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Another Perspective
Hollywood’s Invisible Minority
When was the last time you saw a character with a disability on TV?
Quick question: When was the last time you saw a character with a disability on TV?
If you’re a fan of Glee or CSI, perhaps it was quite recently. If not, it may have been a while — characters with disabilities comprise just 1% of primetime network TV roles.
In fact, only six of the 587 series-regular roles on scripted network primetime television last fall had disabilities, according to a recent study. And only one of those six was portrayed by a disabled actor.
People with disabilities continue to challenge our assumptions and make remarkable strides in many areas of life. But they remain largely absent from the area in which their presence could benefit us the most: entertainment.
Numerous studies highlight how people with disabilities are “the invisible minority” in entertainment. A 2005 UCLA survey commissioned by the Screen Actors Guild found that only one half of one percent of words spoken on TV are spoken by a person with a disability. The study also found that more than a third of performers with disabilities reported facing discrimination in the workplace, by either being refused an audition or not being cast for a role because of their disability.
As CSI regular Robert David Hall, who uses prosthetic legs as a result of an accident 30 years ago, remarked about the study, “There is an alarming absence of people with disabilities in the media. We are virtually invisible.”
A recent poll found that most Britons could not name a single high-profile person with a disability. And 99% were unable to think of a celebrity with an intellectual disability.
A recent study analyzed the last 131 winners of the Newbery Medal of Honor, the top prize for children’s books. Researchers found that just 31 included a character with a disability, most in supporting roles.
The problem is not just how often characters with disabilities appear, but also how they are portrayed when they do. People with disabilities are typically depicted as one-dimensional characters instead of the complex, multi-faceted people they, like all of us, are.
Too often they are stereotyped as the evil or tragic villain, the heroic fighter or the supporting character who helps a main character learn a valuable lesson.
People with disabilities can fit these roles. But they can do much more. Reality shows about disability on TLC and other niche networks can be compelling. But our ultimate goal should be programming that regularly includes characters with disabilities who aren’t defined only by their disability.
In other words, it’s time not for more disabled characters but rather for more characters who happen to have disabilities.
This matters because despite the gains they have made, people with disabilities still encounter ignorance, prejudice and discrimination. A 2010 survey of nearly 400 Georgia residents found little interaction with or knowledge about people with developmental disabilities. Just one third encountered them in their daily lives.
In the current “age of perfection,” as prenatal genetic testing and disability abortion become more common, our response to disability has shifted — subtly but unmistakably — from silent disapproval to open hostility. As Robert Edwards, test tube baby pioneer and 2010 Nobel Prize winner, has said, “Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child that carries the heavy burden of genetic disease.”
Such hostility toward disability was evident in 2009 when the BBC children’s channel CBeebies hired a host with only one fully formed arm. The host’s on-air appearances provoked an angry backlash from some parents, many of whom suggested that the show was not the proper venue to introduce kids to disability.
About the Author
Daniel Allott is a writer in Washington, D.C.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (63) | Leave a comment
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dee see| 6.3.11 @ 6:32AM
---Great piece.
NOW, putting aside what we sense is some
kind of impotence and disabling subtext to
the very content, let's go furthur into the matter
of TV and Hollywood sins of omission
---AS Monday marks the 61st Anniversary of
the urgently relevant, EUGENICS soft sell
'unfriendly' KOREAN WAR ----when was the last
time you heard the RED Chinese Halocaust
even mentioned or alluded to ---let alone treated
or examined?
And, of course, like the 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th
and 60th Anniversaries of Korea --this, the 61st
will, as ever, be 'overlooked'.
NOW ---enjoy that third reel of our unwinding
TREASON op. We hear it's a killer--------------
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 7:00AM
You really need professional help. Perhaps you could pitch your story to a Hollywood agent, who would put you in touch with a scriptwriter, who could gin up a pilot show for you.
Alan Brooks| 6.3.11 @ 9:28AM
as Dragnet was remade, Dee See can do a Twilight Zone remake.
Alan Brooks| 6.3.11 @ 9:31AM
BTW, Alan Watt?? uh oh--
hope Dee See isn't a crazy black guy living in DC...
