Read on Twitter
I’m going to gripe about the casting of The Stand miniseries in a minute BUT FIRST let me complain about an ableist writing trope that the book is also guilty of that goes hand-in-hand irresponsible casting.
Without spoilers, a deaf and non-verbal character is seen in a dream and in the dream, he can hear and speak.
I see variations of this all the time: Glee had a dream sequence where the kid in a wheelchair can suddenly dance, no wheelchair.
I see variations of this all the time: Glee had a dream sequence where the kid in a wheelchair can suddenly dance, no wheelchair.
In that variation, like many, it is the disabled character who dreams they are suddenly no longer disabled: Elisa’s fantasy of singing in The Shape of Water is another example.
This is bad for a couple of key reasons. First, it reflects an assumption on the part of the writer that a disabled person dreams of not being disabled anymore, which is not necessarily the case. (Also, at this point, it is facile and boring storytelling.)
The second part of it is its implications on casting. Magical healing dream sequences go hand-in-hand with casting non-disabled actors.
Writing wooh-wooh miracle ability scenes assumes you will be casting an actor with those abilities. Or vice versa, you've cast a non-disabled actor, and now you have the option to include a non-disabled acid trip or vision of heaven or what have you.
I mention Shape of Water and Glee because both of those instances have inspired some wonderfully written responses from the disability community. I encourage you to read more.
By @MsJayTeeR https://medium.com/@MsJayTeeRattray/thats-not-how-this-works-the-portrayal-of-artie-abrams-3dac3ec3fd87
