All disabled people have the right to participate in cultural life on an equal basis (CRPD Article 30). How disabled people have been represented—and misrepresented—in media shapes public attitudes, policy, and how disabled people see themselves. This page traces the history of disability in media, from harmful stereotypes to disabled creators telling their own stories. This page centers disabled people's expertise and is informed by disabled-led organizing globally.
Media representation matters because it shapes how non-disabled people understand disability, influences policy and public attitudes, affects how disabled people view themselves, can reinforce or challenge stereotypes, and increasingly includes disabled creators telling authentic stories. Understanding the history helps us recognize harmful patterns and celebrate the growing presence of disabled voices in media.
This page covers:
- Disability representation in early media (theater, literature, early film)
- Dominant stereotypes and tropes across media history
- The "freak show" and its legacy
- Telethons and charity media
- The rise of disability media criticism
- Disabled creators and authentic representation
- Current state and ongoing debates
¶ Literature and Theater
Disability has appeared in stories throughout history, often in stereotyped roles:
- Villains with disabilities: Richard III, Captain Hook, countless others—physical difference signaling moral corruption
- Pitiful figures: Characters meant to evoke sympathy and charity
- Wise disabled mentors: Blind prophets, sages whose disability grants special insight
- Comic relief: Disabled characters as objects of humor
- Inspirational overcomers: Characters who "triumph over" disability
These patterns, established centuries ago, persist in modern media.
Silent and early talking films frequently featured disabled characters:
- Melodramas: Disability as tragedy, often "cured" or ended by death
- Horror: Disability linked to monstrosity and fear
- Comedy: Physical difference as source of humor
- "Fake" disabilities: Non-disabled actors playing disabled roles, often for sentiment
Examples: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), Freaks (1932)—notable for casting actual disabled performers but controversial for its exploitation
From the 1800s through mid-1900s, "freak shows" displayed people with unusual bodies for entertainment:
- Exhibited at circuses, carnivals, and dedicated venues
- People with dwarfism, missing limbs, conjoined twins, and other differences
- Some performers had agency and earned income; many were exploited
- Reinforced ideas of disabled bodies as spectacle
Some performers became wealthy and famous:
- Charles Stratton ("General Tom Thumb"): Worked with P.T. Barnum
- Chang and Eng Bunker: Conjoined twins who became successful businessmen
- Joseph Merrick ("Elephant Man"): His story has been told many ways, not always accurately
¶ Legacy and Disability Studies Debate
Disability scholars debate the freak show legacy:
- Some emphasize exploitation and harm
- Others note performer agency and community
- All agree that spectacle of disabled bodies shaped cultural attitudes
- Modern reality TV and viral content sometimes echoes freak show dynamics
Television fundraising events for disability charities became major cultural phenomena:
- Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon (1966–2010): Most famous example
- Easter Seals, United Cerebral Palsy, and other telethons
- Featured "poster children" representing disability
- Raised billions of dollars for research and services
Many disabled people criticized telethons for:
- Pity framing: Presenting disabled people as tragic, in need of saving
- "Poster child" exploitation: Using children to evoke emotional donations
- Cure focus: Prioritizing cure research over services and rights
- Non-disabled control: Charities run by non-disabled people
- Ignoring disability rights: Rarely addressing discrimination or access
Disability activists protested the Jerry Lewis Telethon:
- Jerry's Orphans (later The Lemon Collective) organized demonstrations
- Challenged the telethon's pity-based messaging
- Mike Ervin and other activists led public critiques
- Eventually contributed to the telethon's decline and end
¶ Dominant Stereotypes and Tropes
Disabled people portrayed as extraordinary for doing ordinary things:
- Overcoming disability through sheer will
- Achieving despite disability (not with accommodation)
- Implying that disabled people who don't achieve aren't trying hard enough
- Inspiring non-disabled people rather than representing disabled experience
Disabled characters portrayed as angry, resentful, and villainous:
- Disability as source of bitterness
- Often seeking revenge on non-disabled society
- Physical difference as marker of moral corruption
- Examples: Classic Bond villains, many horror films
Disabled characters as objects of sympathy:
- Unable to help themselves
- Dependent on non-disabled saviors
- Often "better off dead" narratives
- Used to demonstrate non-disabled characters' goodness
Coined by Stella Young, this describes:
- Disabled people doing ordinary things framed as inspirational
- Memes like "The only disability is a bad attitude"
- Objectifying disabled people for non-disabled emotional benefit
- Reducing disabled people to their disabilities for inspiration
- Magical cure: Disability removed through miracle or love
- Disability as punishment: Characters disabled as karma for wrongdoing
- Asexual/undesirable: Disabled characters rarely shown as romantic
- Autistic savant: Autism portrayed as giving exceptional abilities
- Wise disabled mentor: Disability granting special wisdom
- Kill the cripple: Disabled characters dying to resolve plots
Disability media studies emerged as a field:
- Paul Longmore: Pioneering disability media scholar
- Rosemarie Garland-Thomson: Analysis of visual representation
- Lennard Davis: Disability and normalcy in culture
