Special Issue on Disability and Film and Media
Vol. 17 No. 4 (2022): Special Issue: Disability and Film and Media
Plain Language Abstracts
Plain language abstracts for all articles in this issue follow here:
Editorial
Beth Haller, Lawrence Carter-Long
This Editorial (editors’ opinions) for v17i4, Special Issue of Disability and Film and Media. looks at how film and media can be helpful in creating more equity (treating people fairly) and inclusion (including everybody). It also looks at some examples of films from around the world, and it gives an overview of what the articles in this issue are.
Research Articles and Essays
Exploring the Development of Disability Identity by Young Creators on Instagram
Kristen Tollan
This paper explores how disabled youth use social media to express who they are. Using an affirmation model (an understanding of disability based on what is positive about being disabled), and a photovoice approach (an approach in which people take photos of themselves and use those to talk about their lives), this study looks at the experiences of eight young adult participants and how they express themselves online.
Vernacular Radio Stations and Inclusive Education in marginalized communities in Kenya
John Ndavula, Jackline Lidubwi
In this study, we examined how vernacular radio (radio in local language) was promoting inclusive education for children with disabilities among rural communities in Kenya. We interviewed radio presenters, producers and stakeholders (people involved) in education. We found out that, even though a few radio stations broadcasted disability specific content, the content however failed to capture inclusive education issues. Few inclusive education stakeholders and disability activists were interviewed by radio stations. We recommend that radio should make a conscious effort to air content on inclusive education.
Disability Metaphors and Patriotic-Enlightenment Movement in the Korea Daily News, 1907-1910
Eunyoung Jung
This article explores disability metaphors in the Korea Daily News from 1907 to 1910 looking at the section called pyunpyungidam (meaning strange stories). The author argues that this earliest modern Korean newspaper used blindness and language disabilities to portray its opponents and despair in the patriotic enlightenment movement against colonialism.
Alison Wilde
Series Four of American Horror Story (AHS) gave new opportunities to disabled actors and began to show viewers more radical images of disability and people with different impairments. But a comparison this with disabled characters in the other series of AHS shows that representations of disability are still not equal.
Multimedia
Review: Code of the Freaks (2020)
Jeffrey Preston
The documentary film Code of the Freaks looks at how disability is shown in American film. Designed to be enjoyed by both academic and non-academic communities, the film’s main goal is “to capture the conversations that we and those within our communities were so desperate to have, hoping that these conversations could also have a wider audience and reach” (Chasnoff et al., n.d.). This brief review outlines some of the key things the film tries to say connects it to research that is happening in media studies and disability studies.
Towards a Superfest Origin Story
Emily Beitiks
This article looks at the origin of Superfest, the world’s longest running disability film festival. It is based on an interview between Emily Beitiks, Associate Director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and Superfest co-director, and Superfest founding member Peni Hall. The conversation took place remotely in December 2021.
“More than Medals” sets the stage for Tokyo Paralympics First-of-its-Kind Historical Analysis
Aman Misra, Kara Ayers
This book review of “More than Medals” by Dennis J. Frost shows many strengths of the way the book looks at the Paralympic (world-class sports events for people with disabilities) movement in Japan. This is the first history about it written in English. Frost describes the move to current day by looking at five disabled sports events from after World War II to the upcoming Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The book makes an important call to action to end ways of looking at the Paralympic movement that only focus on Western nations and people and instead also include more of the view and experiences of people from the East.
Creative Works
"The Co-Op": Director's Statement
Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell (CSM Productions) is a film director, cinematographer (person responsible for filming a movie or television show), and son of Disability Studies professors David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder. In this article, Cameron discusses the making of his short film “The Co-Op” and how it deals with themes of disability in film portrayal, independence, and interdependence as well as its autobiographical content.
Heroic Justice for Quasimodo Through Re-creation
Talia Steinmetz
In Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo is the movie’s hero, but he isn't allowed to have a romantic relationship. To learn why, this paper examines the storyline and the stereotypes of disability. It also offers a new script that rewrites Quasimodo’s ending.
Notes from the Field
Pac Rim Team 2022
This announcement talks about the 37th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity. The conference is hosted by the Center on Disability Studies, College of Education, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The conference takes place virtually this year on February 28th & March 1st, 2022 HST. There will also be a Celebration Day before the conference on February 26, 2022 HST).
Dissertation & Abstracts
Dissertation & Abstracts v17i4