1. Amy Watson
Theory Essay: How are disabilities presented in films and TV series in the present day?
Disability has been portrayedon screen for many years, however between past and present there has been some changes over how these
disabilities are portrayed. An example of this is the contrast between Rain Man: a film from 1989, and The A Word: a TV series from 2020.
Rain Man and The A Word portray the condition known as Autism in two different fashions. The key theme within the film Rain Man is the
character Raymondis being portrayedas a ‘’Autistic Savant’’. Rain Man made a total $345 million at the box office, and became one of the
highest grossing film in 1988. It was also a rate of 15, meaning it was meant to be watched by older viewers. After reading Bluhmer and
Katz’s Uses and Gratification, andafter reviewing the possible reasons of why people may watch Rain Man, I would say the reason for why
they would watch the film is because of Diversion, meaning that they rather take on escapism andhave a good time rather than learningnew
facts.
Within The A Word, the main character Joe displays some more modern traits that some people with autism require or possess, such as lack
of speech and wearing headphones. Once a week at 9pm, The A Word was broadcasted on BBC 1. It was watched by 4.7 million viewers,
and had a 23% share of the audience (Wikipiedia). Applying audience theory, I would say that the A Wordis appealing to a Mass audience.
This is because it was shown on a popular channel: BBC 1, and the time was a perfect schedule of 9pm. It’s not too late or early, and is the
perfect time for lots of viewers to watch it. It would attract large viewing figures. In terms of reception theory, as portrayedby Stuart Hall, as
well as decoding the thoughts and feelings from both films depending on review of Rotten Tomatoes , it’s fair to say there both square off to
a dual score, means that there hasn’t been a change in personal thoughts or feelings from the viewing audience worldwide.
Throughout this essay, I plan to explore certain topics such as what the key themes are in the film and TV series I have chosen. I will also
aim to look at how successful the productions are at portraying characters with disabilities realistically. And finally, I would like to discover
what impact has the productions had on the audience feelings towards someone with a disability. All these will be mainly focused on present
day products, but I will be relatingback to past products in order to pick out any key differences of how disabilities are portrayed.
What are the keythemes within films and TV series with disabilities as the subject?
Within The A Wordand Wonder, there is a similar theme being show throughout the screen time, bearing in mind that these are present day
productions unlike that of Rain Man. Between the two productions, they both show the theme of love and support, as as acceptance. To start
off with, The A Word has some pretty goodexamples. For instance, when Joe’s parents first found out about his condition of Autism, they
were windswept (metaphorically), due to them havingnever heard of the disorder, but as the episodes go by, and when a shocking moment
happens, they soo start to understandJoe’s problem and therefore begin to support his needs. In terms of Wonder, the same element can be
found here too. For example, Auggie has a rare physical facial problem, to whom other kids do not respect when he starts school, however,
when his reformed friend Jack Will retaliates with big school bully Julian, it goes to show that over time, when you get to know people more,
you start to understand. Also, this is shown at the end when Jack Will’s friends accept Auggie into the group. These examples are relevant
sources of proof that the themes of love, support andacceptance are prevalent in present day productions.
To show contrast, I am going to discuss the film Rain Man (1989). In this example, the theme of being useful is present within this film. The
main example is when Raymond’s brother attempts to use his skills to win a competition, but when the cards fall onto the ground, Raymond
supposed ‘savant’ abilities allow him to count all the card within a second. This shows that these mental maths skills are useful to come in
handy for his brother as he does not have these skills unlike Raymond.
However, amongst that of the present day productions of The A Word and Wonder, I cannot say the same theme goes to Coronation Street
(another production I lookedinto). There is a character known as Alex who houses the disability of Down syndrome, which is today a very
popular physical disability in this world, as there are many interpretations of it rather than just Coronation Street. Anyways, going back to the
soap, Alex may portray somewhat stereotypical (common) traits such as a peculiar shaped face or slant up eyes, but he choses to see life as
ordinary and tries to ignore the disadvantages of his condition. Therefore, the theme of optimistic pursuit is prevalent within this production,
meaning that he choses to confidently pursue life as positive as he can and since he does that, everyone aroundhim really praises him for
leading a life of normality andstrong determination. This goes to show that people with disabilities house not only upset and struggle, but
also a positive spirit and termination in some cases where the individual choose to lead a ‘normal’ life and not be held back by the disability.
How successful are these films at portraying the characters realistically?
When Rain Man was released, the audience assumed that people with autism were super humans, also known as ‘savants’. However, there
was a misconception at that time andthat the problem was that the film was to blame for creatingthe misconception (The Guardian). One
scientist, Dr Treffert explainedthis as ‘Only one out of 10 people with autism are savants”, and those with skills akin to Raymond’s are
“exceedingly rare”. This goes to show that back when autism was first discovered, this is what people thought of autism back then because it
was only startingto trickle out and not much information was found at that time, but over the years, when more information was discovered,
the general public startedto realise that people with autism are not really ‘savants’, but rather, if they do have special abilities such as strong
mental maths skills, it is because of years of practice. On the other hand, the film portrays some key parts of autism well such as an obsession
for a certain topic or object. In this case, Raymond is portrayedin the film as having a deep obsession for apple juice and cheese balls.
However, in my opinion, the more serious parts of the condition such as meltdowns is portrayedaccurately within Rain Man. An example of
this is when Charlie tries to get Raymond to go on a aeroplane even when he doesn’t want to, and when he pushed too far, he screams
hysterically.
