Hollywood’s award season is in full swing and the media have been quick to point out the lack of diversity among this year’s nominees. However, the bulk of this criticism has focused on race and ethnicity. Little, if anything, has been said of the dearth of people with disabilities on the award ballots.
There are two standout films that feature a main character with a disability in this year’s award circuit. Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award winner and Academy Award nominee “The King’s Speech” chronicles King George VI’s struggle to overcome stuttering. TV biopic Temple Grandin, recipient of an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award, tells the story of an autistic woman’s rise to become a top scientist in the field of humane livestock handling. While it’s refreshing to see well-told stories about people with disabilities, it’s impossible to overlook the fact that the actors in these lead roles don’t have the portrayed disability themselves.
Hugh Laurie’s turn as the brutally honest misanthrope House in the eponymous drama and Kevin McHale as Artie, a high school student with paraplegia in “Glee,” are just two additional examples on the small screen. And Broadway recently came under fire for choosing Anna Breslin, who is neither deaf nor blind, for the role of Heller Keller in “The Miracle Worker.”
Having a seemingly able-bodied actor play a character with a disability is common practice in the entertainment industry. But does this count as true diversity and inclusion?
For the disability community, the answer should be a resounding no. The U.S. Census Bureau notes that people with disabilities account for approximately 12 percent of the country’s population, yet they make up just 1 percent of the primetime television characters. A Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation study of the 2010 fall network primetime lineup further illustrates the disparity. Of the 587 series-regular roles that season, only six had a disability. And of those six, just one was portrayed by an actor with a disability.
What’s equally disturbing is the fact that few actors with visible disabilities are cast or even considered for characters that do not have a disability as a defining trait. Actor Robert David Hall, who lost both legs in a car accident, in the role of coroner Albert Robbins on “CIS: Crime Scene Investigation,” is just one of the few exceptions.
Hollywood is missing out on a wealth of talent by not considering actors with disabilities for the roles of characters with and without disabilities. In the 20th century the entertainment industry moved away from using white actors to play minority roles, opening up an opportunity for people of color to showcase their abilities. Now, as we are firmly into the 21st century, a shift in how the industry views people with disabilities is long overdue.
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