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Right when this trailer came out, in terms of not casting a disabled actor, it reminded me a lot of the movie Wonder and how I felt when that child actor was proudly smiling at an awards show for a nomination.
And it reminds me of what was said in #Disclosure 1/8
And it reminds me of what was said in #Disclosure 1/8
In Disclosure, trans women talk about how violence against them is perpetuated especially by cis men actors playing trans women. On stage, accepting awards, they were cis men. They were "pretending to be women." When Laverne Cox stands on a stage for an award she is a woman. 2/8
Not in the same way, but parallel, disability is looked at in acting as pretending. That child actor in Wonder wasn't ever going to accept that award with a facial difference. He was going to go about his life without dealing with the ableism that he faces in the movie. 3/8
He is not going to be stared at, disregarded, underestimated, or discriminated for his pretend facial difference on screen. In the same way, that actor playing a nonspeaking autistic character isn't going to face ableism or being underestimated because they are a nonspeaker. 4/8
They are not going to face the barriers in employment that autistics do. So many neurotypical people think of disability as a costume. You cannot put on a disability. You cannot wear a disability. Just like any other identity, it is something you live. Every single day. 5/8
"What's the big deal, it's called acting" invalidates our entire lived experience. You're only "lifting up" disability when it suits you, when you can profit off of it, and when you can put it away when you like.
That's not called acting, that's called exploitation. 6/8
That's not called acting, that's called exploitation. 6/8
It means that even though there may be a disabled character in a show, sets aren't designed to be accessible, ableism is still common in the industry (with fancy directors like Christopher Nolan insisting that you can't have chairs), and disabled people don't get jobs. 7/8
That's not representation. That's not equality. That's not inspiring. That's appropriating our identity, our autistic joy, and our struggles, for your gain & for every other neurotypical person to make themselves feel better and feel less guilty for how they truly treat us. 8/8
