ABSTRACT

A CRITICAL FILM ANALYSIS OF REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILMS

The purpose of this study was to examine the entire directorial catalogue of the director M. Night Shyamalan and provide a content analysis incorporating anti-inclusion ideology and his themes, as well as perspectives involving people with disabilities. The films examined in this study were all written and directorial works by Shyamalan that had a national cinematic release. The researcher examined each of these films and used content analysis to examine the behaviors and actions of the characters as well as the overall narrative of each story. The films were examined using the different analytical themes of (a) anti-inclusion, (b) danger presented by a person with disabilities to others, and (c) danger presented by a person with disabilities toward society. The current study found that over half of Shyamalan’s films had characters with disabilities portrayed as dangerous to others or society. There also was a significant number, half of his films, that had an anti-inclusion theme. These themes can be observed in other films and throughout the horror genre, using the parameters in the study, in order to create more critical content analysis and foster meaningful conversations regarding representation of people with disability in film.

Jacob Miller May 2019

A CRITICAL FILM ANALYSIS OF REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILMS

by Jacob Miller

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Special Education in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development California State University, Fresno May 2019 APPROVED

For the Department of Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education:

We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree.

Jacob Miller Thesis Author

William Garnett (Chair) Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education

Dana Powell Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education

Robert Maldonado Philosophy

For the University Graduate Committee:

Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION

OF MASTER’S THESIS

X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship.

Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me.

Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would first like to thank my thesis advisor William Garnett of Kremen School of Education at Fresno State University. Your constant support and encouragement made me feel like there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish. The wisdom and strength you provided was invaluable and I found myself striving in ways I didn’t think I was capable, I appreciate you. I would also like to thank the experts who were involved as second and third readers for this project: Dr. Dana Powell and Dr. Robert Maldonado. Dana has shown me kindness and patience on every step of this journey and I appreciate all you did. Robert walked me from Biblical times through Middle Earth and out to the other end. I wouldn’t have made this journey without you as my guide. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family. Heather, Grace, Silas, Logan, Lemlem, this is the end of something big and we all did this together. I appreciate the generosity that all of you have shown. Melissa Couret, your support was invaluable and your help along the way made the experience that much more meaningful.

Thank you.

Jacob Miller TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 M. Night Shyamalan: Representation of People with Disabilities and Anti- Inclusion Themes ...... 1

Problem Statement ...... 6

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 8

Society’s Relationship with Disability ...... 8

Society’s Relationship with Film ...... 12

Representation of Disability in Horror and Film ...... 20

Summary ...... 24

CHAPTER 3: METHODS ...... 25

Participant ...... 25

Definitions ...... 25

Instruments ...... 25

Research Questions ...... 26

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF SELECTED THEMES ...... 34

Character with Disabilities as a Harm to Others ...... 34

Character with Disabilities as a Harm to Community/Society ...... 34

Anti-Inclusion Themes ...... 36

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ...... 37

Harm to Others or Community/Society ...... 37

Anti-Inclusion Themes ...... 43

Further Discussion ...... 46

Limitations ...... 49 vi vi Page

Future Research ...... 50

REFERENCES ...... 52

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1. Occurrences of harm to others by people with disabilities in films by M. Night Shyamalan...... 35 Figure 2. Occurrences of harm to community/society by people with disabilities in films by M. Night Shyamalan...... 35

Figure 3. Occurrences of anti-inclusion themes in the films of M. Night Shyamalan. .... 36

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

M. Night Shyamalan: Representation of People with Disabilities and Anti-Inclusion Themes This study provides a content analysis of a selected group of films by M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan consistently incorporates themes around people with disabilities. These themes come in three areas: danger presented by people with disability towards others, danger presented by people with disabilities towards society, and an overall narrative theme of harm from inclusion as it relates to society as a whole. By focusing on the films of Shyamalan, these themes were analyzed and a conclusion regarding themes in his films were drawn. The importance of film and its impact on how we view all sorts of marginalized groups is far too often forgotten. It can be seen over and over again how impactful media, and film in general, can be on exactly how we view all sorts of people groups. The influence of film on altering public perceptions of “others” has been evident from Nazi propaganda films to Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915). In addition, how we manage all sorts of moral questions and ethical situations can be viewed over and over again inside film and media, not to mention how art historically has been a reflection of society at virtually every level. From our shared fears and hopes to our shared concerns and fantasies, art and film have continually been one of the most impactful ways to view our cultural values. The horror and science fiction genres of film are a seemingly endless catalog. As for horror specifically, much can be gleaned about the shared fears of a society, from the fear of being left alone and vulnerable as in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), to the fear of the unknown in films such as Poltergeist (Hooper, 1982) and Paranormal Activity (Peli, 2007). Our culture is saturated with the everlasting images and stories from films in the horror genre; from hockey masks to a simple flickering light, the 2 2 horror genre has painted how we react and interact with the environment and people we are surrounded by every day.

