I think I love the Dreamworks version of this more.

A good example of disability rep in a TV show is Shadow and Bone, a Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I talk about this in my review for the show, but the actor who plays Kaz Brekker isn't disabled. 

If the disability is played well and accurately, it's usually more difficult to complain. The problem is that most movies that have disabled characters (especially when they portray autism) portray them in an unrealistic and caricature-ish way. Freddy Carter (the guy that plays Kaz) isn't disabled, but he sells the character. In my opinion, he did a fantastic job.

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There are some instances where it's hard to cast a disabled actor in the role. In movies where characters become disabled midway through the movie, it's difficult to cast disabled actors. The three examples I can think of are X-Men: Days of Future Past, Everything, Everything, and Soul Surfer. 

Days of Future Past has a scene where Charles Xavier becomes disabled. Everything, Everything is about a girl with SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Because SCID is such a severe disease, it makes sense that a disabled girl with SCID wasn't cast. Soul Surfer does the same thing as X-Men: Days of Future Past as it is a biographical drama film about Bethany Hamilton, a shark attack survivor and surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark. 

In the first instance though (non-disabled character becomes disabled midway through movie/show), disabled actors can still be cast. Just cast an ambulatory wheelchair user in the role and your problems are solved.

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Even more than the casting issue, I'm frustrated that usually a character's disability will be taken away once it's translated to the screen, most notably in movies such as The Hunger Games franchise. I find this incredibly problematic and insulting. Disabled representation deserves to be shown in movies as well, not just healthy, non-disabled people.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

Further information: 

The Insider: Sia's 'Music' (opens in new window)

Just Jared: Sia's 'Music' Twitter (opens in new window)