Editing Disability (section)

==== Tropes ====
{{Further|Disability in the media}}
There are distinct tactics that the media frequently employ in representing disability. These common ways of framing disability are heavily criticized for being dehumanizing and failing to place importance on the perspectives of persons with disabilities. As outlined by [[Disability studies|disability theorist]] and [[rhetoric]]ian [[Jay Timothy Dolmage]], ableist media tropes can reflect and continue to perpetuate societal myths about disabled people.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Dolmage |first=Jay Timothy |title=Disability Rhetoric |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8156-3324-2 |edition=1st |location= |pages=31–61}}</ref>

===== Inspiration porn =====
[[Inspiration porn]] refers to portrayals of persons with disabilities in which they are presented as being inspiring simply because the person has a disability. These portrayals are criticized because they are created with the intent of making viewers with no acknowledged disability feel better about themselves in comparison to the individual portrayed. Rather than recognizing the humanity of persons with disabilities, inspiration porn turns them into objects of inspiration for an audience composed of those with no acknowledged disability.<ref>{{Cite web|  last = Young | first =Stella  |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/07/02/3537035.htm|title=We're not here for your inspiration|website= Ramp up | publisher = ABC Services   |  location  = Australia  |language=en-AU|access-date=April 19, 2016|date=July 2, 2012|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428121659/http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/07/02/3537035.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===== Supercrip =====
The supercrip trope refers to instances when the media reports on or portray a disabled person who has made a noteworthy achievement but centers on their disability rather than what they actually did. They are portrayed as awe-inspiring for being exceptional compared to others with the same or similar conditions. This trope is widely used in reporting on disabled athletes as well as in portrayals of autistic savants.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Representing Autism Culture, Narrative, Fascination|last=Murray|first=Stuart |publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=2008| isbn = 978-1-84631-092-8 |location=Liverpool}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author1= Hardin, Marie Myers |author2= Hardin, Brent |title=The 'Supercrip' in sport media: Wheelchair athletes discuss hegemony's disabled hero |journal =Sociology of Sport Online |volume=7 |issue=1 |date=June 2004 |publisher=School of Physical Education, University of Otago | issn = 1461-8192|url=http://physed.otago.ac.nz/sosol/v7i1/v7i1_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040819191636/http://physed.otago.ac.nz/sosol/v7i1/v7i1_1.html |archive-date=August 19, 2004 |access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>

These representations, notes disability scholar Ria Cheyne, "are widely assumed to be inherently regressive",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cheyne |first=Ria |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e541dbd4-c418-4250-bf50-4c84e3cbbe54/external_content.pdf |title=Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary Fiction |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-78962-077-1 |edition=1 |location=United Kingdom |publication-date=2019 |pages=62–3 |language=en |quote=Although the authors do not expand on their analysis in depth, they do not need to: supercrip representations are widely assumed to be 'inherently regressive' (Schalk 75). To label a representation as deploying this stereotype is 'the ultimate scholarly insult', a form of critical dismissal which decisively locates that text as unproductive from a disability studies perspective (Schalk 71). |via=OAPEN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221192952/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e541dbd4-c418-4250-bf50-4c84e3cbbe54/external_content.pdf |archive-date= February 21, 2024 }}</ref> reducing people to their condition rather than viewing them as full people. Furthermore, supercrip portrayals are criticized for creating the unrealistic expectation that disability should be accompanied by some type of special talent, genius, or insight.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Schalk |first=Sami |date=2016 |title=Reevaluating the Supercrip |s2cid-access=free |url=https://samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Schalk_Reevaluating-the-Supercrip_JLCDS-2016.pdf |journal=Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=71–86 |doi=10.3828/jlcds.2016.5 |s2cid=147281453 |issn=1757-6458 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108013753/https://www.samischalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Schalk_Reevaluating-the-Supercrip_JLCDS-2016.pdf |archive-date= November 8, 2022 }}</ref>

Examples of this trope in the media include Dr. Shaun Murphy from ''[[The Good Doctor (American TV series)|The Good Doctor]]'', Marvel's [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)|Daredevil]], and others.