There is very little question that film has an enormous influence on our perceptions of all kinds. The use of people with disabilities is present in this film genre and the influences of these representations can be seen as influences in how society perceives the concepts of inclusion and their feelings towards people with disabilities as a whole. The idea that people with disabilities should be separated and isolated outside of society is something film does often and this study intends to discuss the frequency inside the genre of horror. This research topic intends to begin a conversation and eventually encourage positive portrayals and inclusive narratives going forward in film. Historically, film has infected the cultural view and perceptions of all sorts of different groups. Caricatures and stereotypes were a currency in the 1970’s exploitation era in cinema. The beginning of film, starting with Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915) and early silent film has a long history of unflattering portrayals of Jews, African Americans,

Asians, and Latinos. That history carries over and has only been cultivated and repurposed in modern cinema, and the effects of the original film portrayals still linger. When time is taken to have a deeper and more in depth analysis, something that starts to develop a conversation, a consistent and definable method of content analysis can make an impact and spark change. The significant impacts these characterizations make on marginalized groups in America cannot be understated. There are many times characters with disabilities are portrayed in film; although people with disabilities are largely underrepresented in film (Whittington-Walsh, 2002). It is often the horror genre that has more representation of people with disabilities than any other genre. The inconvenient truth is that this representation is not always in a positive light. The representation of people with disabilities is largely as the villain, as a danger to others, or as an imminent threat to society as a whole. We need to look no further than 3 3

Jason Voorhees, the famous hockey masked killer from the Friday the 13th franchise and one of the most iconic characters in the horror genre (Cunningham, 1980). The filmmaker and special effects designer specifically used the term mongoloid to describe him when designing his unmasked facial makeup (Martin, 1980). To further carry that point, he is portrayed as a child with intellectual disabilities early on in the original film. Michael Myers, from Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) is the archetype for the slasher subgenre and is portrayed as a child with emotional disturbances. The films portray him acting out due to his disability, only to grow up and become an unstoppable killing machine hell-bent on killing every co-ed in his path. Too often, it is the case that the chosen boogeyman from many horror films, would indeed have a diagnosis that would qualify them for special education services and SSI benefits. When using the definitions of disability categories in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA, 2006) for being labeled with a disability, it becomes clear that horror films are full of diagnosable characters. The top 25 grossing horror films contain characters such as Michael Meyers, Hannibal Lecter, Pennywise, and Ghostface (Lynch, 2018). Each of these characters would certainly be diagnosed as having emotional disturbances. The fear of people with disabilities causing harm to others is a tried and true formula in horror. The depictions of people with a disability as a danger to society has occurred throughout the history of film. Much of horror film from its inception is defined by people with disabilities. These disabilities quite often are portrayed visually since film was originally without audible dialogue. The portrayal of a person with facial or physical abnormalities as representing something deeply wrong on the inside is an old and time tested tradition. From the Phantom of the Opera (Laemmle & Julian, 1925) to Freddy Krueger (Shaye & Craven, 1984), facial deformities are used to portray a dark and sinister character. With a character like Frankenstein (Laemmle & Whale, 1931) with his 4 4 childlike innocence and inability to understand, threat is portrayed both visually by his scars and coloring and by his intellectual disability; that warped childlike mind is what ends up killing a small girl. The physical portrayal of a character with facial and physical abnormality continues to be a commonplace trope in the horror genre. Inclusion is a modern idea that seeks to include people with disabilities into communities and society by making reasonable accommodations giving them access and availability to services and public spaces. Inclusion in the educational setting is defined as an attitude, value set, and system of beliefs supporting the idea that all students, with and without disabilities can and should learn together (Falvey, Givner, & Kimm, 1995). Based on this definition, people with disabilities should also be included into the general community. When a movie portrays people with disabilities as having a warped worldview or deranged to a point of being violent, then that film can be described as being anti-inclusion. Anti-inclusion is the antithesis of inclusion. For a theme or narrative to be considered anti-inclusion it will portray the inclusion of people with disabilities and the result of this conclusion will end in violence to others and/or an overall harm to the safety of a community. Horror film is guilty of this portrayal continuously. The genre has been slowly making the point that people with disabilities, when included into society, are a clear and present danger. This anti-inclusion theme is in films like 300 (Nunnari & Snyder, 2007) and Sling Blade (Meistrich & Thorton, 1997), where people with disabilities are integrated into a society only to end with deadly consequences; if not for their inclusion, many people would still be alive. Film is a powerful tool for shaping minds and affecting how people view the world. As society has grown and evolved, so has film. The ability of genre pictures to hone in on a particular thing, in this case horror, puts its finger on the pulse of what scares people as a community and as a society; it is what makes it such an interesting 5 5 genre to study. There is much about inclusion and representation of people with disabilities that can be fettered out using a critical content analysis of horror film.

