Where are the Actors with Disabilities?
Repeating History
Female actresses were not allowed on the English stage until 1660 so in
Shakespeare’s plays female roles were played by young boys. How quaint
we think now. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans
were portrayed by whites in black face. How racist we think
now. Today the gay and lesbian community questions why so many straight
actors get the parts to play members of their community.
It’s not hard to come up with examples of actors without disabilities who
played someone with an intellectual disability: Dustin Hoffman in Rainman,
Sean Penn in I Am Sam, or Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Radio.
Able-bodied actors also appear with regularity in roles where
characters have a physical disability: Jon Voight playing a parapalegic
in Coming Home, Daniel Day-Lewis playing a man with cerebral
palsy in My Left Foot, or Ben Affleck playing a blind superhero
in Daredevil. Now let’s think of movie stars with a disability.
There’s Marlee Matlin, an actress with a hearing impairment. And then
there’s, uh, well, … no one. Get my point?
Representation
Like most minorities, people with disabilities are underrepresented in
the media. According the 2003 US Census (the most recent available),
27.4% of the population has a disablility. That includes the 4.8% with
an intellectual disability. Do we see 1 person out of 4 on tv or in movies
having a disability? I think not.
I understand that movies and tv are for the most part fantasy and
escapism. Most actors and actresses are prettier and more handsome than
average. They speak in complete, well-formed sentences and are much
wittier than you and me. However, consider the audience. We all like to
see stories about us and want to relate to people with the
same abilities and disabilities as we have.
Realism
Actors like to stretch and play characters that are very
different than them. It makes their job more challenging and the result
more impressive. I wouldn’t want to deny them that opportunity. Of
course, they should be willing to allow an actor with disabilities the
same opportunity in reverse but I won’t go into that here. However, how
accurate are these portrayals? When I hear Marlee Matlin speak it
sounds very different than an actor that doesn’t have a hearing
impairment trying to immitate those sounds. People with Down Syndrome
have distinct physical characteristics (e.g. very flexible joints) that
are hard to realistically portray by people without that condition.
There are often situations where it would be appropriate for an
able-bodied actor to portray a character with a disability. For
example, in Forrest Gump Gary Sinise plays Lt. Dan Taylor who
has both legs at the beginning of the movie but loses one part way
through. With special effects it is a lot easier to paint out
a leg than to try to realistically add one to a person that does not
have one. I am not saying that there is no occasions for able-bodied
actors to play these roles just that the current balance is way off.
Capabilities
I am sure that one of the responses to my rant would be that people
with intellectual disabilities would find it hard to remember all their lines
and work in a complex industry. I have two words for them: Chris Burke.
He is the fine actor that was one of the leads in the television series
Life Goes On. The fact that he has Down Syndrome didn’t seem to
prevent him from doing a fine job in his role as a character with Down
Syndrome and it was much more realistic that way. That tv show also had
secondary characters (e.g. Chris Burke’s character’s girlfriend/wife)
portrayed by actors with intellectual disabilities and in my opinion it all
added to the realism of the show.
The Present
Life Goes On seems to have been a high point that has not been
duplicated in the dozen years since it went off the air. On tv a recent
special, Riding on the Bus with my Sister, the main character
had an intellectual disability but was portrayed by Rosie O’Donnell. In
the movies the situation is similar. In I am Sam, Sam had
several friends that were portrayed by characters with intellectual disabilities
but they were very minor roles. In Radio there were no other
such characters. The Ringer had a great supporting cast made up of real Special Olympics athletes but that movie was about Special Olympics and even there two of the supporting actors did not have intellectual disabilities. Nonetheless it was a welcome exception.
The Future
One can only hope that it gets better. If you agree with me then vote
with your pocketbook (i.e. watch shows, go to movies, etc. that feature
actors with disabilities) and make your friends and family aware of
this issue.