Eukaryote
Junior Member
Posts: 67
Gender: Male
Dev Status: Disabled
Relationship Status: Single
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Post by Eukaryote on Feb 10, 2024 7:03:14 GMT -5
Hi everyone
I have been asked to post a message on behalf of a researcher for a TV drama which involves devotees. She wants to speak to some devs. here is the message from her:
Hi - I'm Claire a disabled woman with CP. I'm doing some research into Devs for a TV drama. I would really like to chat to some Devs so I can understand your community better and so that we can better represent you in our show. If you are interested in chatting, please feel free to contact me - claire.burgess@strongfilmandtv.co.uk It would be great to hear from new Devs as well as those who have been here a while.
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Post by devogirl on Feb 10, 2024 8:03:09 GMT -5
Ugh, this again! Look, we definitely need positive representation in media but I don't trust people who approach us in this way. Past experience has shown that producers will lie and manipulate us to get the soundbite they are looking for.
This person Claire has tried repeatedly to create a profile here over the past week, showing that she didn't read or didn't care about our membership guidelines. I strongly caution any member here against contacting her, as you don't know how your words will be used.
It's also a red flag that there is no information at all about what this is for, except that it's a drama. What is this about? How will it represent us? What platform is it being produced for? Who is making the final story decisions? Probably not the person doing the interview.
Hard pass from me. Tell her to stop trying to create a profile here.
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Post by Braced4Impact on Feb 10, 2024 8:34:06 GMT -5
My introverted ass would never want to do so anyway.
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bsmn
New Member
Just a Homer searching for his Marge
Posts: 22
Gender: Male
Dev Status: Disabled
Relationship Status: Single
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Post by bsmn on Feb 10, 2024 19:30:34 GMT -5
My introverted ass would never want to do so anyway. Me neither. I did do a deep dive internet search out of boredom: At least she is legit and its not some weird scam, she worked with Thailand in the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and she does have CP / www.instagram.com/claireburgess/?hl=en(I have too much time on my hands somedays..)
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Post by Dani on Feb 10, 2024 20:03:36 GMT -5
Seems very odd and when I look at her profile there are no indications about her CP/disability...just wondering!
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Post by devogirl on Feb 10, 2024 20:06:44 GMT -5
I'm sure she is for real. But finding out if this tv drama will represent us fairly isn't something you can find in a google search.
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Post by ayla on Feb 10, 2024 20:38:42 GMT -5
But, there is ZERO chance we will be represented fairly if nobody is willing to take the risk of talking to people like this…
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allisonsr
New Member
Posts: 44
Gender: Female
Dev Status: Devotee
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TV drama
Feb 10, 2024 22:25:45 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by allisonsr on Feb 10, 2024 22:25:45 GMT -5
So the question is whether a non zero chance is worth a non zero risk. Maybe for some. Not (yet? ?) for me, personally.
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Post by devogirl on Feb 10, 2024 22:50:36 GMT -5
But, there is ZERO chance we will be represented fairly if nobody is willing to take the risk of talking to people like this… No, that is not true at all. The choice is not between waiting for people with suspect motives to approach us and doing nothing.
TV and movies are the last place where minorities get fair representation. The goal of TV and film production is to make money and they do that by appealing to the broadest possible audience, playing into stereotypes and not challenging expectations.
We get the best possible representation when we do it ourselves, and there are so many platforms available to us. Write a magazine article, do a podcast interview, or start your own podcast. Post on TikTok. Start a Substack or Medium or some other blog. Edit Wikipedia. Even the PWDs here who stick up for us when they encounter anti-dev sentiment on other sites are helping out tremendously.
A few months ago I published a novel about a dev character. Even though I use a pen name, I did this at the risk of damaging the reputation of the other books I have already released, but I felt it was important to write a dev novel where the character is an open dev. I have received one star reviews from people who did not read the book, but if non-devs actually read it and have their minds changed, it's worth it.
On the other hand, Ruth took the risk of appearing in that BBC documentary because they assured her it would be positive representation. It wasn't, and she regretted doing it. That documentary did a lot of damage. Movies and tv interviews are tempting because the reach is greater, but the consequences of bad representation are also that much greater.
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bsmn
New Member
Just a Homer searching for his Marge
Posts: 22
Gender: Male
Dev Status: Disabled
Relationship Status: Single
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Post by bsmn on Feb 10, 2024 23:38:08 GMT -5
Seems very odd and when I look at her profile there are no indications about her CP/disability...just wondering! She did in a post on her Instagram, she doesn't seem to make it a prominent thing: http://instagram.com/p/CGTRLsbHsQJ
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Post by ayla on Feb 10, 2024 23:53:30 GMT -5
I should have been more clear. What I meant to say was, there is a zero percent chance this particular person will be able to represent us fairly if no one from our community is willing to talk to her. Of course we cannot ensure what she does with the information. And for sure it is far superior to do our own outreach and representation, where we have more control. Definitely, tv drama is a terrible place to expect any sort of nuanced depiction — they literally need to make everything dramatic for effect. I just think that if nobody talks to her, we can almost guarantee that her view of us will be warped by all the misinformation and prejudice out there (especially as a disabled woman, historically the group most vehemently and vocally against devotees). And that would lead to a greater chance of a really damning depiction, possibly in the mainstream depending on the reach of her project.
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Post by devogirl on Feb 11, 2024 1:34:20 GMT -5
True, but IMHO the chances are slim that this will be fair representation even if someone talks to her. The way that she chose to approach us and the lack of information on this project are huge red flags.
Everyone in this thread is assuming this tv drama is her personal pet project, but that's highly unlikely. She said she's doing research, so it seems like she's a consultant, not a writer, director or producer. Even if she personally gets a positive impression of us, if she is not the one making decisions, it probably won't end up in the final cut.
So since you feel so strongly about this, will you be contacting her?
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Post by ayla on Feb 11, 2024 1:45:56 GMT -5
I wouldn't say I feel strongly about this. Just making conversation. I think it's an interesting topic -- we are so poorly understood, yet so reluctant (and wisely, wary) to talk about ourselves. I agree that anyone considering volunteering here should definitely exercise caution, there are indeed many red flags. Yet, someone who is apparently taking the time to "do research" at all is better than someone who has already decided the nasty devotee doesn't merit investigation.
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Post by ayla on Feb 11, 2024 1:49:00 GMT -5
That is of course, assuming she is legitimate. The repeated attempts to make a profile here and the lack of anything to substantiate her research don't look good at all.
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Post by Dani on Feb 11, 2024 16:08:05 GMT -5
For me it's not so much about her wanting to do this but who she is...I just can't really pinpoint, but something seems off...
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