When selecting a film to study, it is important to recognize the collaborative nature of film. In a big budget film there are hundreds of people at work and each of them has an impact on the film being made. A strategy for investigating a specific narrative and minimizing the effects of the collaborative nature of film would be to locate an auteur. The definition of auteur is a person with a singular vision and a large amount of control over a film. This control and vision effectively allow them to be considered the author of the film (AUTEUR, n.d.). Directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen all fit this description. The auteur writes the film, directs the film and produces the film. They maintain much of the control during the editing process and manage the production in every step to ensure their artistic vision comes to fruition. The selection of an auteur to do a content analysis was very important in doing the study. In this case Shyamalan was chosen as the auteur and his 12 films that received a theatrical release were chosen for study. Deciding on criteria for the content analysis is an important step in order to properly evaluate the representation of people with disabilities in films. Before considering the evaluation method for people with disabilities, it is good to see some other methods used to evaluate other marginalized groups. Harry Morgan Benshoff in his book, Monsters in the Closet, defined three common representations of homosexuals in horror (Benshoff, 1998). He pointed out that homosexuals are often portrayed as being a threat to themselves, a threat to others, or a threat to society. Using this template as a starting point the representation of disability and people with disabilities, a 3-part study of how they are represented was created. After choosing an auteur, in this case Shyamalan, each of his films were observed and field notes were taken on them. Every 6 6 film was tallied for each time the film showed people with disabilities either: as a threat to others, a threat to society or promoted anti-inclusion.

Problem Statement This study provides a content analysis of a selected group of films from M. Night Shyamalan, who consistently incorporates themes around people with disabilities. These themes come in three areas: danger presented by people with disability towards others, danger presented by people with disabilities towards society, and an overall narrative theme of harm from inclusion as it relates to society as a whole. A danger to others is defined as a person with disabilities harming another character in the film, emotionally or physically. A harm to society is defined as an act by a character with disabilities causing harm to the community they are in, meaning actions they take, put others in the community in danger. A theme of anti-inclusion is defined as the action of inclusion by a society in a film which causes harm to others and a harm to the foundation s of the society. By focusing on the films of M. Night Shyamalan, these themes are analyzed and a conclusion regarding Shyamalan’s themes is drawn. It is important to recognize the common representations of people with disabilities. Using one of the most successful directors in the horror genre, Shyamalan, representation is discussed and a light was shown on the poor representation of people with disabilities; this is actually a fairly common practice in film as a whole. The fact that people with disabilities are often the villains and portrayed as out of control “monsters,” who can be set off at any given moment is a dangerous trope to reinforce. Portraying the idea that the motives of people with disabilities can be easily known simply by looking at them, that their disability is a sign of some sort of inner evil is also problematic. If these common tropes in horror are considered and pointed out, then the harm of reinforcing these stereotypes can be brought to light and perhaps filmmakers can start to make 7 7 conscious efforts to change these practices like some have begun in regards to other marginalized groups.

