My Reflective, Constructive Feedback About Disability Representation in the Media
[Image Description: "Let's Talk About Disability Representation in the Media" in center-aligned bright pink Barbie font outlined in white. The background of the image is a lighter shade of pink. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is also in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned italicized black font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a light blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]
However, while I really loved it, I have some constructive feedback for the movie creators that can be a learning experience and reflective moment for everyone. I noticed that the wheelchair user Barbie and Barbie with a prosthetic arm (who actually does have a limb difference! 😊) only made one appearance each and had nonspeaking roles in the movie. I am not saying that movie creators should never have characters in the disability community play roles as extras or guest stars that only appear a small number of times since it is very common for all movies and TV shows to have some characters who do this. Please continue to give characters in the disability community opportunities to play all types of roles. By doing so, you are acknowledging that there are individuals in the disability community who can be given all of the same opportunities as everyone else, that they are worthy of being focused beyond their differences, and that is fantastic and accurate representation. By doing that, you are also acknowledging that every disability journey is different. In addition, some actors and actresses of all abilities may prefer to play extras, guest stars, and/or roles with limited lines if they are new to theatre, introverted, and/or like those specific character roles. My point is that all or most of the other Barbies appeared several times throughout the movie with speaking parts except these two Barbies who were only provided with integrated inclusion by just being featured for a short period of time. The true, deeper meaning of inclusion is both letting people in and showing a sense of belonging as much as possible. Characters in the disability community are not given enough opportunities to have recurring speaking roles in all genres of movies and TV shows. Directors and producers should give actors and actresses in the disability community more chances to audition for and play these roles without assuming that they are not interested and incapable.
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I would like to make it clear that I am not saying that the individual movie creators of Barbie had these biases for sure since not all directors and producers have these biases. There are many different possible reasons that the Barbies in the disability community were casted this way. Maybe the directors and producers innocently did not realize that underrepresentation was happening. Maybe they wanted to represent integrated inclusion of the disability community in a movie because this matters just as much as a sense of belonging. Maybe they did not know how to write stronger representation into the script or have any time to do so in the interest of time because time management matters. Maybe the actresses wanted to play these roles and did not mind being assigned to no lines as extras. Maybe the actresses felt represented enough.
In addition, I want to acknowledge the criticism that directors and producers often get for lack of hiring people in the disability community to play characters in the disability community. Directors and producers are often shamed for not casting actors and actresses in the disability community to play characters in the disability community. First of all, while it is absolutely true that it is common for this concern to occur due to ableism, it is important to take into consideration that not all directors and producers who create movies, TV shows, and even commercials with a lack of disability representation are ableist. Before making the assumption that the directors and producers intentionally did not cast actors and actresses in the disability community to play characters in the disability community, people need to take into consideration the possibility that maybe they could not find any actors and actresses in the disability community who were willing to play the characters. The fact that all directors and producers have a limited amount of time to find people to cast for time management purposes is another factor to take into consideration. While it is absolutely true that lack of disability representation in the media is a common issue that needs to be resolved, actors and actresses in the disability community should not be the only people allowed to play these roles as well. In fact, the United States law called The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Act prohibits job discrimination of people of all abilities, races, skin colors, nationalities, ethnicities, religions, beliefs, national origins, and sexual orientations. It is important and possible for people of all differences to learn awareness, acceptance, and inclusion of people in the disability community and what being a true disability advocate means. Nondisabled people/people without disabilities could learn about disabilities by playing characters in the disability community as well as several other ways.
It is also important to avoid making the assumption of which actors, actresses, directors, producers, fans, and any other people are and aren't in the disability community all because "they do not look disabled/like they have a disability" or have not opened up about having any disabilities/being disabled. While it is absolutely true that sometimes disabilities can be easily seen by looking at and/or watching some people, these are called visible disabilities (A more cleaned up, respectful terminology instead of saying "They don't look disabled/like they have a disability") and disabilities do not appear in just one way. There are people with invisible disabilities, which means that disabilities cannot always be easily seen by everyone just by looking at or watching people. Disabilities are different for each person. While many celebrities and people in the disability community are open about their disabilities and more than welcome to do so, people that work in the United States also have the legal right to choose who to tell and not talk about their disabilities to in the event that their disabilities do not impact their workplace responsibilities and for any other reasons under protection by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is also possible for people to have disabilities or be disabled and not know it if they have never received a diagnosis by choice or being unable to afford this healthcare due to financial difficulties or not being aware of the possibility that they could have certain disabilities.
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Another biased assumption to avoid is that only people in the disability community and people who are open about their disabilities can be true disability advocates and understand disabilities. While their individual real-life experiences absolutely can contribute to their understandings of life as a person in the disability community, experiences are not the only way to gain background knowledge about any topic. Background knowledge can also be built through observing people who are living these experiences, listening to people talk about their lived experiences, and reading about the topics. People with any lived experiences can also be incorrect about certain information about the topics of their lived experiences since they are not perfect just like everyone else. So, all because so many celebrities and people are open about their disabilities does not mean that every single celebrity and person in the disability community is open about their disabilities. That is a legally protected decision that deserves to be shown just as much respect as being open up about disabilities. People who choose to not disclose their disabilities in their workplaces, elsewhere, and to certain other people and people outside of the disability community deserve just as much representation as people who choose to be open about their disabilities. Their disability journeys are just as valid as the disability journeys of people who are fully open about their disabilities as well.
Lastly, I would like to speak freely that when any directors, producers, and movie writers are making their own films and TV shows, it is up to them to cast who they want to play the characters and how the script is written and acted out. While not every little thing can be represented by anyone and everywhere, representation still needs improvement. So, I suggest that all movie creators give characters in the disability community these opportunities more often. Thank you for joining my EmTalk🩷♀️👠🛼💄💅👛🦾🦿👩🏼🦼📽️🎥🎬🍿✨️
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