I like to think blacks are moving up, not down.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 6:59AM
I wasn't aware that the purpose of televised entertainment or children's literature was to ensure proportional representation of all demographic groups among the characters.
In my naivete, I thought the purpose was two-fold: to tell a good story, and to make money for the author or the network. Relentless didacticism and identity politics should play no part in it.
Silly me.
Ryan| 6.3.11 @ 8:26AM
Here's the problem - somehow Hollywood seems to not believe that one can be told, or that people want to watch one, that has someone with a disability.
Lack of imagination, I call it.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:48AM
As a quick review of the number of shows that have had handicapped people either as leads or as recurring characters shows, the problem is not that such stories are not being written, but that people who write articles about the dearth of handicapped characters don't watch them.
Besides, we don't need to operate under a quota system. It's bad enough the BBC does that: if you watch BBC shows, you quickly realize that blacks and Indo-Pakistanis appear to occupy anywhere from a quarter to a third of all positions of authority in the British government, police, legal system, and business, while fully half of all MPs, PCs, QCs and CEOs are women. That's so "aspirational" as to fall into the realm of fantasy--not to mention illuminating BBC's delusion that it can reshape society by the power of television.
Appleby| 6.3.11 @ 7:00AM
It took me some time to figure out that *an intellectual disability* means *mentally retarded*. In my circle of friends, this is a polite way of saying *stupid*, which is a voluntary condition also known as *militantly ignorant*.
When was the last time you saw a plain, middle-aged, size 12 woman in a teevee show that wasnt a villainous boss or an object of ridicule, for that matter? When was the last time you saw an attractive middle-aged dynamic man on teevee whose wife was not a 20 year old blonde with long legs and Paris fashions draped over her size zero figure? For that matter, when has anybody on teevee ever got up in the morning and gone off to a job she hates, discovered that gas had gone up 4 cents a litre overnight, and been stuck on a subway train for two hours because somebody committed suicide on the tracks two stations ahead?
TeeVee is not reality, and most of us tune in to escape reality, to to see what we just went through all day. And personally I dont even watch these programs; I watch History and Discovery to enjoy a world I am not living in.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:01AM
It has to be pointed out that there aren't too many handicapped characters in great drama, either--and when there are, their handicap is usually a sign of their moral depravity; e.g., Shakespeare's Richard III, King Lear's blindness, Alberecht the Dwarf's deformity, etc.
Appleby| 6.3.11 @ 3:28PM
How about Marty Feldman in "Young Frankenstein"? There's a movie that can never be re-made because the late Mr. Feldman was the only person in the world who could have pulled that character off without sparking a gigantic protest from the terminally offended.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 8:00PM
I can do something about that hump.
Christopher Pike| 6.3.11 @ 7:16AM
Gregory House comes to mind. He's a two-fer: limb infarcation and addiction to pain killers. In the real world, Charles Krauthammer, paraplegic. Both are on Fox.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 9:57AM
While we're at it:
Ironside: paraplegic
Georgie LaForge (Star Trek NG): blind
Adrian Monk (Monk): mental illness
Ambose Monk (Monk): serious agoraphobia
Gil Grissom (CSI): hearing impairment
Anita van Buren (Law & Order): breast cancer
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:14AM
Longstreet (James Franciscus): blind (insurance investigator)
Jim Dunbar (Blind Justice): blind (detective)
Mary Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie): blind
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:24AM
Larry Drake (LA Law): Mentally retarded
Thirteen (House): Huntington's Chorea
Paul Nathan (ER): Parkinson's Disease
Geri (Facts of Life): Cerebral Palsey
Corky Thatcher (Life Goes On): Down's Syndrome
Maw Maw (Raising Hope): Alzheimer's
DCI Ross Tanner (Second Sight): Blind (detective)
Tom Harrison (7th Heaven): Epilepsy (pastor)
Josiah Bartlett (West Wing): Multiple Sclerosis
Tess Kaufman (Reasonable Doubts): Deaf (attorney)
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:26AM
And let us not forget South Park:
Jimmy: cerebral palsey (erstwhile standup comic)
Timmy: mentally and physically challenged (aspiring rock star
Matthew Quigley| 6.3.11 @ 11:18AM
Joe Swanson (Family Guy): Paraplegic cop.
the permanent newbie| 6.3.11 @ 2:38PM
Hey, we probably wouldn't be discussing this if it weren't for Glee:
Artie: paraplegic
Becky: Down's syndrome
SpiralArchitect| 6.3.11 @ 3:03PM
Really? No one here watches Breaking Bad?
