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Finding disabled actors "takes time, it's a very long casting search. You can absolutely do it; it just takes time and resources, neither of which we had. So it was like, we have six months to either not make the movie or-" Let's stop there. 1/12 https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenlopez/2020/02/13/the-invitation-come-as-you-are-gives-to-disability/#5874d655d7cc
Many filmmakers say they want to tell disabled stories w/ good representation. If you're one of them, ask yourself this: If I want good disability representation, but can't be bothered to understand why cripping up is a problem, do I really care about representing disability 2/12
or am I just using disabled stories for my own benefit/amusement? A comedy like #ComeAsYouAre, by casting nondisabled actors is using disabled people as clown characters upon which to project able-bodied anxieties about disability. 3/12
Disabled people don't necessarily have the shame and anxiety about our lives that many nondisabled people are saddled with when seeing us. Cripping up is a way to address nondisableds' fear of disability, w/o having to understand what the disabled characters' perspectives 4/12
would be. We see ourselves differently than you see us, and this disconnect comes out in the stories you try to tell about us. In contrast, part of the success of #PeanutButterFalcon was that it truthfully told of a lived reality. 5/12
Part of why #ComeAsYouAre falls flat is because the disabled characters are vehicles for something else. Societal anxieties surrounding disability, which can be broken up into two kinds: Aesthetic anxiety is the fear nondisableds experience when seeing people whose physical 6/12
appearance they regarded as deviant or unattractive; existential anxiety is fear of acquiring a disability & fear that disability interferes with quality & function of life. These are what I'm talking about when I say cripping up makes films like this about TAB's perceptions 7/12
& fears rather than about disabled experiences. I've seen it in so many sets & rehearsals: a cripped up actor uses every line to ask forgiveness of & apologize for their disability, but a disabled actor addresses their character's needs and wants irrespective of disability. 8/12
Let's address that quote: "You can absolutely do it." Yes, you can and should absolutely do what's right. To acknowledge that something is possible, but you didn't do it anyway is a very strange defense. But I don't want to blame or shame these filmmakers-just want to 9/12
use this opportunity to make a broader point. The fact that they thought casting disabled actors would be difficult and that they didn't know where to go for assistance doing so is a larger core issue that needs to be addressed. 10/12
There are many talented working disabled actors. Especially youngish ones who would've fit these parts. You can't simultaneously want to increase disabled representation and not seek them out. That's the top-down, distributive, 20th century charity BS that we're fed up with 11/12
Resources for finding disabled actors are all around.
If you don't care enough about disabled actors to use those resources, you don't care enough about disabled people to make a film about them. 12/12
#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
If you don't care enough about disabled actors to use those resources, you don't care enough about disabled people to make a film about them. 12/12
#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
