Representing Disability in the Entertainment Industry

I’m always excited to see individuals with disabilities represented positively in the entertainment industry. Here are just a few examples:

Most recently more serious shows such as Breaking Bad’s character, Walter “Flynn” White Jr. (whom has cerebral palsy) and Parenthood's character, Max Burkholder (whom has autism) has entered the mainstream. Both of these characters have a common thread of involving the family unit and of course living their daily lives with a disability. On the flip side, I’ve enjoyed watching comedies such as, The Middle’s character, Brick Heck (whom has type IV Osteogenesis Imperfecta) and My Gimpy Life's character as herself, Teal Sherer (whom is paraplegic).

Check out Teal Sherer's YouTube show, My Gimpy Life:

 

- Elizabeth -

Comments

[Lucas_madden]

I was totally talking to Lucia about this a couple of weeks ago after your speaking engagement! I would even take it a step further and mention the fact that there are television shows that are actively hiring actors with disabilities to play characters that are so nuanced and that challenge our perceptions. I think I specifically mentioned Peter Dinklage, who won an Emmy for his work on Game of Thrones, Lauren Potter from Glee, who has some of the best one-liners on the show and some of the best comedic timing, and Jamie Brewer from American Horror Story, who in the last season was given a love interest in the form of a hot neighbor who was actually interested in her character for who she was as a person. There are of course many more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head right now!

[Ken Freestone]

Thanks for the link to My Gimpy Life...May I say funny?