On Wed, 6 May 1998, William A Goodman wrote: > Thanks to all who responded to my request regarding films and > disabilities. On the subject of scarcity, I don't consider 25 films > featuring disabled characters to be very many in relation to all the > films available. Think how many more films examine gender or race > relations in comparison. Also, the films that most know of that feature > disabled characters center around their struggles with their > disabilities. There are little, if any, films that feature disabled > characters simply living their lives along with the rest of society. > Just like other minorities, we disabled people are here in society, but > are drastically underrepresented in film. Any comments? A couple of thoughts, William. With regard to the sheer number of films with disabled characters, let me say that the ones mentioned in this thread constitute a mere fraction of the films out there. Years ago, when I was researching my book, I consulted the AFI catalogs and looked up such key terms as "amputation," "blindness," "disabled persons," "invalids," "paralysis," "paraplegia," and so on. I learned that there were more than 400 movies *during the 1910s and 1920s alone* that depicted people with disabilities, and that number doesn't include the countless one- and two-reelers. (I hesitate to cite a specific figure based on the AFI catalogs, since they're not infallible. They don't note, for example, that the John Gilbert character in _The Big Parade_ loses a leg or that the female lead in _The Strong Man_ is blind.) Anyway, my point is that hundreds, if not thousands, of films with disabled characters have been produced over the years. I do agree with your second point, though. When Hollywood filmmakers aren't associating disability with consummate goodness or consummate evil (or slapstick comedy), they frequently treat it as a problem to be "overcome." They have almost always framed the struggle as a "tragedy and triumph" sort of thing and placed the burden squarely on the individual. Their movies suggest that sheer strength of character is sufficient to win the day (often in the form of a climactic passing-for-able-bodied scene) in a world where such nasties as discrimination and architectural barriers seldom raise their ugly heads and wise able-bodied people save the disabled folks from themselves. Hollywood has occasionally moved beyond the "problem-picture" level to recreate the everyday-ness of disability (e.g., several relatively low-key moments in _Coming Home_ and _The Player_), but such instances are rare. The incidental treatment of disability in the movies, it seems, is still a long way off. --Marty Norden --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martin F. Norden OO Dept. of Communication, Box 34815 [log in to unmask] [_]<| University of Massachusetts-Amherst fax: 413 545-6399 /|\ Amherst, MA 01003-4815 USA vox: 413 545-0598, 545-1311 home page: http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~norden --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]