The Representation of People with Visual Impairment in Films
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Original JMM The Representation of People with Visual Impairment in Films 1Marta Badia Corbella, 2Fernando Sánchez-Guijo Acevedo 1Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad (INICO). Universidad de Salamanca (Spain). 2D.A. ONCE de Salamanca (Spain). Correspondence: Marta Badia Corbella. Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad (INICO). Avda. de la Merced 109-131. 37005 Salamanca (Spain). e-mail: [email protected] Received 3 March 2010; accepted 12 April 2010 Summary This article intends to be an approach to how cinema has dealt with the reality of people suffering from visual impairment. More specifically, it is an attempt to analyze the common descriptions that have been made of blind people in films and the stereotypes that have been identified as representing them. For this purpose 12 films, produced between 1962 and 2009, with people with visual impairment among their characters, are analysed. Although advances have been made in cinema towards the eradication of stereotypes linked to the image of blind people, in films there are still representations that have little to do with the reality of people suffering from visual impairment. Keywords: Cinema, Visual impairment, Blindness, Stereotype. Introduction perpetuated, or given rise to, certain stereotypes over the years; stereotypes so long-lasting and all-pervading Film producers have acknowledged the dramatic that they have become the very perceptions that most potential of blindness and visual impairment from the very of society shares as regards people with a disability; in first years of silent films to the present. Characters with short, not always accurate descriptions of this group visual impairment have brought about reactions of fear, may trigger different ways of perceiving disabilities, desperation, pity, hope and even laughter in audiences. which could result in their persistence and in the cre- Although blindness is often associated with melodrama, ation of models of public opinion about disabilities. If, the genres in which it is present include mystery and for instance, a film shows a blind person as being thrillers, westerns and musicals, comedy, science fiction, dependent on someone else, it makes the community and horror. more likely to perceive this person from that point of view. The social image of blind people along history has passed through different stages and, in a way, has Regarding the social influence of people suffering overcome the usual negative and stereotyped atti- from visual impairment, there has been a certain evolu- tudes. Currently, the media is an important source of tion and change along the history of film making. In information and leisure for citizens. In this sense, cine- general, it may be said that film makers tend to apply a ma –like the rest of the media– is to a large extent combination of specific stereotypes in characters suffering responsible for the public image of disability that is con- from visual impairment or complete blindness. Following veyed. Thus, the representation of blind people in films Norden1, three historical periods can be distinguished contributes to the general perception that society has of regarding the cinematographic representations of disabili- this group. As Norden1 points out, the film industry has ty: (1) from cinema’s first days to the late thirties; (2) from 69 J Med Mov 2010; 6(2): 69-77 © Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca M Badia Corbella, F Sánchez-Guijo Acevedo The Representation of People with Visual Impairment in Films World War II to the decade of the seventies, and (3) from accurate interpretation of the process of adaptation that the seventies to the present. blind veterans must undergo (Figure 2). The films of the first period portray blind charac- During the third period, films dealt with disabili- ters as comical figures, monstrous brutes or objects ty in a more unintentional way, where rehabilitation deserving pity. Thus, visual disability used to inspire pity, was relegated to the background and the emphasis was compassion and alienation, since it was linked to a tragic on aspects such as social justice, sexual expression, or event. The comic potential of people with poor eyesight simple daily life. Thus, it may be stated that currently a was also exploited in silent films. Thus, people with a more positive tone prevails and that the image of peo- disability became the main characters, playing the roles ple with a disability projected onto the big screen of victims or executioners, and people suffering from would be more oriented towards social integration. blindness were likewise represented. For example, in Nevertheless, to a large extent it could also be surmised Pride of the Marines (1945) by Delmer Daves, a WWII that in current filmography it is very rare to see people hero, waking up in hospital and finding out that he has with a disability in the same light as other people. This lost his sight as a consequence of his wounds, refuses could be because films portray visual disability as a all manner of help and manifests an attitude of pride medical matter rather than focusing on it from a social and repudiation of life (Figure 1). Another example is point of view. It is true that cinema has not been oblivious Walter R. Booth’s film from 1907, His Daughter’s Voice, to the way society has looked on such disability. The where the blind character is portrayed as the victim of changes that have taken place regarding the way of rep- a tragic event; a character whose suffering can only be resenting visual disability in films also reflect the way in relieved through death. which society has gradually evolved in its understand- ing of disability overall. Through the field of studies addressing disability, and thanks to the efforts made by the movement in defence of the rights of disabled peo- ple, a positive, normalized view of these individuals is being promoted, supported by a biopsychosocial study model and strengthened by declarations and regulatory frameworks developed by national and international agencies. Aim of the study The number of films including characters with visual impairment in their cast is relevant. Thus, a compi- lation made by Erickson and Wolfe2 of the images of blindness in films during the period between 1913 and Figure 1: The blind protagonist of Pride of the Marines (1945) by Delmer Daves. In the films of the second period, the characters are engaged in a battle to overcome their limitations. A change regarding the concept of disability is developed and the aspect of rehabilitation begins to appear. The aim of this new, more promising point of view was to provide an image of people who suffer from visual impairment other than that which had been offered in films up to that moment, portrayoing people who could be rehabilitated and lead a life as normal as his/her cir- cumstances could allow. An example of the films of this stage is Bright Victory (1951), by Mark Robson, starring a sergeant serving in North Africa in 1943 who was hit and Figure 2: Dark glasses are common in many films with blind charac- blinded by a Nazi bullet; a film where we see a more ters. Bright Victory (1951) by Mark Robson. 70 J Med Mov 2010; 6(2): 69-77 © Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca M Badia Corbella, F Sánchez-Guijo Acevedo The Representation of People with Visual Impairment in Films 1985, gathers a total of 230 films with visually impaired from a disability as misfits –his/her own worst enemy–; characters as main or secondary characters. The present (6) people suffering from a disability as burdens for article will attempt to answer the following basic ques- both family and society; and (7) people suffering from a tions: to what degree do films portray these characters disability as those unable to lead a successful life4. from a positive viewpoint? To what degree do films rep- resent, and therefore promote, the progressive inclusion The films were tracked through two databases: the of people with visual impairment in society? In this sense, Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) and the this study was designed, on the one hand, to examine the Catálogo de Cine Español, which belongs to the Ministry of explore the representations according to the issues sug- Culture (http://www.mcu.es/cine/CE/Anuario/Catalogo.html). gested by Byrd3, and, on the other to detect the presence Several combinations of search terms were entered such or absence of seven stereotypes previously identified in as “disability”, “visual impairment”, “blindness”, or “char- the literature addressing the matter. acters”. The criteria used to select the films to be ana- lyzed were as follows: (1) films produced between 1962 The aim of this study is thus to analyze how peo- and 2009; (2) films made after the première of The Miracle ple with visual impairment are depicted in films, since Worker (1962) by Arthur Penn, owing to this film being the way they are presented contributes to the general considered a landmark in the list of films about the topic perception society has of disability4. (Figure 3); (3) films whose main or secondary characters suffer from visual impairment, and (4) films marketed Methodology and procedure through video stores, through the AUDESC Service (Audio description Service) of the Spanish National Organization Analysis of the films for the Blind (ONCE), and through the Media Library Service of the University of Salamanca. Twelve films, produced between 1962 and 2009 and including characters with visual impairments, are Table 1 offers a brief summary of each film. analyzed. The analysis includes specific issues as well as the stereotypes identified in the literature devoted to Assessment tool research into this matter. The topics dealt with are: (a) personality in general, (b) integration in the communi- After revising the literature devoted to the repre- ty, and (c) interpersonal relations.