Let's talk about marketing of disability.

Think about this tagline for a minute: "One van, two countries, three horny men. Oh, and no parents."

Parents? Why are parents part of this?

#DontInfantilizeDisability https://twitter.com/ComeAsYouAreUK/status/1277615940881055749

I find this truly strange. The very next sentence after "three horny men" is about no parents being around. Disabled people grown into adults, grown-ass men & women. Our parents, like your parents, don't hover forever. 2/13

Infantilizing means you treating someone like a child. It's particularly difficult to swallow when it follows "three horny men." It's a deliberate set up for a condescending rhetorical move to take advantage of ableist assumptions. 3/13

Yes, within the context of the film THESE characters are restricted by their parents, but the tagline above is dependent upon the assumption that ALL disabled people are in the care of their parents. 4/13

The marketers acknowledge these characters are adults, but also assume they live under parental supervision. The assumption that certain groups never develop into full adulthood is called infantilization & it's a huge problem for disabled people, and of course other groups. 5/13

If this film is supposed to demonstrate that disabled people are sexual beings too, why is the marketing having a laugh at the assumption that these men's parents are involved? 6/13

Yes, some disabled people have caregivers. A caregiver is not a parent, not a caretaker, not supervisor, and not a guardian. A caretaker is an employee. 7/13

In what other aspect of life would we ever assume that an employee is in charge of their boss? Weird right.

It relates to the fact that infantilization comes with the assumption that a disabled person inherently needs a parent or at least a stand in/guardian. 8/13

Infantilization is based upon the assumption that the disabled person is less capable or has lower cognitive development than yourself. 9/13

Amusing & frustrating for disabled people are condescending dismissals of our concerns when we bring up these issues as if we haven't deeply considered these things, aren't possibly better versed in the subject, or have valid critiques that nondisableds haven't considered. 10/13

The mixed marketing from this film is very confusing. Filmmaker interviews suggest they were trying to represent disability well, but then ads lean upon condescending ableist assumptions about disabled people's lack of agency to drum up interest. 11/13

If this film truly is aimed at improving disabled representation, alienating and turning off disabled audiences through missteps like this is really bad marketing. 12/13

Disabled people are ~20% of the population. We're not just complaining.

We are telling you we will freely spend our money on your products, films, and more if you conduct business in a respectful way and involve us in effective participation and discourse 13/13