Scholar [[Sami Schalk]] argues that the term supercrip has a narrow definition given how widely used the term is. As a result, Schlak provides three categories of supercrip narratives used:<ref name=":9" />

# The regular supercrip narrative in which a disabled person gains regulation for completing mundane tacts. This is commonly seen as a disabled person being able to accomplish something despite their disability. 
# The glorified supercrip narrative in which a disabled person is praised for succeeding at something even a non-disabled person would not be able to do. This narrative form is commonly used to talk about disabled [[Paralympic sports|Paralympic athletes]].
# The superpowered supercrip narrative which appears in functionalized representations of disabled characters. Characters of this narrative type gain superpowers due to their disability. Common examples of this narrative form in action are prosthetics limbs that make one more powerful than expected or have futuristic technology that makes one a [[cyborg]].<ref name=":9"/>

===== Disabled villain =====
Characters in fiction that bear physical or mental markers of difference from perceived societal norms are frequently positioned as villains within a text. Lindsey Row-Heyveld shares ways students should be taught to begin to further analyze this issue.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Row-Heyveld|first=Lindsey|date=2015|title=Reading Batman, Writing X-Men Superpowers and Disabilities in the First-Year Seminar|journal=Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture| volume = 15 |pages=519–26|number =3|doi=10.1215/15314200-2917105|s2cid=146299487}}</ref> Disabled people's visible differences from the abled majority are meant to evoke fear in audiences that can perpetuate the mindset of disabled people being a threat to individual or public interests and well-being.

===== Disability drop =====
The "disability drop" [[Trope (literature)|trope]] is when a supposedly disabled character is revealed to have been faking, embellishing, or otherwise not actually embodying their claimed disability. [[Jay Dolmage]] offers [[Kevin Spacey]]'s character, Verbal Kint, in the film ''[[Usual Suspects]]'' as an example of this, and depictions like this can reflect able-bodied society's mistrust of disabled people.<ref name=":5" /> In addition, this reveal of a character's nondisabledness often serves as the narrative climax of a story, and the use of disability as a source of conflict in the plot, narrative obstacle, or a device of characterization aligns with other disability studies scholars' theory of "Narrative [[Prosthesis]]", a term coined by David T. Mitchell and Sharon Snyder.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=David T. |title=Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse |last2=Snyder |first2=Sharon L. |date=2000 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-06748-0}}</ref>

===== The disabled victim =====
Another frequent occurrence is when someone with a disability is assumed to be miserable or helpless.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Silver |first1=Roxane Lee |date=1982 |title=Coping with an undesirable life event: a study of early reactions to physical disability |oclc=25949964 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/40770ff2b3c68e79f22147c3fe430cb5/1}}</ref>

''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame's]]'' [[Quasimodo]], ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man's]]'' [[Joseph Merrick|John Merrick]], ''[[A Christmas Carol (2009 film)|A Christmas Carol's]]'' [[Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)|Tiny Tim]], and even news broadcasts that refer to people as "victims" or "sufferers" are a few examples of this stereotype.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Colin |title=Disabling Imagery and the Media |date=March 15, 1992 |publisher=Ryburn Publishing |isbn=1-85331-042-5 |location=Krumlin, Halifax}}</ref>

===== Eternally Innocent =====
Characters with disabilities are frequently portrayed in movies as being angelic or childish. These films include ''[[Rain Man]]'' (1988), ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' (1994) and ''[[I Am Sam]]'' (2001).<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Byrne |first=Peter |date=May 18, 2002 |title=I Am Sam |journal=BMJ: British Medical Journal |volume=324 |issue=7347 |pages=1223 |doi=10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1223 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=1123184}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pettey |first1=Homer B. |title=Mind Reeling: Psychopathology on Film |date=2020 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-8102-9}}</ref>

The innocent and endearing person with a disability often points out the inadequacies of their "normal" adult peers, which helps them achieve salvation.<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Thomas E. |title=Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality |date=2008 |publisher=Brazos Press |isbn=978-1-4412-0263-5}}</ref>

Like all the others, this stereotype perpetuates patronizing perceptions that are simply untrue and are therefore damaging.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disability stereotypes in the media {{!}} Aruma |url=https://www.aruma.com.au/about-us/blog/run-forest-run-disability-stereotypes-in-the-media/ |website=Aruma Disability Services |access-date=October 8, 2022 |language=en |date=August 24, 2020}}</ref>

While there are many disability tropes, disability aesthetics attempts to dispel them by accurately depicting disabled bodies in art and media.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Siebers |first=Tobin |date=2005 |title=Disability Aesthetics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25486181 |journal=PMLA |volume=120 |issue=2 |pages=542–546 |doi=10.1632/S0030812900167860 |jstor=25486181 |s2cid=233314914 |issn=0030-8129|url-access=subscription }}</ref>