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In order to review the literature regarding the representation of people with disabilities in cinema and representations of disability as a whole, search terms were typed into a number of databases. Primary search terms included combinations of disability representation in film, disability in film, propaganda in film, marginalized groups in film, disability in horror, disability in horror film, Native Americans in film, Asians in film, representations of women in film, women in horror film. Several articles studied the representation of people with disabilities in film and in some cases horror film was discussed, while other articles dealt with propaganda in film, particularly as it was used in WWI & WWII in Nazi Germany and in Britain. This was used to add to the discussion of the importance of representation in film and its impact on popular culture. The following is a review of the existing research literature that involves the representation of disabilities in film, people with disabilities and the cultural perceptions of disability. The databases used were GoogleScholar, JSTOR, Gale Literature Resource

Center, ProQuest Literature Online, Free E-Journals, Ebsco.

Society’s Relationship with Disability Society’s relationship with disability has a long history. The person with a disability has far too often been viewed as an innate danger to those around them and to society. It is something that goes far back into human history. Jesus’ value was many times measured in the New Testament by his ability to “fix” those who had disabilities (Matthew 8:16 New American Standard Bible). The Romans discarded what were viewed as unhealthy babies believing they would not contribute meaningfully to the community (Harris, 1994). In America there exists a long history of segregation and exclusion, that spans far beyond Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Anti-inclusion goes back to Watson v. City of Cambridge (1893) and spanned all the way to Department of Public Welfare v. Hass 9 9

(1958). The fear and exclusion of people with disabilities exists in the fiber of America. The representation and attitudes towards people with disabilities was evidenced from the popularity of freak shows in the late 1800s to institutionalization that still exists in some forms today. In 1912 Henry Goddard built off the research of Richard Dugdale in what are commonly referred to as the Jukes and Kallikaks studies. Although considered erroneous as research today, Jukes and Kallikaks study drove the concept that people with a disability were not only a fiscal drag on society but that the person with disabilities was in fact inherently connected to immoral behavior. Goddard concluded that these people were a harm to society and made a bad problem worse. Goddard did this by studying two sets of offspring by a man fictitiously named Kallikak; one set of offspring from a typical female woman and one set from what he called a “feeble-minded woman.” Goddard then determined how many offspring from the typical woman compared to the children from the “feeble-minded woman,” were sexual deviants, drunkards, and criminals. This Jukes and Kallikaks study emboldened eugenics ideology and encouraged institutionalization of people with disabilities, which in turn created a very strong anti-inclusion ideology in America. America wrestled with this concept and it led to a very distorted vision of disability. The Jukes and Kallikaks study was championed in the burgeoning eugenics community in the early 1900s in order to bolster a case for those with disabilities to be sterilized or in some cases euthanized (Pfeiffer, 2006). This sort of thinking does not just disappear; it lingers and pops up in all sorts of places. It is still the case today that people with disabilities are viewed as a financial drain on society and an inconvenience or often a danger in the community. As time moved on, and as a society, America drew away from the ideas of eugenics and seeking perfection through genetics; society grew a small fascination with the community of people with disabilities. Although sideshows, commonly called freak 10 10 shows have dated back to the early-mid 1800s, they were very popular into the 1900’s and especially in the United States, home of modern cinema. The freak show allowed for people to pay as little as a penny, to enter a room and see the likes of microcephalics, conjoined twins, giants, dwarves and ethnic minorities, just to name a few (Stephens, 2006). This fascination with people with disabilities had evolved out of Victorian sensibility married to a modern American capitalism. According to a Victorian era doctor named Robert Bogden, who was trying to demystify the person with a disability, a freak was defined “not by the possession of any particular quality, but by a set of practices, a way of thinking about and presenting people with major, minor, and fabricated physical, mental, and behavioral differences” (Kochanek, 1997, p. 267). Kochanek (1997) pointed out that Victorian medicine, operating within a cultural framework that included “deformo-mania” needed a way of thinking about and representing deformity but one which also differed from popular understandings of freakishness. The word deform- mania was a term that Kochanek coined to mean the fascination and obsession with “medical oddities” as something to marvel at; this was something commonly taking place during the Victorian era. The break from deformo-mania into a medical model of disability largely pushed the freak show out of favor and sent those with disabilities into institutionalization. Whittington-Walsh (2002) discussed the problematic and complicated history of people with disabilities being used as a method of entertainment, often as oddities in freak shows for hundreds of years throughout all of the world. However, during the nineteenth century, Victorian attitudes and Protestantism created a peculiar problem; by establishing a moral high ground and treating the freak show as a morally bankrupt practice, they inadvertently left employees of the freak shows with no means of income, isolated from society and eventually ushered into the way of the institution. This thinking 11 11 actually lead to a medical model of disability being reinforced. The person with a disability was no longer a human curiosity; but as science became more in vogue, they were seen as medical curiosities and stigmatized as ill and segregated to invisibility in the institutional system.

