The Elephant Man By David Lynch

Have you ever seen or met someone with a physical handicap disability? Do you know what it’s like for a person who has a physical form of disability? You may or may not. Randolph Bourne, in “The Handicapped” will be the first to tell you that it is quite the challenge. He has a form of disability that makes him look very different compared to other people. His face is deformed, he is oddly short, he’s forced to walk funny, and is laughed at for being handicapped. Randolph Bourne physical handicaps have been a hindrance on his life because he must work harder to overcome adversity, he is faced with discriminatory behavior from other people, and he had a rough childhood due to his handicaps.

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

Up until the mid 1970's it was actually illegal to be disabled in a sort. It was the 'Ugly Law' which many with Cerebral Palsy suffered greatly from. If anyone was reported ugly due to a deformity of any kind, they would be arrested and taken back home. While not many things like that still happen today, there are situations that happen that are still Ableistic in their own ways. Many crimes that happen against disabled people won't get televised or any awareness raised at all. Parents with disabilities are more likely lose custody of their child, a lot of times for no reason besides being disabled. For intellectually challenged parents there's up to an 80% chance of them losing their child. There are businesses that will refuse to let a handicapped worker to any jobs where they might be visible, some refuse designated parking spaces. The disabled are often paid less, in many places they are paid below minimum wage. Which might be overlooked, if the disability benefits had any help to offer. Unfortunately, disability only offers anywhere from $5k-$7k a year, and the recipient and family they are living with cannot earn more than around $20k a year. The average middle class person is expected to make around $30k a year. Not only must the disabled live off such mediocre wages, but the necessities are ridiculously priced. Manual

Stories become a great influence on people as they view other people either on television or through a book as they explain their struggles or experiences. They should not view them as a negative perspective because of the media. In the article, “ Slippery Slopes: Media, Disability, and Adaptive Sport,” the author William Peace notes how the media shows disability out as “something to be miraculously and inspirationally ‘overcome’ with real consequences”(Peace 676). When taking a gander at somebody with an incapacity, people tend to believe that they are not ready to do the things that individuals with abled bodies can, which is false. While having an incapacity there are approaches to work around things. People don't have to surrender and

The article “introducing disability Studies” by Ronald J. Berger was an eye opener in uncovering the past history of negative stigma associated with having a disability. Through history people have felt the need to stare at people with disabilities or to turn away in fear of maybe contracting the “disease”. This negative attitude was positively reinforced by ordinances such as the Chicago “ugly law” in which a person with physical deformities would have to pay a fine for simply being too “disgusting” looking to other citizens. This law was in place from 1880 to 1973, which is pretty recent in history. However there are positive glimpse in history when it came to uncovering and defining disabilities. Men like Leo Kanner and Asperger have dedicated

The film I selected to observe that displays a disability in the media is Pumpkin. The film Pumpkin is based on a young college girl name Carolyn that volunteers in yearly Challenged Games. In the Challenged Games Carolyn is partner up with a boy name Jesse that goes by the nickname Pumpkin, which has an intellectual disability and is handicapped. Despites everyone disapproval and differences in the film both Carolyn and Pumpkin end up falling in love in the film. The character in the film is portrayed as a young boy that is not “normal” enough to be around all the other students or even to have friends or a girlfriend. He is rather seen as an individual that has a disability that makes him different from everyone else and because of that disability

Disabled people are found in all communities. Ableism has no boundaries of class, race or gender; anyone can be disabled. Some people are born disabled while others fall ill, mentally and physically. Others suffer debilitating injuries that have life altering impact. Some examples of disabled people are

However, as modern studies have shown, being deformed doesn't necessarily mean that he or she is disabled as well. For example, one can have six fingers on their right hand, which does indeed make that hand deformed, but if he or she is still able to write, eat, grab, etc. well with that had, them he or she cannot be considered disabled because the prime definition of disabled is the inability to perform due to a bodily difference or injury. The extent of disability varies as well,for example, one with a temporary fractured arm may have less of a disability than a permanent broken leg, varying on the amount of usage, dependence and convenience for that person.Numerous accounts of disability can also affect a person indirectly, especially if our society commonly revolves around the things we perceive to judge instead of truly allowing one to know the person before we judge, In other words, visibility also commonly fuels the deformity of a person, although indirectly, it is highly noticeable when one shows dislike and contempt toward another. One extremely prevalent unfortunes in our society that deals with the visibility of a

Critical Disability Theory examines of the representations of people with disabilities throughout literature

Writer, Nancy Mairs, in her essay, “Disability, “she portrays that there is no representation for people with disabilities in media, “especially television” (par 1). She supports this claim by exemplifying that the one time she saw a women with multiple sclerosis it was on a “medical drama” (par 2) that had romanticized the disability, and how that is not the type of representation that people with disabilities deserve since the doctor from the television drama “uses his medical power to strip” the woman from her independence. Mairs’ purpose is to announce to the public that people with disabilities are still people and they do normal people stuff like “talk on the telephone” or “order pizza” (par 4) in order to claim that people with disabilities

Disability has appeared frequently in recent films (Byrd & Elliot, 1988), a reflection of society’s interest in the subject. These films often misrepresent disability using stereotypes. These stereotypes reinforce negative and incorrect social perceptions of, and attitudes towards,

Rain Man (Johnson, M. & Miller, R. 1988) is a motion picture featuring the selfish main character, Charlie Babbitt, and his struggles while trying to look after his brother in order to receive half of his father’s inheritance. We follow Charlie and his brother, Raymond Babbitt, who has autism, through their first meeting until Raymond is taken to a mental institution. Rain Man is an original screenplay written by Barry Morrow and directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man 2016).

Dancing with wolves, was directed and starred by Kevin Costner. Originally, this movie was basically an attempt to show both sides of the Native Americans and the White settlers. It showed how the Native Americans perceives their insights on how the white settlers coming into the Western frontier was within the concept of “Manifest destiny.” The film is narrated from his point of view by Costner who plays Lieutenant Dunbar. Dunbar takes a risk to do a suicide charge and while surviving from it he is rewarded a spot on the frontier, which he really wanted to go see it before it disappears forever. Traveling to find his post he comes upon an abandoned post, where he resides. When at Fort Sedgewick, Dunbar also befriends a wolf he names "Two Socks" for its white forepaws his first known friend being out in the West. He noted everyday into a journal like a diary marking his experiences or feelings and taking in all the beauty of the land. After a while he comes in contact with the the Sioux Indians, which sooner or later gets to know on a more personal level. Dunbar at first didn’t know exactly how to feel but after a few curious acts upon the native Americans he wasn’t afraid of them he only wanted to communicate with them and make peace.

It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, but our society today lacks to understand that. In today’s time different is not accepted, people that are different are discriminated, looked down upon and usually picked on. People with disabilities are seen as different creatures by most people, the disabled don’t choose to be the way they are, but still our society alienates them. There are different types of disabilities, some type of disabilities are; mental disability, physical disability, learning disability and socializing disability. These disabilities are seen as weakness in our society that hence contribute to the stereotype that leads to the discrimination against the disabled.