Disability is not Inability

::Media:

Disability and the Media in the United Kingdom
By Simon Minty (simonminty@compuserve.com)



Inclusion vs. Ghettoisation

Within disability groups, the debate may focus on the positives and negatives of disability specific magazine programming versus inclusion of disabled people into mainstream programmes. It highlights the drawbacks of seemingly self-imposed ghettoisation programming, produced by disabled people with an exclusively disability content. The positive is disabled people are making programmes but should they not be working on all programming across all genres? Are magazine programmes really satisfying a need?

Questions are asked of disabled people who 'prostitute' themselves by having to use their difference negatively or as a gimmick to get the work. As an individual they are of course allowed to do such work, but what does it do for greater inclusion of the whole? Do such individuals really have a choice? Is this style of performance the only route they have available to them? On the other hand, to retain the disability political movements' purest and furthest reaching mantra, it may mean you get little or no work in the media. Does a boycott by disabled people stop the media from producing disability programming? Does it heck!

Encouraging Exclusion

Further debate rages around certain practices in the media that encourage exclusion of disabled people. Today, it is accepted as given that a white actor would never 'black up' to play a role of black character. However, when it comes to disabled characters, it is accepted that the likes of non-disabled actors such as Tom Cruise, (Born on the 4th July), Daniel Day Lewis, (My Left Foot), Tom Hanks, (Forrest Gump) and Dustin Hoffman, (Rain Man), will play the disabled character and usually be applauded for it.