Disability On Film

Most over-rated disabled character

Which disabled character in film has received the most unwarranted praise? Which character that others loved just made you gag? Which supposedly "positive" portrayal is, in your opinion, actually the most harmful? Name the most over-rated disabled character and explain your criteria.

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

apulrang:

Which disabled character in film has received the most unwarranted praise? Which character that others loved just made you gag? Which supposedly "positive" portrayal is, in your opinion, actually the most harmful? Name the most over-rated disabled character and explain your criteria.

Curious to hear everyone else's opinions too...

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

seely:

apulrang:

Which disabled character in film has received the most unwarranted praise? Which character that others loved just made you gag? Which supposedly "positive" portrayal is, in your opinion, actually the most harmful? Name the most over-rated disabled character and explain your criteria.

Great topic!  Personally, though I'm not disabled, I thought Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance in Radio was pandering, cliche, demeaning and trite.  I've always questioned why able-bodied actors are cast to play disabled roles?  Why not have disabled people play the roles... there are many qualified and talented disabled actors out there! 

Curious to hear everyone else's opinions too...

Regarding that, have you seen or heard of Crispin Glover's What Is It?

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

Risselada:

seely:

apulrang:

Which disabled character in film has received the most unwarranted praise? Which character that others loved just made you gag? Which supposedly "positive" portrayal is, in your opinion, actually the most harmful? Name the most over-rated disabled character and explain your criteria.

Great topic!  Personally, though I'm not disabled, I thought Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance in Radio was pandering, cliche, demeaning and trite.  I've always questioned why able-bodied actors are cast to play disabled roles?  Why not have disabled people play the roles... there are many qualified and talented disabled actors out there! 

Curious to hear everyone else's opinions too...

Regarding that, have you seen or heard of Crispin Glover's What Is It?

I have not... please go on...

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

seely:

Risselada:

Regarding that, have you seen or heard of Crispin Glover's What Is It?

I have not... please go on...

Well the only way that Glover will let it be shown is if he is there for a Q&A to go along with it, and honestly that's the best way to see it.  Because once it's over you will be wanting to ask him, what the **** was that all about?  The movie itself doesn't really convey the messages that it turns out Crispin wanted to convey.  Although he has some fantastic ideas and is quite articulate, so I dunno what happened.  Anyways, most of the characters have some kind of disability.  Most of them have down syndrom and there's one guy who has cerebral palsy in real life.  That guy actually wrote and starred in the second of Glover's trilogy in this series called It is Fine. Everything is Fine! .  I haven't seen that one yet.  I guess it's a lot better.  It's supposed to be a movie from this guy's real perspective.

Anyways, for What Is It? Glover wanted to make a movie with a studio which featured down syndrom people, but when the studio found out he wanted to use actors who actually had down syndrom the studio pulled out.  They didn't think the public would like that.

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

seely:

apulrang:

Which disabled character in film has received the most unwarranted praise? Which character that others loved just made you gag? Which supposedly "positive" portrayal is, in your opinion, actually the most harmful? Name the most over-rated disabled character and explain your criteria.

Great topic!  Personally, though I'm not disabled, I thought Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance in Radio was pandering, cliche, demeaning and trite.  I've always questioned why able-bodied actors are cast to play disabled roles?  Why not have disabled people play the roles... there are many qualified and talented disabled actors out there! 

Curious to hear everyone else's opinions too...

Thanks for contributing. I've never seen "Radio", and I'll add it to my list of disability movies, and to my Netfilx Queue.

I agree in some cases that movie portrayals of disability suffer from being carried by non-disabled actors. I also know that there are, indeed, many good disabled actors out there trying to get work. However, I think that the film world draws from such a shallow well for it's "disability" stories and characters that it matters little who the actors are.

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

Risselada:

seely:

Risselada:

Regarding that, have you seen or heard of Crispin Glover's What Is It?

I have not... please go on...

Well the only way that Glover will let it be shown is if he is there for a Q&A to go along with it, and honestly that's the best way to see it.  Because once it's over you will be wanting to ask him, what the **** was that all about?  The movie itself doesn't really convey the messages that it turns out Crispin wanted to convey.  Although he has some fantastic ideas and is quite articulate, so I dunno what happened.  Anyways, most of the characters have some kind of disability.  Most of them have down syndrom and there's one guy who has cerebral palsy in real life.  That guy actually wrote and starred in the second of Glover's trilogy in this series called It is Fine. Everything is Fine! .  I haven't seen that one yet.  I guess it's a lot better.  It's supposed to be a movie from this guy's real perspective.

Anyways, for What Is It? Glover wanted to make a movie with a studio which featured down syndrom people, but when the studio found out he wanted to use actors who actually had down syndrom the studio pulled out.  They didn't think the public would like that.

I'm intrigued! My instinct is that an "audacious" disability film by an outsider auteur could be groundbreaking and fantastic, or just a trainwreck of half-baked stereotypes ... 50/50.

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

apulrang:

Risselada:

seely:

Risselada:

Regarding that, have you seen or heard of Crispin Glover's What Is It?

I have not... please go on...

Well the only way that Glover will let it be shown is if he is there for a Q&A to go along with it, and honestly that's the best way to see it.  Because once it's over you will be wanting to ask him, what the **** was that all about?  The movie itself doesn't really convey the messages that it turns out Crispin wanted to convey.  Although he has some fantastic ideas and is quite articulate, so I dunno what happened.  Anyways, most of the characters have some kind of disability.  Most of them have down syndrom and there's one guy who has cerebral palsy in real life.  That guy actually wrote and starred in the second of Glover's trilogy in this series called It is Fine. Everything is Fine! .  I haven't seen that one yet.  I guess it's a lot better.  It's supposed to be a movie from this guy's real perspective.

Anyways, for What Is It? Glover wanted to make a movie with a studio which featured down syndrom people, but when the studio found out he wanted to use actors who actually had down syndrom the studio pulled out.  They didn't think the public would like that.

I'm intrigued! My instinct is that an "audacious" disability film by an outsider auteur could be groundbreaking and fantastic, or just a trainwreck of half-baked stereotypes ... 50/50.

After wracking my brain, I realized that I have in fact heard of the Crispin Glover film.  Actually, I just heard about one scene.  I guess there is a "happy ending" for one of the actors in the film, and I'm not referring to the end of the film if you get my drift...  I think that kind of turned me off to the film a bit as it seemed a little bizarre and unnecessary, though I suppose having never seen the film I can't quite comment on it.

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

seely:

After wracking my brain, I realized that I have in fact heard of the Crispin Glover film.  Actually, I just heard about one scene.  I guess there is a "happy ending" for one of the actors in the film, and I'm not referring to the end of the film if you get my drift...  I think that kind of turned me off to the film a bit as it seemed a little bizarre and unnecessary, though I suppose having never seen the film I can't quite comment on it.

You are right.  And the actor you are referring to is actually the guy with cerebral palsy that I was talking about.  Some porn star with an animal mask on gives him a handjob while he lies in a gigantic clamshell.   ....yeah

Re:Most over-rated disabled character

Tom Hanks in Forest Gump was probably the most overrated dissabled character in my opinion. While I enjoyed this film, the portrayal of Forest Gump as the "average" mentally disabled person didn't really do much to help the common perception of what it means to have a mental disability.