Going back to the present day productions such as The A Word, there are some really accurate indications of autism such as Joe wearing
headphones as well as lack of speech. In contrast with Rain Man, the character of Joe is presentedin a way where his learning is somewhat
delayed unlike that of Raymond, who has the unrealistic autism savant characteristics. Joe’s character is that of a modern day autism
2. portrayal, whilst Raymond is that of an old fashioned diagnosis. Another contrast is that Joe doesn’t have much control over his actions
whilst Raymonddoes in a way because he can tell the time as well as decently engage in a conversation with the psychiatrist. Both of these
portrayals are realistic because autism can effect people in many ways based on where they are on the spectrum and what kind they might
have.
As for the film Wonder (2017), I can say that Auggie’s condition is shown quite realistically. An example of this is when the character of
Auggie is bullied constantly at school by the school bully Julian. Auggie is 10 years old and has just startedat mainstream school. Typically,
bullying towards people with disabilities is common. Back in 2007, the charity Mencap discovered that 82% of children with learning
disabilities are bullied and that 79% of these children are scared to go out because they are terrified that they will be a new bully victim (The
Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/jun/18/schools.children). This shows that people with disabilities are bullied quite
commonly, andthat it reflects on Auggie’s naive based character after becoming the brunt of Julian’s tower of terror, in other words. It is a
clear reflection of what happens in the real world today. Another realistic element foundwithin Wonder is the thought of havingfriends who
understand youand standup for you. An example of this is when Auggie and his best friend Jack will come across some teens from 7th
grade, and when Jack stands up for Auggie after the teens insult his condition, his bravery pays the price when he hits his head on a rock,
however, Jack’s friends intervener andAuggie and Jack run away into freedom from the teens. After the fight, Jack’s friends accept him into
the group. No matter what condition youhave or how yousee life, your friends are there for you, and Auggie’s new friendships in the film
show this.
Within the production of Coronation Street, I would say that the character of Alex is portrayedas a realistic character, even thought it only
applies towards a small portion of people with down syndrome. This is because in reality, people with downs syndrome vary at different
degrees of learning difficulty. Some have low ability whilst some may have higher ability, and Alex shows this higher ability by being able
to control his actions and lead a normal life. The most important realistic factor toconsider is that Alex is played by someone who in reality
bears the condition, whilst with Wonder and Rain Man, the characters are played by those who don’t really have the described condition that
their characters bare. therefore, there is a difference within this that entails that beingdisabled in reality and playing a character with said
condition, is not the same as portraying one when in reality, they don’t bare it.
How do these films impact on the audience’s feelings towards someone with a disability?
Going back to Rain Man, after watching the film entirely, the audience would feel sorry for Raymondfor how his brother Charlie treats him
unfairly. For example, when Charlie first meets his brother, he is winded by his ‘abnormal’ behaviour as well as unusual traits, which in a
way is not to the knowledge of Raymond, in other words, whilst he’s in his own world, he doesn’t acknowledge the points around him. To
Raymond, he sees nothingin reality at times, but to us as the audience, it clear that Raymondis treatedwrongly by his brother by shouting
and lashing out at him. Another point is how Charlie intends on using him to gain the family inheritance, in other words, take the money that
their father has left for Raymond and keep it for himself. This once again shows no true brotherly love andtherefore is the opposite of true
family love.
As for that of Coronation Street, the audience would feel a sense of proud for Alex as he chooses to see life as like all those around him, who
adore him in that matter. Audience would also feel a bit of support for him as there was once a storyline about his paternity however, that
was in the past and from then, Alex has continued to live a normal happy life. This goes the show that the audience would need to consider
carefully about the fact that different people with different disabilities can live lives in their own unique ways, in which they don’t follow
stereotypical lives, but rather they should see life in their own way, and that is the character of Alex has shown, and this is what the audience
would praise the character for: to chose his own life in his own way.
For The A Word, I can easily say the the audience would at first feel sorry for the character Joe who was diagnosed with the condition in the
first episode, and that his parents could not adapt his diagnosis immediately, but as the episode air one after another, a slow but loving
gradient ensues showing that the parent soon ac kept Joe’s condition and that it is part of him. The audience would also feel the love that
Joe’s parent provide him in the series, and his disappearance was provedas a catalyst for the love and understanding that Joe receives in a
stronger view.
Finally, what I can say for Wonder is very simple indeed. I could easily see that Auggie was the victim of a very serious plague of bullying,
in which the school bad boy Julian cause so much distress to our protagonist due to his facial condition, which is shown to be very
distressing to those who are nearest and dearest to Auggie such as Jack Will (his best friend). Due to this impact, the audience would feel a
sense of sorrow for Auggie as this is stereotypical andthat people in this kind of situation suffer from this form of torture, so it would be
normal for the audience to feel sorry for Auggie .
Conclusion
After gatheringall evidence combined as well as the comments I have made in terms of all questions combined, I can say with honesty that
disabilities, even though as first some were misunderstood, within films are presented in strong, careful and planned out ways in which that
when presented are showing the basic traits of this conditions in the ways of education and being recognised. Back when Rain Man was
released for example, not a lot of research scaled out the true extent of autism, but over the years, productions such as The A Wordprovides
more information thanks to more results in several investigations. Overall, I am satisfied to say, that disabilities within the present day are
presentedin a much more accurate manner than that of films in the past thanks to more research andinvestigation that were conducted.
