From Freaks to Heroes: A New Cultural Narrative for Disabled Bodies

The Oxford Dictionary defines a ‘hero’ as a person

who is admired for their courage, outstanding

Josh Sundquist

achievements, or noble qualities. According to Kathie Lee and Hoda of the Today Show, the Paralympic skier Josh Sundquist is granted heroic status. Sundquist lost his leg as a child to Ewing’s sarcoma and has since become a bestselling author and motivational speaker, alongside being a Paralympian. In a news segment, Kathie Lee and Hoda praise Sundquist for crafting creative halloween costumes that embrace his disability. After presenting a series of images of Sundquist as a flamingo, the “Christmas Story” lamp, a gingerbread man with one leg bitten off and a table soccer player, the hostesses position him as an inspiration and ultimately label him a hero. While I do not doubt that Sundquist’s positive attitude surrounding his disability is beneficial to a large community of individuals who struggle with embracing their bodies, I am hesitant to accept the mainstream narrative that circulates around disability in American culture. Suggesting that fashioning a flamingo halloween costume is equivalent to an outstanding achievement seems laughable in comparison to the multitude of accomplishments that have made a life-changing impact. For example, prominent figures, such as Harriet Tubman, who are incredibly influential and whose actions have changed the world seem to be more aligned with the hero that is outlined by the term’s definition. I am not suggesting that individuals who live with a disability should not be recognized for overcoming a challenging situation, but I would like to emphasize that language used by mainstream media constructs a very specific illustration of individuals with disabilities.

Physical disabilities have been the site of a massive amount of prejudice and oppression. Professor Susan Schweik outlines the horrendous implementation of “ugly laws” throughout America’s history to showcase how perceptions and understandings surrounding disabilities have been shaped by law enforcement and popular discourse. Additionally, Eli Clare, a speaker and activist, explores the development and influence of the freak show, while also emphasizing how language can function to marginalize individuals. Both Schweik and Clare make it clear that an individual with a visible disability is immediately discriminated against and considered ‘less than’. Considering this historical foundation, it is surprising to see a recent increase in disabled individuals gaining visibility within mainstream media. GLAAD, a media advocacy organization for the LGBTQ community, released a report earlier this year that found that televisual representations of disabled individuals have almost doubled since last year. While characters with disabilities still constitute a small majority of prime-time television actors (1.7%), it is important to recognize that numbers are rising. While this should be noted as a positive development, I find it necessary to examine how this historically marginalized group is being placed within a new cultural narrative and what this shift in discourse means for our contemporary perceptions of disabled individuals.

Artie Abrams from Glee

With just a glance at popular media, it is clear that television, film, and advertisements, among other mediums, present a narrow depiction of disabled individuals. Overwhelmingly, the disabilities showcased in the media are limited to individuals in wheelchairs or those who require crutches or braces. Occasionally, an individual with a missing limb obtains recognition, but like every other disabled individual represented by the media, they are typically white and come from a privileged background. Television character’s such as Artie Abrams from Glee or Walter White Jr. from Breaking Bad do not entirely challenge the “diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed...unsightly or disgusting object” that American ugly law’s sought to remove from public view. Even advertisements, such as Honey Maid’s “How to Make Apple and Cheddar Melts” commercial or Target’s catalogue that features a young girl

Walter White Jr. from Breaking Bad

with crutches and leg braces, contribute to the narrow perception that all individuals with disabilities are in wheelchairs or require crutches,rather than individuals like Victoria Ann Lewis, an American performer, whose disability was marked on her body through her different-sized legs. Popular media tends to produce a single representation of what it means to live with a disability. While I hope to see more and more individuals who utilize wheelchairs and crutches become celebrated by mainstream media, there still remains a massive disparity in the representation of other types of disabilities that may stray more from what we expect abled-bodies to look like.

Little People, Big World

Even when bodies that are more visually divergent emerge in popular cultural discourse, they continue to be positioned within a heteronormative framework and are still often treated as spectacle. For example, TLC’s television series Little People, Big World, centers on an a heterosexual, white, financially successful couple who seek to live a normal life in spite of their dwarfism. The show’s main attraction is its ability to produce a feel good story of people who experience strife, but beat the odds anyway. Just as Sundquist was labeled a hero for his creativity in regards to costume making,the “little people” on Little People, Big World are praised for their everyday accomplishment and are leveraged to create a spectacle out of ordinary activities, such as driving a car or going to the grocery store. Not only is the media responsible for painting a limited illustration of what an individual with disabilities looks like, but it also continues to frame anyone with disabilities - as long as they are white, upper-middle class, and heterosexual - as a hero. Media representations of disabled individuals are changing the way we think about disability and are creating a new cultural narrative. The impact that ugly laws and freak shows have made on our assumptions of disabled individuals may be diminishing as the media attempts to become more and more inclusive, but it is crucial to realize that popular cultural images continue to represent a selective collection of bodies.