Models of Disability The need to understand disability begat a conversation of how to define disability. There are dozens of models for disability and each has its particular way of defining what it means to have a disability. Although, in modern academia, the environmental model is most popular (Müller, 1997). In this model disability is defined by whether or not the environment is accessible by the individual. This is a progressive way to see disability, on a continuum, yet this model is not common in cinema. The more commonly used models for disability, especially in horror film, are the medical model and the moral model. The medical model defines disability by whether or not science decides they are atypical (Müller, 1997) and whether or not they can be cured. This model is extremely common and looks at disability not as a part of everyday life, but as something that can and should be fixed. The moral model suggests people with disabilities are afflicted with their disabilities because they are victims of moral failure (Müller, 1997). This is the model, for instance, that would view disability as demon possession. If someone has schizophrenia, it would not be a diagnoses, but a warning that they had been afflicted by evil. This is also a commonly shared view in faith healing circles, where disability is something that should be cured through miracle or divine intervention.

Legal Rights and Disability The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now commonly known as IDEA 2004 helped to define American rights for people with disabilities by defining 12 12

13 separate categories of disability that cannot be discriminated against and legally must be accommodated reasonably in school. People with disabilities were given rights to public education as a result of this law. The disability categories in IDEA 2004 are defined as they relate to services. The disability categories are (a) autism, (b) deaf- blindness, (c) deafness, (d) emotional disturbance, (e) hearing impairment, (f) intellectual disability, (g) multiple disabilities, (h) orthopedic impairment, (i) other health impairment, (j) specific learning disability, (k) speech or language impairment, (l) traumatic brain injury, and (m) visual impairment (including blindness) (IDEA, 2006).

Society’s Relationship with Film The reality is, film has been telling people about themselves for years and has had major effects on how society views all sorts of aspects of itself. The use of propaganda is rampant throughout film with many studies that have focused specifically on its use throughout WWI by both Nazi and Anti-Nazi forces. There is little discussion in journals about the overall use of propaganda as it relates to the horror film genre or the impact the representation of people with disabilities in film has on society’s feelings towards people with disabilities. The impact of tropes and negative propaganda marketed for a cause is an important topic (Reeves, 1997). The practice of propaganda is a very common practice that is still used in film today. According to Reeves (1997), one key element used in propaganda was titles. In a time of silent film, titles were a key way to share a message; however, titles were kept to a minimum. The rule in propaganda was often less than 7% of the whole film had titles (Reeves, 1997). The emphasis away from words moved the salience to the imagery. The images tell the story and with so few words, simple phrasing and keyword use, help to refocus the topic and clearly define the message. Hitchcock perfected these techniques and films like There Will Be Blood (Sellar, Lupe, & Anderson, 13 13

