The accompanying presentation can be found at the link below.
It is the classic disability trope – the Inspirationally Disadvantaged person overcomes their disability, finally enabling them to lead a fulfilling, non-disabled life. Better yet, they exist only to teach the non-disabled main character a lesson, often about humility or inner strength. As a disabled person, am I only valuable as a plot device? Is my only role in society to be a castoff for non-disabled people to take pity on and prove just how charitable they are? Do I only matter if I can inspire the world with my tenacity and disability-defying achievements?
Many disabled people feel that how they are portrayed onscreen is dehumanising or, at the very least, patronising. Particularly within the autistic community, there is an ongoing discussion about the accuracy and authenticity of autistic representation and how it affects the way wider society views neurodiversity. Through this dissertation, I will explore how autism is represented in film and TV, how this has changed over time, and how this has impacted the autistic community.
My two key forms of primary research are extensive textual analysis and questionnaires to gather opinions. I have a wide range of potential texts to analyse, including Rain Man, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Atypical, Music, As We See It, and several others. While I need to narrow my focus to a few key texts, I would like to find some additional films from the turn of the century to fill in the gap between 1999 and 2017. Few older movies and TV shows specify that a character is autistic, instead opting to allow the audience to make an armchair diagnosis.
The purpose of the questionnaires would be to gain insight into the views of the autistic community, though I would have to take care to ask a range of people as the community is not a monolith. I would also have to be mindful of the ethical issues that could arise from asking vulnerable people about their disabilities; it is vital to consider anonymity, informed consent, and the right to withdraw. All questions need to be sensitive and appropriate, and measures will need to be implemented so nobody under 18 can participate. I want to explore people's opinions on how autism is portrayed in film and TV and whether non-disabled actors should play disabled roles.
My research will primarily involve working with qualitative data through the use of open questions, as my work relies on the interpretations and opinions of people within the autistic community. While I may be able to quantify some elements of my textual analysis to aid comparisons between texts, a predominantly quantitative approach would not provide the depth of insight needed to thoroughly examine the subjectivity surrounding depictions of autism.
The common phrase “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism” was coined because no two autistic people are the same. While there are certain common differences in social communication and interaction, the ways these characteristics can manifest are so unique and diverse that no one autistic film character could represent the millions of autistic individuals worldwide.
Stuart Murray said in his 2008 book, Representing Autism: Culture, Narrative, Fascination, “It is an irony, but probably not particularly surprising, that a condition so debated in the professional world achieves a consistency of presentation in the ways in which it is turned into stories, fiction and non-fiction alike.”
Murray’s work identifies the stereotypes and tropes that are frequently used to portray autism in media – ideas which will inform my analysis of key texts and help me explore how representation may have changed in recent years.
My further secondary research centres mostly around identity and representation, such as Henry Jenkins' work on Participatory Culture, where the audience's role as both producer and consumer can lead to greater diversity in media as underrepresented voices find a platform to share their stories. Particularly on YouTube and TikTok, autistic people can share their vastly different experiences, providing the public with a wider, more authentic understanding of autism.
I will also examine The Celluloid Closet as, while it is not about disability, I hope it will allow me to draw parallels with how the film explores the historical onscreen representation of the LGBTQ+ community and its shift from harmful stereotypes to a more positive depiction of marginalised people.
There are some secondary sources I would like to explore to help shape my focus: the Hays Code, Graham Burton's More Than Meets the Eye, and Stuart Hall's work on representation.
As the disability rights movement says, "Nothing about us without us", these underrepresented voices deserve a meaningful say in how they are portrayed onscreen. I hope that, in time, the onscreen autistic character will be valued as a person rather than reduced to a plot device.
References:
Jenkins, H. (2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture : Media Education for the 21st Century. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Murray, S. (2008). Representing Autism: Culture, Narrative, Fascination. Liverpool Liverpool University Press.
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