Once, disability was simply a descriptor, but over time, disabled people have created a community and a culture under this banner, allowing our creative identities to thrive. Unfortunately, the film industry has a long history of ignoring or misrepresenting this rich diversity of life experiences.
Category: Film and TV
All the Light We Cannot See shows disabled actors are crucial for disabled roles
Filmmakers often attempt to tell disabled stories, but few cast disabled actors in disabled roles.
Thankfully, Netflix’s adaptation of the globally renowned novel All the Light We Cannot See rejected that tired option by conducting a worldwide search to find visually impaired actors for the lead role of Marie-Laure Leblanc – and it paid off, big time.
Ginny and Georgia season 2 addresses key unresolved issue
From teenage sex to unhealthy parent-child dynamics, Ginny & Georgia is a smorgasbord of challenging topics that are seldom depicted sympathetically on-screen.
The Netflix series centres the mother-daughter dynamic between the titular Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and Georgia (Brianne Howey), depicting its high points and moments of great emotional upheaval, one of which is Ginny’s self-harming.
Disability Pride Month: Why disabled actors still need to get more chances
Representations of disability in the film industry have a long and storied history of being wrong.
It’s undeniable that improving disability inclusion within the industry, including hiring more disabled writers and producers, would enhance the accuracy of portrayals of disability on screen.
How Good Omens season 2 swerved ignorant tropes with its disabled angels
Good Omens’ second season nailed disability representation without tokenising a community that rarely gets depicted on screen.
Too many representations of disabled people stray into the objectively bad or dangerously prejudiced categories of filmmaking. Narratives position disabled people as burdens, inspirations, or mistakes of biology that must be fixed. Visual storytelling relies too much on tropes and neglects to explore the full spectrum of disabled lives.
Love Island, disabled reality TV stars, and the ‘inspiration porn’ deluge
Love Island has announced what it says is its “most diverse” cast ever, which includes their first physically disabled contestant: Hampshire PE teacher Hugo Hammond, who has a clubbed foot.
