Use of disabled stereotypes

The media continue to enforce disability stereotypes portraying disabled individuals in a negative un-empowering way.

In his 1991 study, Paul Hunt identified 10 stereotypes that the media use to portray disabled people:
The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic
An object of curiosity or violence
Sinister or evil
The super cripple
As atmosphere
Laughable
His/her own worst enemy
As a burden
As Non-sexual
Being unable to participate in daily life
In 2006, the British Film Institute's website breaks down this list into a series of film character examples for each stereotype, from the 1920s up to the present day. The BFI's examples include:
the character of Colin from the Secret Garden - a character who falls into the stereotype of "Pitiable and pathetic; sweet and innocent; a miracle cure"
the "sinister or evil" Dr No, with his two false hands, from the Bond film of the same name
Ron Kovic, the disabled war veteran in Born on the Fourth of July, who is portrayed as "non-sexual or incapable of a worthwhile relationship"
Shakespeare (1999) presents a potential reason behind the use of one of these stereotypes:


"The use of disability as character trait, plot device, or as atmosphere is a lazy short-cut. These representations are not accurate or fair reflections of the actual experience of disabled people. Such stereotypes reinforce negative attitudes towards disabled people, and ignorance about the nature of disability"

In other words, the disability itself is often used as a hook by writers and film-makers to draw audiences into the story. These one-dimensional stereotypes are often distanced from the audience - where characters are only viewed through their impairment, and not valued as people.

Shakespeare (1999) continues:


"Above all, the dominant images [of disabled people] are crude, one-dimensional and simplistic."