Disability Sterotypes essay

DISABILITY STEREOTYPES

The extract of the TV Drama ‘Call Girl’ presents disability using the most common stereotypes using media. These stereotypes can link to Jessica Evans and Jordanova theories.

Jessica Evans (1998) states that “disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as 'other' and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images of rhetoric disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, unattractive, disgusting, shitty, dribbling.”

Jordanova (1989) theory states that “The idea of otherness is complicated, but certain themes are common: the treatment of others as more like an object, something to be managed and possessed, and as dangerous, wild, threatening, at the same time, the other becomes an entity whose very separateness inspired curiosity, invites inquiring knowledge."

  I will be analyzing the scenes in detail taking particular notice of camera-shots, movement and angles including the sound, mise-en-scene and editing.

The opening scene starts with a medium-long shot of the main female character wearing sexualizing clothes (Can also link to the Gender stereotype and Mulveys theory (1975) in which women are objectified and sexualized) as soon as the door opens the camera pans down to a high angle looking down on the disabled character. This can directly link to the Jessica Evans theory where the main character is being looked down on.  But when the disabled mans father speaks the camera switches straight to an eye-line match showing his superiority and power over the disabled boy.