November 30, 2023 | OPINION | By Kole Petersen
As 2023 ends, many publications will highlight the best-and-worst movies and TV shows released over the past year. From the highly-covered counterprogramming of “Barbenheimer” to the critically panned show “Velma,” the exhausting number of Top 10 lists that we will see in our feeds this month seek to determine the releases that stood out the most on both ends of the entertainment spectrum.
However, I am not here to discuss the quality of the movies and shows that we have been fed this year. Rather, I believe it is essential to talk about the systemic lack of representation of disabilities in media that has sadly continued into the first quarter of the 21st century.
Last month, The University of California Los Angeles released its annual report investigating diversity in Hollywood productions. While this report has been published annually since 2014, this year’s edition was the first to include disability status alongside race, ethnicity, gender identity and age. Although the previous absence of disability as an analyzed factor in other research was due to a lack of reliable data and not negligence on the part of authors, the lack of data collection up to this point serves as an immediate tell that the representation of disabled people in media leaves much to be desired.
The study found that over 67% of scripted broadcast shows had no actors with disabilities in their main casts, with this figure rising to 77% for cable and digital platforms. Additionally, the share of main cast roles for actors with known disabilities is far below the proportionate representation; although 26% of the U.S. population has a disability, less than 6% of main cast roles were given to disabled actors across broadcast, cable and digital shows.
Of actors with disabilities who appeared in TV shows during the 2021-2022 season, most had developmental, neurological or mental health disabilities. In broadcast scripted shows, only two actors had a visible physical or hearing disability, highlighting the fact that “actors with visible disabilities were essentially excluded from the small screen in 2021-22.”
This problem is not exclusive to the small screen; 9.1% of top theatrical releases included leads with disabilities of any kind, and only 5% of all roles were played by actors with disabilities, once again demonstrating a severe underrepresentation of disabilities in Hollywood films. Furthermore, most of these lead actors did not have visible physical disabilities, showing that Hollywood is not ready to allow physically disabled actors to have their well-deserved and needed time in the spotlight.
However, it is not accurate that audiences are hesitant to watch movies and shows featuring cast members with disabilities. For instance, two of the most popular shows of 2022, those being “Stranger Things”and “Hawkeye,” both feature a substantial number of disabled actors,suggesting that the lack of disabled representation in media is not due to a lack of interest by the public. Why, then, are disabled actors still egregiously underrepresented in media?
I would argue that the primary reason for this phenomenon is the harmful misrepresentation of disabilities in popular culture that Hollywood has perpetuated.
Three years ago, I delivered a talk discussing the problems of how autism was presented in Sia’s movie “Music,”where I emphasized that the harmful stereotypes depicted in the film represent a continuation of Hollywood infantilizing the autistic person and degrading them into a mere play piece. Furthermore, I have written numerous pieces about depictions of disabilities in other popular media, one of the most notable of which being the vilification of Dissociative Identity Disorder in M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Split.”
Concisely, I am passionate about the fact that there is a glaring issue with how Hollywood has depicted disabilities in the products that they release. From Sheldon’s personification of the “Rain Man” stereotype in “The Big Bang Theory” to the physically disabled Quasimodo being seen as pitiful in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the inclusion of disabled characters in media often focuses on the disability rather than the character themselves.
Currently, the disabled person in film and TV is an archetype of institutionally reinforced stereotypes instead of the dynamic characters played by non-disabled actors. Not all autistic people are innocent and childlike, and not all people with mental illnesses are ruthless villains. Yet the Forrest Gumps and Jokers of the world have made these harmful perceptions socially accepted. Thus, for the problem of underrepresentation to be resolved, the systemic issues regarding ableist portrayals of disabilities in popular culture need to be addressed and rectified.
Thankfully, despite the patronizing and horrific history of disabled representation in popular culture, there has been some progress in recent years regarding the humanization of disabled characters and the inclusion of disabled people in Hollywood. With the advent of titles such as “Ralphand Katie,” a comedy-drama following a newlywed couple who have down syndrome during their first year of marriage, and “CODA,” a drama film sharing the story of a child of deaf adults, the realities of disabilities are being presented more accurately than ever. These positive developments are finally allowing disabled actors to get their chance to shine.
Hopefully, 2024 will be an even more illustrious year for disabled representation in Hollywood; not just in numbers and prevalence, but in vulnerability and relatability.