- Carrie Sandahl: Performance and disability
- Robert McRuer: Crip theory and media
Key works: Longmore's essays on telethons, Garland-Thomson's Staring, Davis's Enforcing Normalcy
¶ Disability Culture and Arts
Disabled artists created their own media:
- Disability arts movement: Emerged in UK and US in 1970s–1980s
- Performance art: Cheryl Marie Wade, Mat Fraser, and others
- Visual art: Riva Lehrer, Sunaura Taylor
- Film and video: Disability-focused documentaries and narratives
- Theater: Deaf West Theatre, Graeae Theatre Company
Digital platforms enabled disability media critique:
- Disability bloggers reviewing representation
- Social media callouts of harmful content
- Disabled critics writing in mainstream outlets
- Hashtags like #RepresentationMatters, #DisabledAndCute
¶ Film and Television Trends
Non-disabled actors playing disabled roles became increasingly criticized:
- Examples: Rain Man, Forrest Gump, My Left Foot, The Theory of Everything, Music
- Arguments against: Takes roles from disabled actors, often inaccurate, rewards performing disability
- Arguments for (typically from industry): "Best actor for the role," artistic freedom
- Trend shifting slowly toward disabled casting
Historical examples (with critiques):
- The Elephant Man (1980): Humanizing but still spectacle
- Coming Home (1978): Vietnam veteran disability, progressive for its time
- Children of a Lesser God (1986): Deaf actress, but hearing-centered narrative
- Rain Man (1988): Sparked autism awareness but reinforced stereotypes
- My Left Foot (1989): Non-disabled actor, but based on disabled writer's memoir
More recent positive examples:
- CODA (2021): Deaf actors in Deaf roles
- Crip Camp (2020): Documentary about disability rights history
- Deaf U (2020): Reality show at Gallaudet
- Various series featuring disabled actors and characters
Slow improvement in TV representation:
- More disabled characters in ensemble casts
- Some series centered on disabled experience
- Increased hiring of disabled writers and consultants
- Still significant gaps in authentic representation
Documentaries have shaped disability narratives:
- Exposé documentaries: Willowbrook (1972), revealing institutional abuse
- Telethon-style: Pity-based fundraising content
- Rights-focused: When Billy Broke His Head (1994), Lives Worth Living (2011)
- Contemporary: Crip Camp (2020), disability-led production
How disability is covered in news:
- Medical model framing: Disability as condition to be treated
- Tragedy narratives: Focus on suffering and loss
- Inspiration stories: "Overcoming" disability
- Relatively rare: Rights-focused coverage, disabled experts as sources
- Improving slowly: More disabled journalists, better guidelines
Digital platforms enabled disabled creators:
- YouTube: Disability vloggers, advocacy content
- TikTok: Short-form disability education and comedy
- Instagram: Disabled influencers, accessibility advocacy
- Podcasts: Disability-focused shows by disabled hosts
- Direct connection between disabled creators and audiences
Deaf community has distinct media history:
- Deaf theater: Long tradition of visual storytelling
- ASL film and video: National Theatre of the Deaf, Deaf West
- Deaf in film: Children of a Lesser God, Sound of Metal, CODA
- Deaf TV: Deaf characters and actors increasing
Cochlear implants raised media representation questions:
- Medical narratives emphasizing "cure" and hearing
- Deaf community concerns about cultural preservation
- Media often favored hearing-centric perspectives
- Complex debates about identity and technology
¶ Current State and Debates
- More disabled actors playing disabled roles
- Disability consultants on productions
- Some disabled showrunners and writers
- Authentic storylines beyond tragedy and inspiration
- Growth of disability-led production companies
- Non-disabled actors still dominate disabled roles
- Many productions lack disability consultants
- Disability often erased or cured in narratives
- Intersectional representation (disabled people of color, LGBTQ+ disabled people) remains limited
- Industry accessibility barriers keep disabled creators out
- Streaming captioning and audio description inconsistent
Current conversations include:
- Should non-disabled actors play disabled roles?: Increasingly answered "no"
- Who gets to tell disability stories?: Preference for #OwnVoices
- Cure narratives: When are they harmful vs. reflecting reality?
- Portraying disability diversity: Avoiding single story of disability
- Accessibility of media itself: Captions, audio description, accessible theaters
¶ Filmmakers and Showrunners
- Ryan O'Connell: Special (Netflix)
- Ava DuVernay: When They See Us included disability
- Deaf West Theatre: Stage and screen productions
- Increasing disabled presence behind the camera
¶ Writers and Critics
- Keah Brown: #DisabledAndCute creator, author
- Alice Wong: Disability Visibility anthology, media appearances
- Imani Barbarin: #AbledsAreWeird, cultural criticism
- Rebecca Cokley: Policy and media commentary
- Many disabled journalists in mainstream outlets
- Ali Stroker: First wheelchair user to win a Tony Award
- Selma Blair: Visible disability advocacy
- Marlee Matlin: Decades of Deaf representation
- RJ Mitte: Breaking Bad and advocacy
- Growing number of openly disabled performers
¶ Sources and Further Reading
- Paul Longmore, Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability
- Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Staring: How We Look
- Lennard Davis, Enforcing Normalcy
- Martin Norden, Cinema of Isolation
- Kristen Lopez, disability film criticism
- Various disability media scholars
- Disability-focused media websites and podcasts
- Film and television archives
- Telethon footage and critiques
- Disability arts archives
- Oral histories with disabled performers and creators
This page centers disabled people's expertise and is informed by disabled-led organizing globally. For questions or to suggest additions, see How to Contribute.