Walter White, Jr. (played by RJ Mitte)
Rainman, he was just a bit retarded and no way was he stupid. Further, he was an excellent driver.
Look at the nut case House, he is all kinds of messed up.
Jo| 6.28.11 @ 4:43AM
Artie - an actor portraying a paraplegic
Becky: an actor who actually has Down's Syndrome
alice moore| 6.8.11 @ 10:25PM
Bran Stark(HBO's A Game of Thrones) crippled from a fall
Tyrion Lannister(same show)dwarfism
These are a few more disabled characters on TV
Theresakd| 6.13.11 @ 6:16PM
I don't think any of those above had the disability they portrayed.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 8:02PM
It occurs to me that Captain Christopher Pike, the commander of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek pilot, later shows up as a quadriplegic in the episode "The Cage".
Jo| 6.28.11 @ 4:51AM
English actor Hugh Laurie who plays "House" does not have a disability - he just pretends to have one. I understand it's business.. and big names daw audiences. But please don't say the guy has a disability.
Denver Todd| 6.3.11 @ 7:50AM
I wonder if a guy in a wheelchair really likes watching a guy in a wheelchair on tv. I would guess that it is the guy writing about the guy in the wheelchair who likes it.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 10:27AM
If the guy in the wheel chair can kick a-- or gets the hot babe, then I guess he would.
Jo| 6.28.11 @ 4:45AM
And so a guy writing a person of color into a script, must be a person of color to "like watching it.." ?
JimH| 6.3.11 @ 8:26AM
Ironside?
Alert1201| 6.3.11 @ 8:30AM
There was a lady on ER who was cripple and had to use crutches. Cannot remember her name, I think she was head of the ER room, in other words she was a main character.
jocon307| 6.4.11 @ 10:01PM
Yes, thanks for mentioning her, that's who I was thinking of. I can't remember her name either (character or actress!) but she was very good.
And what I liked about it was it was just *there* there was never any discussion about her disability.
She was a very good, very real character.
Jo| 6.28.11 @ 4:53AM
"a cripple".... pshaw. what era are you from Alert?
dee see| 6.3.11 @ 8:37AM
(cont'd)
---and as for that third reel
it's the LAST reel--------------------------------
REALLY
SpiralArchitect| 6.3.11 @ 3:03PM
Got Spam?
LMajito| 6.3.11 @ 8:41AM
how about all those talking heads predicting the outcome of the next presidential race in the us? as appleby described them, they all have an intellectual disability...and don't forget Geraldo in this bunch...he's another one...
lastly, the show house has its main character walking with a strong limp and needs an wooden aid to take a step...
JimH| 6.3.11 @ 9:23AM
Geordi LA Forge on STTNG?
KyMouse| 6.3.11 @ 9:36AM
In years gone by, I remember recurring characters "Dr. Loveless" on "The Wild, Wild West," played by Michael Dunn, whose dwarfism didn't stop him from going after entertaining roles. We saw him doing a fine acting job in "Ship of Fools" last week, which we rented from Netflix.
Fans of "L.A. Law" remember David Rappaport, another "little person" who had some juicy appearances as a tough attorney.
Years ago, actress Christopher Templeton, who wore leg braces because of polio, had a long-running role on "The Young and the Restless" as a secretary.
Sadly, all three are dead. I especially would have liked to have met Michael Dunn. Rent "Ship of Fools," and you'll see why.
the permanent newbie| 6.3.11 @ 2:43PM
The superb little actor Peter Dinklage has a juicy role on Game of Thrones on HBO, but I don't think that counts as "handicapped," because his character isn't, strictly speaking, human...
KyMouse| 6.3.11 @ 10:11PM
And remember Chris Burke, the young man with Down Syndrome, who starred in the TV show "Life Goes On."
