Category: Actors with Disabilities

At this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in March, some viewers were confused by Frances McDormand’s acceptance speech. McDormand, who won the best actress award for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” ended her speech with the following message: “Ladies and gentleman: inclusion rider.” To what was McDormand referring? According to the Washington Post, “an inclusion rider is a stipulation that the cast and/or the crew in a film reflect real demographics, including a proportionate number of women, minorities, LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities.”

Last week, Warner Brothers and its affiliates, HBO and Turner Broadcasting which are owned by AT&T, became the first major media companies to release a policy meant to “ensure that diverse actors and crew members are considered for film, television and other projects, and to work with directors and producers who also seek to promote greater diversity and inclusion.”

Though the policy does not go as far as demanding that studios meet target numbers, advocates believe it is a good first step toward making the cast and crews of TV shows and movies more closely reflective of audiences.

University of Southern California’s Annenburg Inclusion Initiative studies diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry. This summer, the Initiative, headed up by Dr. Stacy L. Smith, released its annual study: “Inequality in 1,100 Popular Films.” Among other things, the study found that “characters with disability face a deficit on screen in film. … Only 2.5 percent of all speaking characters were depicted with a disability.”  Since 20 percent of Americans have some sort of disability, it’s obvious that the big screen does not represent a proportionate number of people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, a 2016 study commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation found when characters in the top 10 TV shows did include characters who had disabilities, 95 percent of those characters were played by actors who don’t have disabilities.

If the industry follows recommendations of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 20 percent of cast and crew members in TV and movies would be people with disabilities. That would be a game-changer for people with disabilities seeking jobs in the entertainment industry.  It would also please audiences interested in seeing their own lives depicted in film. Additionally, showing more people with disabilities in TV and film, would do wonders to raise awareness about people with disabilities — their struggles, concerns, and especially their talents and triumphs.

In recent years, members of the disabilities community have been pleased to see more characters with disabilities on TV and in the movies. From beloved characters like “Glee’s” Becky Jackson and Artie Abrams to “Breaking Bad’s” RJ Mitte to “Game of Thrones” Tyrion Lannister to newer characters such as JJ in “Speechless” and Dustin in “Stranger Things” characters with disabilities are more common than ever before. While we’re happy these actors have broken through, Hollywood clearly has a long way to go. Hopefully, Warner Brother’s recent announcement will be the beginning of real change.

Last week, nominations for the 90^th anniversary of the Academy Awards were announced.

“The Shape of Water” has been nominated for a whopping 13 Academy Awards including best director (Guillermo del Toro), best actress (Sally Hawkins), best supporting actor (Richard Jenkins), best supporting actress (Octavia Spencer)  and best motion picture!

The romantic fantasy film, about a non-verbal woman janitor named Elisa, who falls in love with a gigantic sea creature, has been heralded  as “a love story like no other” by the Boston Globe, and “a dreamy, delightful masterpiece” by Vice. The News Gazette said the film is “a poignant, powerful fairy tale for our times that speaks to universal concerns — the alienation of the unique, the dangerous power spawned from needless paranoia and the importance of acceptance in a world accustomed to intolerance.”

Yet, in the disabilities community, opinions of the film vary. One objection from some members of the community regards the casting of verbal actress Sally Hawkins as Elisa. While no one is denying Hawkins’ acting abilities [she recently played disabled artist Maud Lewis to critical acclaim], some are expressing frustration that once again, a Hollywood director has failed to hire an actor with a disability to play the role of a character with a disability.

Alice Wong writes about this phenomenon for Teen Vogue. “Disabled people are everywhere, and yet we’re invisible and erased by people with unexamined privilege in the center. An example of ableism: when it’s the default that disabled characters are played by nondisabled actors. Think about the Oscar buzz around Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” and the performance of Sally Hawkins, who plays a nonspeaking person who uses sign language.”

Writes Elsa Sjunneson-Henry for science fiction fantasy blog, Tor.com:  “Disabled actors are constantly passed over; disabled characters instead being presented as “challenging” roles for abled people to play. It would have been a much more powerful film had the actress been a disabled woman, especially someone whose sign was fluent and natural, a sign language that she relied upon every day to communicate, and not just for a single role.”

In the same blogpost, Sjunneson-Henry writes: “With the exception of “Children of a Lesser God,” [in 1986] it is the first time I have ever seen a disabled woman as an object of desire.”

While that seems like a positive step, it is overwritten by the fact that the one who desires Elisa, is not a human being, but a monster.