2007) continued the tradition of images driving the narrative and plot over dialogue. This method of focusing on imagery originates from old propaganda film. Reeves describes the technique in the WWI propaganda film, The Battle of the Somme; a long scene of troops moving to the front, stockpiling supplies, then the preparatory bombardment of Germans, leading to the wounded German prisoners, is an example of dialogue free use of propaganda. This tells a narrative almost without words and uses the small amount of words it does have to paint a purposeful picture showing German dominance according to Reeves. A prime example of propaganda and how it has become common practice in modern film is very clear. Reeves (1997) concluded that the propaganda films of WWI did not have a radical impact on everyone who saw them. Yet, even though it did not have severe influence to change attitudes, it was very well suited for, reinforcing existing attitudes (Reeves, 1997, pp. 5-28). The point being, that propaganda has an influence that is not always transformative, but highly powerful at taking existing feelings and turning them into full blown beliefs and attitudes towards whomever the targets may be. In modern film this remains true. It is not necessary to entirely change minds or even intend to change minds. Instead a filmmaker’s influence is still impactful if they are using tropes and traditionally stereotypical characters. These filmmakers can reinforce existing biases that exist in society toward people with disabilities by employing these negative stereotypes. Berry, Gray, and Donnerstein (1999) discussed violence and arousal in film. They focused on the cutting down of certain scenes deemed extremely violent. This study was intending to determine if minor cuts to violence could alter the enjoyment factor of a film. As it relates to the discussion about propaganda, the question was similar. How important is even the subtlest parts of a film. Can a small “cut” or removal of frames from a film change the experience of a viewer? Even if the “cuts” from the film were 14 14 imperceptible to the human eye, could they still affect the viewer? If a scene can be cut by seconds but a person finds their experience different than they had prior to the cut, then it is reasonable to conclude that every second of film has an impact on a person and can affect how they feel and draw conclusions from a film. In the Berry et al. (1999) study, the authors took three scenes from three films, two of which they cut for violence and one they did not make cuts on. Then they showed the two versions of the scenes from these movies to an audience and had them fill out a survey about their experience. The major findings were that although the cuts were minor, some as few as 1.2-3 seconds, there was a substantial change in enjoyment and experience for some viewers. The groups were split by gender, but all groups were able to distinguish minor cuts as contextualized in a film showed that no matter how subtle or simple a choice is made by a director, that piece of footage, if even for a second, can have a lasting impact and help determine whether a person even enjoys the film. It is reasonable to conclude then, that minor, seemingly undistinguishable imagery, has an impact on a person’s viewing experience. It also can be said by this logic, that when a director makes a consistent choice in their films, to make the person with disabilities the villain, and continually portrayed them as a monster, that these images and narrative choices have a lasting impression on the viewer regardless of intent and despite how insignificant they may seem to be from the naked eye.

Representation of Marginalized Groups in Film The conversation about representation of marginalized groups, such as the LGBT+ community, the Black community and Native American community, is much more prevalent than that of people with disabilities. The topic of representation of marginalized people in film is often discussed throughout academia and especially inside the social sciences and their research (Wälivaara, 2018). Examples of these portrayals are 15 15 too common to describe and feel almost pedestrian to breakdown: African American and Latinex males as criminals and gang members from West Side Story (Robinson & Wise,

1962) to Colors (Solo & Hopper, 1988); African American women as mammies or a Sapphire (Guerrero, E., 2012), i.e. Foxy Brown (Knight, 2019); the woman as a damsel in distress like in The Dark Knight (Thomas & Nolan, 2009); Gay men as caricature flamboyant stereotypes as in The Birdcage (Nichols, 1996); Native Americans as ruthless savages (The Searchers [Ford, 1964]). The onslaught of marginalized groups that are negatively affected by their portrayal on film is seemingly never ending. The powerfully insidious reality of such a thing is there are very few ways to quantify and connect these negative portrayals to real world impact. A recent study, however, points out that black actors are portrayed as gang members 64% of the time compared to the reality that, according to statistics from the National Gang Center, black men make up just 35% of gang activity in America. (Crockett, 2016). For every positive step forward there seems to be a step back. For instance, in the lead up to the first black president, portrayals of black men as president began to appear in film and television with shows like 24 (Hopkins, 2001) and Deep Impact (Brown & Leder, 2000). It would appear that sometimes visual media sets the stage and softens the hearts of the public in order to make progress. Yet, the overwhelming reality of unarmed young black men being shot in the streets by officers chasing someone “fitting a description” pairs quite well with the above statistic regarding portrayal of black men in film. Film is littered with the exploitation and negative representation of people in marginalized groups. The use of Native Americans in films like The Searchers (Ford, 1964), and the need for the white man to civilize the “savages” has been a staple in the Native American representation on screen ever since. Modern films, like Ron Howard’s The Missing (Grazer & Howard, 2003) about a White woman searching for her child who was stolen by an Apache witch and Bone Tomahawk (Heller & Zahler, 2016) about 16 16 savage natives hell bent on the destruction of the white man, are more evidence that this characterization persists into modern cinema. Films as recent as The Ballad of Buster