Now 45, he remains an advocate for people who have Down Syndrome (as many as 9 out of every 10 babies who are so much as suspected of having the disorder are killed by abortion).
alice moore| 6.8.11 @ 10:35PM
Peter Dinklage plays Tyrion Lannister a human dwarf. He's not playing a Lord of The Rings Dwarf.
I like his character because he uses his mind in perilous situations. The character, Tyrion Lannister, is not defined by any disabilities.
Petronius| 6.3.11 @ 9:49AM
Show business is the last trust left in this country. Affirmative action is out the window because the bunch that owns it also controls our legal establishment. The issue of producers casting based on personal political beliefs has been on the boards all week. Hollywood or Broadway, there's little difference. The open call may be a union rule, but it's also a joke. The only chance a rabbit can read for a part occurs when the producer hasn't precast anybody. You can't get an acting job without an agent. And no agent will list you unless a producer has you lined up before hand. Then there's I.A.T.S.E. and the craft unions. They have their own choke points. Is dad a member? If not, you'll always be a bastard "extra" until an old card carrier dies without a successor. Then it's easier to come up with the fat initiation fees than it is to get the other old sweats to vote you in. Infirmities or political beliefs are assets when the producers agree. It's really a private club.
335blues| 6.3.11 @ 10:10AM
The question you should be asking at the beginning of a story like this is: when was the last time you watched television? My answer? Except for sports, years.
Bill| 6.3.11 @ 10:29AM
Any current TV show that portrays a husband or father shows a mentally disabled man who has no clue about what his wife or children are all about.
Hillel| 6.3.11 @ 11:17AM
You've got to be kidding! Most of the TV stars are drunks addicts and extreme narcassistic personalities.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 2:57PM
No, that's polit. . . Oh. Never mind.
james wilson| 6.3.11 @ 11:59AM
Most people who appear in TV shows do have intellectual disabilities. They are actors. And most on air talent for news programs have the same disability which you do. They are whiners and scolders.
Ray Kremer| 6.3.11 @ 12:40PM
No. What you are asking for is as silly and obvious as the token girl or the token black or the token gay. We are talking about FICTION here. Under the rules of fiction, a writer does not specify something unless it's important to the plot. You've heard the Chekhov's gun rule, right? If you put a gun on the mantlepiece in Act 1, it must be fired no later than the end of Act 3. You don't go out of your way to write in a disabled character unless you intend for the disability to be significant to the story.
Now, the flip side of this is casting. If you've got a set of characters to cast and to some extent it doesn't matter a whole lot what age, race, etc. some of them are, then yes, you include some blacks, you include some women, maybe even a guy in a wheelchair. That's far more realistic than the writer building in obvious token characters to kowtow to political correctness.
Stuart Koehl| 6.3.11 @ 8:04PM
Token Black is the African-American kid on South Park who, much to his own disgust, keeps confirming stereotypes about black people (like being able to play bass, and thinking Tyler Perry is funny).
JO| 6.28.11 @ 4:40AM
So people written into a script who happen to have a disability equate in the writing world to a "gun on the mantle piece"? If I had you in a scene with me Ray, I'd certainly make full use of that prop on the mantle piece (just to be sure you didn't feel you were breaking "screen writing 101 rules"... ) I think FOOL & BIGOT should be recognized disabilities Ray - because you'd be the most disabled of them all. But then maybe at least you'd be qualified for disability benefits, because I don't think you're going to make a living as a writer with your out-dated view of the world.
Mike 3/505| 6.3.11 @ 2:57PM
"And 99% were unable to think of a celebrity with an intellectual disability."
The above is ...TOto easy.
Gary| 6.3.11 @ 5:53PM
I do remember "Ironsides" where Raymond Burr portrayed a wheelchair bound detective, also James Franciscus portrayed a blind detective in New Orleans but the name of the show escapes me. At about the same times there was the fat detective, "Cannon" played by William Conrad and the old detective played by Buddy Ebsen. Alas, they are gone, but not forgotten.
