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As a number of nations prepare for legislation and public action on disability rights in the wake of the UN Convention, a range of issues that impact popular perceptions of disability in the workplace need examination. The discussion of disability on film is not new. There are several books written on various aspects of the subject, and disability studies programs offer classes that run entire semesters on media issues. Though much progress has been made on subjects such as the relationship of screen depictions with the dominant models of thinking about disability in the western world, comparatively less has been written about the portrayal of disability in cinema in the rest of the world.

The canonical western cinema has followed a few dominant patterns regarding the portrayal of people with disabilities. Characters could typically be pitiable (Coming Home), burdensome (Whose life is it anyway?), sinister (Dr. Strangelove), or unable to live a successful integrated life (Gattaca). The fundamental underlying theme has been the disabled character’s maladjustment or incompatibility in the public sphere, effectively highlighting what we can be referred to as an “otherness” from the non-disabled population.

Continue reading Disability in the Media: Issues for an Equitable Workplace