On Tue, 12 Mar 1996 Peter S. Latham wrote: > Writings on the depiction of race and gender in films are plentiful but I've > seen very little on disabilities. > > It seems to me that disabilities are portrayed for several limited purposes: (snip) > Any comments would be deeply appreciated. > > Peter L. > > P.S. My interest in this topic stems in part from my role as co-founder of > the National Center for Law and Learning Disabilities. Peter-- May I immodestly refer you to a book I published in 1994 through Rutgers U. Press called _The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies_? In it, I examine the stereotypic images found in almost 100 years worth of American mainstream movies and also attempt to locate them within their socio-cultural and industrial contexts. It addresses many of the points that you raised in your post. You might also look over Lauri Klobas's _Disability Drama in Television and Film_ (McFarland, 1988) and John Schuchman's _Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry_ (U. of Illinois, 1988) for additional perspectives. In 1991, Routledge published a book called _Images of Disability on Television_, but I'm afraid I don't have the authors' names handy. Finally, the Mugar Library at Boston University has a 1993 Masters thesis by Jennifer Kaplan called "Images of Disability in American Television." I only learned about it several days ago, however, and I haven't had the chance to check it out yet. Hope this information helps. --Marty Norden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OO Martin F. Norden [_]<| Dept. of Communication [log in to unmask] /|\ University of Massachusetts/Amherst fax: 413 545-6399 Amherst, MA 01003 USA tel: 413 545-0598, 545-1311 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]