WTF

I know, brash title for my post here but really, WTF is with Hollywood? That’s a wide comment I know, there is so much “wrong” happening on any given day, it is hard to keep a full running list. Today, I’m thinking about ableism in Hollywood. For those that don’t know, ableism means “discrimination in favor of able bodied people”. There are so many ways this happens, ALL THE TIME and we have all be so conditioned to it, I don’t think we always notice.

Throughout history white actors have played people of color (from Charlie Chan movies (1930s) to Dragon Seed (1944) to Show Boat (1954) to Touch of Evil (1958) to Lawrence of Arabia (1962) to The Party (1968) to Short Circuit (1986) to The House of Spirits (1993) to Mask of Zorro (1998) to A Mighty Heart (2007) to Ghost in a Shell (2017), etc.) In the early days, it was just accepted (shame) and now people are justifiably outraged (good). Change is slowly happening in this area though Hollywood often sinks back into its bad habits and has to be shamed again.

When characters from the disabled community are played by actors not from the disabled community, this seems to get accolades. Isn’t it amazing how “place name actor here” played the part of an amputee? Sure, the actors may be great, but what about the actors who are fully capable of playing the role without CGI? Silence. Okay, mostly silence…there are groups advocating for this to change but it’s slow and still mostly coming from the disabled community itself.

Worse than all of this is how members of the disabled community are portrayed in films. They either need to be saved from their “abnormality” (sorry, but that’s how it comes across in these sort of films) and saved by a member of the non-disabled community no less, or they are villains with evil schemes and too much anger or they are brilliant people with superhero abilities because hey they have to make up for their disability somehow. This sends negative messages.

They are victims, they need to be cured, they are naive, they are just plain broken, you don’t want to be like them, be afraid... and apparently disabled people can’t act. It’s just not possible. (Note sarcasm.)

I talk about this all the time, but I’m in the midst of trying to get “Ghost in the Attic” (formerly titled Pink Mist) funded and when I say I want to hire an actual amputee for the lead role, I get shocked expressions and comments like “You can try, but you have to go with a good actor in the end.” I’m sorry? Having one foot instead of two means you can’t act? Wow! I didn’t realize actors kept their talents in their left foot. Or is it the right one? Please enlighten me.

We need to all make an effort here. Filmmakers, casting directors, all of us. We need to write projects that treat members of the disabled community simply as humans. Not all good. Not all bad. Humans. And we need to stop projecting our fears and own shortcomings onto them.

To help, as indie filmmakers, we need to write screenplays where the characters happen to be disabled but are not there to comment on their disability or “get over it”.

We need to cast actors from the disabled community as opposed to using CGI to create these characters.

The more authentic we are, the more truthful it will be and the more people will want to engage with us.