“At its core, “The Shape of Water” asks us to consider what a freak is,” writes Sjunneson-Henry. “Is a monster a god? Is a disabled woman a freak? An outsider? Can she be loved or understood by her own kind, or are the monsters the only ones who can truly understand her? Unfortunately, the answer to this movie was that no, she cannot be loved by her own kind, and yes, she is an outsider. A monster. A freak.”

Yet, writing for the “Hollywood Reporter,” Kristen Lopez, a writer with a disability, sees “The Shape of Water’s” message in more hopeful terms. “As a film writer with a physical disability, I find it hard not to feel personally offended by movies that reiterate that disabled people aren’t sexual. It’s even worse being a woman with a disability, where the lack of actresses playing disabled characters leaves one to question if Hollywood thinks disabled women can’t be sexy at all. But watching “The Shape of Water” gives me hope that maybe barriers can be broken down regarding sex and disability.”

Have you seen “The Shape of Water?” What did you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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It’s that time of year again. In the past several weeks, the People’s Choice Awards, The Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Directors Guild Awards and the American Cinematographer Awards have all taken place. The Grammys, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards will all air later this month. Though it’s been a great year for film and TV overall, when it comes to the representation of people with disabilities it left a lot to be desired.

Despite the fact that one in five Americans has some sort of disability, it’s rare to find a realistic, three dimensional major character with a disability on TV or in film. Even when a TV show or movie does feature a character with a disability, the role is seldom played by an actor with a disability. In fact, the Ruderman White Pages Report on Employment Of Actors With Disabilities In Television recently found that, “Ninety-five percent of characters with disabilities … are played by able-bodied actors.”

That said, in the past year, a number of TV programs and films featuring main characters with disabilities have drawn praise from critics. “Speechless” an ABC sitcom that airs on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. is especially groundbreaking.

“Speechless”

Starring Minnie Driver as headstrong mom Maya DiMeo, “Speechless” is a typical sit-com about a typical family with one important difference. JJ, Maya’s eldest son, has cerebral palsy, is nonverbal and uses an augmentative alternative communication device to express himself. “Speechless” deserves credit for casting a young actor who actually has cerebral palsy to play the role of JJ. The actor, Micah Fowler and his realistic depiction of the teen boy with disabilities has received high praise from James Poniewozik of the New York Times.

“JJ DiMeo (Micah Fowler) is no angel. He’s sarcastic; he’s a little devious; he can be rude. In other words, he’s a teenager…That JJ has cerebral palsy, which keeps him from speaking, as well as limits his obscene gestures, is what makes ABC’s “Speechless” distinctive. That he’s a flawed kid with a flawed family in a reasonably funny sitcom is what makes ‘Speechless’ good, rather than simply worthy.”

“The A Word”

Originally created as a six-part series from the BBC, and based on a popular Israeli show, “The A Word” is a highly rated drama about the journey of a family who learns that their 5-year-old son has autism. “For the most part … “The A Word” feels true and honest,” writes Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times. “Other shows that have used characters with disabilities for secondary plotlines have often seemed simplistic or glib, going for quick tears or feel-good moments. This one’s unblinking, and more powerful for it.”

“The A Word” was recently acquired by the Sundance Channel and no word on when the second season will air. Catch up on the first six episodes now.
“Finding Dory”

It’s unusual to find a character with a disability at the center of a children’s movie. Yet Disney Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” spinoff, “Finding Dory” is a breath of fresh air. Dory, a little blue fish with a cognitive disability, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, endeared herself to audiences young and old when the film premiered last spring. Other characters in the film also have disabilities. “Destiny has impaired vision, while Bailey struggles with echolocation; Hank deals with anxiety, and Nemo has that “lucky” undersized fin,” writes Chris Heady in his review for USA Today. In fact, said Heady, “Finding Dory” “could change the conversation about disabilities.”

“Asperger’s Are Us”

This 2016 documentary tells the true story of a comedy troupe made up of four old friends— Noah Britton, New Michael Ingemi, Jack Hanke and Ethan Finlan— all on the autism spectrum, who met while attending camp together in their teens. Kimber Meyers of the LA Times says the film, directed by first-timer Alex Lehmann, will appeal to most viewers.
“If you have an affection for puns or off-kilter humor, it’s hard not to be charmed by ‘Asperger’s Are Us.’ But even if what you find funny extends beyond T-shirts that say “Ask me about my fear of strangers,” the four young men at the heart of this documentary will easily find a home in all but the hardest of hearts.”

On their website, “Asperger’s Are Us,” are forthright about their mission. “We do not poke fun at Asperger’s and we did not form to prove that autistic people can be funny. We formed for the same reason anyone does comedy: To make you laugh!”