Exploring the Portrayal of Stuttering in It (2017)
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POSTS AND G-G-GHOSTS: EXPLORING THE PORTRAYAL OF STUTTERING IN IT (2017) A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication, Culture, and Technology By Mary-Cecile Gayoso, B. A Washington, D.C. April 13, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Mary-Cecile Gayoso All Rights Reserved ii Dedication The research and writing of this thesis is dedicated to my parents and the name they gave me MY PARENTS, for always listening, for loving me and all my imperfections, and for encouraging me to speak my mind always MY NAME, for being simultaneously the bane and joy of my existence, and for connecting me to my Mamaw and to the Grandfather I never knew Thank you, I love you, Mary-Cecile iii Acknowledgements “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter.” - James Earl Jones This thesis would not have been possible without those that are part of my everyday life and those that I have not spoken to or seen in years. To my family: Thank you for your constant support and encouragement, for letting me ramble about my thesis during many of our phone calls. To my mother, thank you for sending me links about stuttering whenever you happened upon a news article or story. To my father, thank you for introducing me to M*A*S*H as a kid and to one of the most positive representations of stuttering in media I’ve seen. To my sister, thank you for always looking out for me and being the best sister in the world. Whenever we had a sibling quarrel, you never made fun of my stutter. I thank you for that. To my friends and to any CCTer that asked about my thesis: Thank you for listening to me talk about my thesis, asking questions, and just genuinely being interested in my research. A special thanks to my Thesis Colloquium class and to Holly Koch, Ojas Patel, Amanda Morris, and Madhavi Reddi. Going out for food makes talking about thesis stuff a lot more fun. Thank you, Rebecca Kielty, for bringing me those awesome Austin resources and for being so interested in my research. To my advisor, Dr. Jeanine Turner: Thank you for your support throughout this entire process. I always looked forward to our weekly thesis meetings. I appreciate your kindness and wisdom. Thank you for agreeing to be my thesis advisor. To my second reader, Dr. Matthew Tinkcom: Thank you for talking through ideas with me, giving me advice, and opening my eyes to the value of my work. Your guidance and wisdom have helped me throughout this process. iv I want to thank the National Stuttering Association and their chapters in DC and Northern Virginia. Thank you to all the members who welcomed me to their meetings and gave me a space to talk about stuttering. Thank you in particular to Keith Chambers. I want to thank all the stuttering scholars that came before, the fluent speakers and the stutterers alike. Thank you to Dr. Nan Ratner for speaking with me. Your words and insights truly inspired me. Thank you to Dr. Dale Williams, my speech therapist at FAU. Because of you, I am no longer ashamed of my stutter. Thank you to Jeffrey K. Johnson for corresponding with me. Reading your work is part of what first inspired me to write a thesis about stuttering in media. I want to thank any writer, artist, or filmmaker that ever included stuttering in their narratives. Thank you, Mr. Stephen King, for creating Bill Denbrough. And thank you to the creative minds behind Doc McStuffins and the stuttering platypus that started me on this thesis journey. I want to thank every person, from elementary school and beyond, who mocked me or made disparaging comments about my stutter. I wrote this in spite of you. I hope your views about those that speak differently have changed. And lastly, I want to dedicate my work to every person that stutters. Don’t let anyone silence you. Don’t be afraid to stutter. Your words are worth listening to. Thank you, MC v POSTS AND G-G-GHOSTS: EXPLORING THE PORTRAYAL OF STUTTERING IN IT (2017) Mary-Cecile Gayoso, B. A Thesis Advisor: Jeanine Turner, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Representation is important. This is a sentiment that pervades the current American media landscape. Media that includes historically marginalized and underrepresented groups of people are becoming more and more popular. Or maybe people are realizing that inclusive media have been popular all along. While there is a growing number of media artifacts that represent various racial, sexual, and gendered identities, this sudden explosion of inclusivity has ignored the myriad experiences of the disabled. Media narratives are still heavily populated by able-bodied and neurotypical characters. Is there not room for complex disabled characters in blockbuster films, books, and video games? This study looks specifically at the speech disability, stuttering, and how it is portrayed in different types of media. The 2017 film, IT, is posited as the main artifact to be studied. Chapters 1 – 3 analyze the history of stuttering representations, apply different theoretical frameworks to this history, and examine Stephen King’s 1986 novel, IT. Chapter 4 discusses the methods used throughout this study. Using autoethnography, the author seeks to evoke an emotional response from readers and encourage conversation about how representations of stuttering interact with real-life perceptions. Using a close reading of IT and comparative analysis, the author explores specific film, book, and television scenes. Using surveys, the author gauges how people react to IT (2017). vi The study concludes with proposed future research, a summation of recommendations for media consumers and creators, and a challenge: that readers rethink fluency and how they conceive of “correct or proper speech.” vii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................6 What is Stuttering? .......................................................................................................................6 Disability Studies .......................................................................................................................14 Expectancy Violations Theory ...................................................................................................17 Folklore ......................................................................................................................................20 Imposed Myths About Stuttering .......................................................................................21 Internal Stuttering Community Myths ...............................................................................23 Chapter Two: Stuttering in Media .................................................................................................27 From Moses to Bill Denbrough ..................................................................................................27 Defying Stereotypes ...................................................................................................................37 Mayor Billington ................................................................................................................38 Private Walter Palmer ........................................................................................................41 Odin Arrow ........................................................................................................................42 Bill Denbrough...................................................................................................................45 Chapter Three: Stephen King’s IT (1986) .....................................................................................46 A Quick Summary ......................................................................................................................46 Folklore: IT as a Fairytale about Overcoming Childhood .........................................................47 And Feminism: IT as Mother .....................................................................................................49 Moving Forward .........................................................................................................................51 Chapter Four: Methods ..................................................................................................................52 An Overview of Methods ...........................................................................................................52 Talking to Myself .......................................................................................................................52 Autoethnography................................................................................................................52 Close Reading ....................................................................................................................55 Comparative Analysis ........................................................................................................56 Reading People ...........................................................................................................................57