Diane Beem| 6.3.11 @ 9:09PM
You're forgetting Atticus Shaffer , the young actor on "The Middle", who suffers from Brittle Bone disease!
dee see| 6.4.11 @ 9:47AM
IF one is seeking the spectacle of the disabled
---look no further than the American Congress
and public in 2011.
For those seeking a pub instead of s post
---GO to a pub, if you can find one that's
not being surveilled.
The rest better pitch their porn, sports EYE-cons
wampum and rectum worship ---and start manning
up to the ONLY thing to be talking about
------TREASON and world EUGENICS...
Jim Woodward| 6.4.11 @ 11:36AM
Frasier.
John Mahoney as Martin Crane. Bad hip or leg, forget which.
Gunsmoke.
Ken Curtis as Festis. Leg.
Bad Day at Black Rock
Spenser Tracey. One arm.
Jim Woodward| 6.4.11 @ 12:37PM
Oops!
That should be Dennis Weaver as Chester in Gunsmoke.
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.4.11 @ 7:25PM
Dennis Weaver was an Olympic class athelete, a high hurdler. I once saw him in charactor, and in costume jump over a set of hurdles while faking the stiff leg.
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.4.11 @ 1:45PM
This begs the question, “What percentage of people in real life have disabilities; is it representative of the one percent portrayed a characters in the 587 TV series?”
If so, what is the problem; if so, why are you trying to be overtly “politically correct.”
My father who recently passed was disabled in WWII. Never once can I ever remember him wondering what you pose for discussion.
mike harris| 6.4.11 @ 1:48PM
I think the air of depression is unwaarranted. I live in Birmingham, England. With obvious and serious disabilities on view I have never received anything but kindness and consideration-overwhelming at times, and often from the most unlikely people. I have received more inconsiderate treatment twice-both times in Portugal, a supposedly Christian country. I have never received anything but kindness in the US either-it's the same as England-no need for pessimism on this point, anyway.
dee see| 6.6.11 @ 3:05AM
AS Fuksishima worsens as it's buried,
as 'EUGENICS friendly' fallout bio-accumulates
across the northern hemisphere
--on this, the once again, 'all but overlooked'
Annversary of the cosmically relevant KOREAN WAR
ONE and ALLLL -----call out franchise slum Hollywood.
ESP. whispery cowboy and 'American 'EYE-con',
and Korea era draftee (BTW Cal. swim instructor during the entire conflict) Clint Eastwood for being such an eager helpmate, to say
the least, of 'the agenda'...
Singforyou1954 | 6.14.11 @ 10:51PM
As an actress who happens to use a wheelchair, it has been frustrating at times. I have not gotten parts because either physically I could not perform the part (as in Sylvia in the play "Sylvia" , I wanted to play that dog so bad..lol) or It wouldn't have sold the product (auditioned for Walgreens as a woman taking her sick father for perscriptions at Walgreens). I have gotten parts in a Rock Opera, Vaudeville Show, Haunted House, and a number of training films. We do need more mainstream exposure, however we all need to do the footwork. I think that sometimes (myself included) we think we should get the part because we are disabled and we should be given the chance. The reality is that there is nothing stopping any one of us that happen to be disabled from writing a decent script. We have the ability to shoot and direct. Instead of bellyaching about what is not present lets pave the way, write our own stories...that is what everyone else does and isn't that what this piece is about, wanting to be like everyone else?
weddingdresses | 6.15.11 @ 4:28AM
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Robert| 6.16.11 @ 2:08AM
Daniel:
You're article is highly inacurate and out of date. Rathert than find real facts you simply rehash old storyies you've gleemed from the internet in a Google Search.
Despite what some in the disabled community believe and most of them aree not disabled merely assoiated with a person who is or a family memeber who takes offense of the topic of disability in any forum.
You asked, "Quick question: When was the last time you saw a character with a disability on TV?"
Joe Swanson of Fox'x Family Guy.
Greaesed up Deaf Guy and there was a female character with Down Syndrome voiced by an actual actress with downs..... Have you heard about the release of Sympathy For Delicious which was written by and starred Chris Thornton, an actor who uses a wheelchair for mobility...
