What Makes a Good Disabled Character?

[A££Y "Cuddles" Magoo]

Ok, so a few months ago I was at a concert in Toronto and a guy comes up to me.(he also happened to be the owner of the club) He says can I talk to you for a second? I'm like sure brother, he says ok, "I'm not bullshitting you, I'm not trying to use u etc. Basically he said that he was a writer(a very good one at that) and that he's written two books and that he'd like to write a 3rd book about a guy like me. He continues with the no bullshit talk while also telling me that he'd love my input. I say yeah sure and give him my e-mail. Anyway, he's only emailed once with questions, so I don't even know if he needs my help anymore( Though, he did say I don't have to buy tickets for shows anymore, just let him know and I'm golden! WOOHOO!!!) Ever since then I been thinking about what makes a good disabled character? I know alot of the ladies have varied opinions on this, as I'm sure all of u do. I also think that it would make for some good reference material for him if he ever decides to ring me again. Now if anyone doesn't want me relaying your replies back to him, that's ok, just say so at the bottom or pm me or something... orr better yet I'll Pm u if I wanna send him your posts ok? either way I think this would make for an interesting discussion, don't u?

[BA]

There is no doubt, Assy, that you ARE a good disabled character.

[matisse]

My favorite disabled characters in the movies are the ones where it seems like their disability was a fortuitous after-thought. The wheeler in Aliens 4 comes to mind. Avatar was actually pretty close even though it was a main character. They didn't really dwell on his disability, they dealt with it only to the extent that it seemed necessary given what he was doing. It did give him extra motivation in the end, but he was already pretty well motivated by the likes of Zoe Saldana......

[Neffie]

Are you sure the man wasn't grooming you? Sounds like a pick up line to me.

As for good disabled characters? There aren't many but you can have the categories (all male btw):

1) Hot wheelers - very rare and only seen in Avatar when Sam Worthington's not busy being a smurf. You can also have Jude Law in Gattaca but there's no way I'm allowing Val Kilmer in At First Sight.

2) The evil disabled character - Christopher Walken in Things to do in Denver when You're Dead. Blofeld in Bond.....basically relegated to old, fat gangsters who let their henchmen do all the hard work.

3) The Inspirational Disabled character - generally comes attached to an Oscar unless you're Tom Cruise (who cast him???). Jon Voight gave it a go in Coming Home and so did Marlon Brando in The Men to varying degrees of success. I think the main problem being that inspirational disabled characters are not allowed to be hot (see: Artie in Glee)

4) The 'in denial' disabled character - Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman springs to mind (do blind people always look like they're in a permanent state of shock???). This character will drive a Ferrari and dance with a woman like it's not a problem cos he hasn't got a disability, dagnammit!

5) The 'Seriously he's so Badass I wouldn't have thunk it' disabled character - I'm so tempted to hand this one to Rutger Hauer for Blind Faith but let's face it that was a shit film so the prize goes to: Darth Vader who was the Daddy of all "fuck disability" characters ever seen on screen.
I don't think any other triple amputees who are vent-dependent have tried to take over the Universe before or since him so really....pretty cool

[brace4impact]

Hey Neffie, I'm not a triple amputee, but the emperor stuff sounds good. I figure I'll just start with conquering the Western hemisphere first May the schwartz be with youooooouuuou

[wonk]

I see your schwartz is as big as mine

[roger888]

The actor makes the character,so I would say that if the actor is disabled then he has the best chance to bring reality to the role that only someone who has experienced all this can.If he's lucky,then it's possible to bring the worst script writing to life.

[alluringpariah]

Snoop in training day mayne, or Denzel in the Bone Collector.

We embody fragility in life, so a good disabled character needs to have obvious weaknesses.

[roger888]

This is turning into a thread about how many wheeler characterisations there have been in movies over the years. Made me think how few there have been over the years,are there enough examplesout there in mainstream cinema for us to understand what makes a good disabled character? Then I was reminded about a disabled arts festival in Liverpool starting next month.Anyone in the UK who wants to answer Assy's burning question might want to check out a few of the performances there.

Here is the official website with a schedule of what's on.

dadafest2010.co.uk/

[trinity]

Oct 27, 2010 1:21:57 GMT -5 roger888 said:

The actor makes the character,so I would say that if the actor is disabled then he has the best chance to bring reality to the role that only someone who has experienced all this can.If he's lucky,then it's possible to bring the worst script writing to life.

Roger, I totally agree with you!
My truism for today is: disabled actors playin' disabled roles make very good disable charactes. See Michael Patrick Thornton as Dr. Gabriel Fife in Private Practice or Robert David Hall as the coroner, Dr. Al Robbins, in CSI.

[devogirl]

Oct 28, 2010 1:32:49 GMT -5 roger888 said:

This is turning into a thread about how many wheeler characterisations there have been in movies over the years. Made me think how few there have been over the years,are there enough examplesout there in mainstream cinema for us to understand what makes a good disabled character? Then I was reminded about a disabled arts festival in Liverpool starting next month.Anyone in the UK who wants to answer Assy's burning question might want to check out a few of the performances there.

Here is the official website with a schedule of what's on.

dadafest2010.co.uk/

Thank you for posting this! Wow, if I were in the UK I would totally go, some of the films and performances look really cool. The UK once again demonstrates how far ahead of the US it is in terms of disability and the arts. This site also introduced me to the awesome Mat Fraser:
www.matfraser.co.uk/

Too bad I'll miss the screening of his kung-fu action film Unarmed But Dangerous, although it looks like you can watch it online here:
www.filmlounge.com/films/martial-arts/unarmed-but-dangerous

[alluringpariah]

So there are some disabled thespians out there getting parts. I saw a guy - in Me, Myself, Irene and Stuck on You - who was clearly a quad, but that was it. I always assumed wheelchair roles in film and television were played by able bodied people sitting down. That is like an almost guaranteed Oscar you know ;-)

[Emma]

Another disabled person getting cast as a disabled person is Rene Kirby who played a character with spina bifida in Shallow Hal. renekirby.com/

There are people out there getting cast, it's just less common. I wonder if its a matter of finding the right disability, age, gender, look AND acting ability. I'm pretty sure the story with Rene Kirby is that he met one of the directors/producers of the movie in a bar when they were shooting Me, Myself and Irene in Burlington, VT. The guy liked him so cast him. I used to live in Burlington and he's a bit of a local celebrity and also a noticeable person around town. I don't think he was an actor before the movie.

[Deleted]

Danny Murphy is a quad and has been in tons of stuff. Kingpin, stuck on you, and actually played the AB cab driver in Shallow Hal. Ironic.

[Emma]

Huh, I wonder if one Farrelly brothers is a dev. They seem to cast a lot of disabled characters. Their movies:
* Dumb and Dumber (1994)
* Kingpin (1996) (directed only)
* There's Something About Mary (1998)
* Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
* Say It Isn't So (2001) (produced only)
* Shallow Hal (2001)
* Stuck on You (2003)
* Fever Pitch (2005) (directed only)
* The Ringer (2005) (produced only)
* The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
* Hall Pass (2011)