MANY would believe Donald Trump and Gary Busey to have Mental disorders and whether true or not but deaf actress and uber babe Marlee Matlin came in second to some ten gallon hat wearin' country star. You may have missed that while copying and pasting reports From SAG's 2005 report (Recent?). By the way did you know Dayryl Mitchell had a series on Fox? True Blink and you missed it but you can't blame Fox if no one liked the show enough from keeping it to be cancelled.....
Other shows airing on ABC and CBS have had disabled actors as guest stars all season long. NCIS Los Angeles has an actor who is an amputee as a recurring role.
Is the point of your article to say that Kids need "roll models" and there are no kids or disabled people in Children's shows? It can't be because you mentioned Robert David Hall in CSI.
So you start your purge witha question that I have shot holes in. Others have as well but their references are much older and some of them are not disabled.
I note that you don't attack Glee for hirining a non disabled performer and tossing his nerd ass into a wheelchair.... You forget that they used to Down Syndrome actresses and receieved recognition form the state of California for doing so... but we all know about the state of California and deposed Goveneor Sexinator.
Where are you going with this? You heat up debate of a bunch of soccer moms not actual disabled talent. And I may ask you where all this disabled talent is that you speak for? You need to use more discretion and more research when you write this stuff. You don't help with writing inflamatory essays designed to get the dander of the public in a upheavel. Lets' face it the only people who read this are the ones you seek to entice in your article, the disabled and their friends and families.
Life is hard. Acting and performing is tough and be you disabled or not the odds are highly stacked against you. I'm living this. There are ,many atractive and talented non disabled performers out her in L.A and in NYC who aren't working.
The plight of the disabled in Hollywood and the media is real and it's tough but it's a battle won by being tough, being good at what you do and being marketable to the public. Ther real test of any of this is will the public support it? You haven't asked that question. I'm tired of the countless andmounting articles said to be "spreading the word" .. and the word is?
What is needed is opportunity and opportunities are often created by individuals or groups of individuals who are courageous enough to act.
The battle that the disabled face is similar to that of actors of color.. black.. African American.. take your pick to witch personification is P.C. For many years they were considered for roles as pimps, prostitutes, thugs, basket ball players and an endless see of thse types of roles. They wre not considered for the role of hero, or father unless it was Good Times or Sanford and Son. But along came The Jeffersons. Eventually Bill Cosby graduated from I-Spy to The Cosby Show and more and more black actors made it to screen. Eventually Spike Lee and Joohn Singleton, among others found their way to the directors chair. Michael Dorn and Levar Burton found themselves on the Enterprise. Hey even John Stewart replaced Hal Jordan as the Justice League graduated from Super Friends.
There's a need for people with disabities behind the camera, not just on the camera. Maybe when we see more talent behind the scenes we'll see more disabled on the screen.
While many people have people in theire lives with disabilities amny people do not. Writers write what they know about and if they've no "frame of reference" for the disabled it's not likely that you'll see disabled characters. Many writers and directors have little idea of hwo to write for them for fear of offending someone. I was born with Spina Bifida and found Peter Farelly's use of a non actor in Shallow Hal wholely offensive. He used a guy who walked into a bar on his knuckles and knees as if her were auditing Planet of the Apes. Wheel Chairs are designed to offer mobility and decorum and yet this guy neanders onto a film set?
Do your homework, offer solutions not highlighting problems.
Jo| 6.28.11 @ 5:00AM
Robert - the guy in Peter Farley's movie DOES have Spina Bifida! His name is Rene Kirby.
http://renekirby.com/
If you are the fellow at the IAMPDWD meeting at UCLA 2 years ago who attacked Farley for including Rene in the movie - I have to tell you... you attacked someone in the entertainment industry who IS an advocate for people with disabilities. You may not have liked that Renee's character crawled on his knuckles while he danced, but shoot - a lot of women do things in movies that I think perpetuate stereo-types that women have fought hard against. Let's at least get the story right if we are going to fight.
Adult toys | 7.4.11 @ 1:22AM
boyfriend wants to have sex with his girlfriend,but ashamed of his small organ...decided to bring girlfriend in dark place,open his ziper and put penis in GF's hand...GF:no thanks ,i don't smoke!