Scruggs (Coen & Coen, 2018), treat the Native American as nothing more than a plot point and faceless antagonist to the story of the white man; these are just a few examples of how the same narrative of the Native American has been perpetuated over the course of film history and how long a legacy of stereotypes can last. The same is true for the Black Americans in film who suffer from a constant recurrence as drug dealers and threats to society. Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915) depicted the Black man as a danger to white women and that only the heroic Ku Klux Klan (KKK) could protect them. From this the jumping off point, the representation of Black American men in film has carried a very common stereotype. The Black American has also gone through a series of stereotypical characterizations in film. The Mammy, the Sambo, the Thug, and the “Magical Negro” are all common stereotypes in film throughout history that are still present today (Hughey, 2009). Stereotypical characterizations also exist for Latino, Asian and other marginalized ethnic groups. Film portrayal of marginalized groups has had a lasting impact on how society views these groups. Many of these characterizations started from the inception of cinema and have not changed. The prevalence in recent times of more Black, Asian, Native American and Latino filmmakers being hired to make big budget films has furthered the cause to end these stereotypical portrayals, but it has not erased the existence of these stereotypes by any means. However, the marginalized groups mentioned above at the very least, have the opportunity and ability to advocate independently at some level and can add to the conversation with their own creative endeavors. In reality, the person with a disability has a disproportionate inability to advocate for themselves due to a historical lack of resources and access to necessary supports. This makes the transition other marginalized groups have made in advocating 17 17 for themselves against these unfair representations, even more for people with disabilities.

The LGBT community has also been affected by poor cinematic representation. Benshoff (1998) pointed out some very specific representations of homosexuals in horror film. Using a 1984 study of anti-homosexual attitudes, he breaks down three specific areas where homosexuals are represented in horror film. According to Benshoff, homosexuals are seen as dangerous, represented as being a harm to themselves, a harm to others, or a harm to society. Benshoff argued that society’s fear of homosexuality relates in many ways to the fear society has of the classic movie monsters. These monsters often behave one way during the day (in front of us) and then differently at night (when we cannot see them). The Wolfman (Waggner, 1941), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Mamoulian, 1931), or the monster in Frankenstein (Laemmle & Whale, 1931) are analogous to the homosexual, who society fears will run rampant across the countryside corrupting innocent victims along the way (Benshoff, 1998). The fear of corruption from this misunderstood group of marginalized people is a theme throughout horror film. Much in the same way, this fear is prevalent in regards to people with disabilities. The need to be wary of the other is a common theme in horror film, and there are few groups more “other” than people with disabilities.

Societies Relationship with Disability in Film Disability in film comes in many forms. The representation of people with disabilities in film as violent is a very common occurrence. Often people with disabilities are portrayed as emotionally disturbed and “unhinged.” In other cases, they are childlike and innocent. This is sometimes paired with violence, like in Frankenstein (Laemmle & Whale, 1931). One of the most common representations of people with disabilities is as a person with autism, but typically as a savant. The representation of people with autism as 18 18 savants was the way many people discovered autism as a diagnosis. The influence of a movie like Rain Man (Johnson & Levison, 1988) on the perception of this diagnosis is remarkable. The history of films around savants such as Sling Blade (Meistrich & Thorton 1994), Rain Man (Johnson & Levison, 1988), Forrest Gump (Finerman & Zemeckis, 1994) has further complicated the public understanding and view of people with disabilities (Whittington-Walsh, 2002). Whittington-Walsh (2002) argued that the sensational nature of a savant in film, has created a narrative for those who have Autism Spectrum Disorder to almost always be questioned by strangers about what “superpower” they might have. The sensational has engulfed the typical and the person with a disability is no longer accepted as just being who they are but rather judged against what is considered “normal.” The person with disabilities is in a constant battle, judged by whether they have a “gift” or ability like the savant stereotype depicts. The question becomes, does this “gift” weigh enough to make them normal? This is key in understanding the representation of people with disabilities in film. The person with disabilities is considered not whole, meaning they are not typical enough and require some sort of talent to be considered a whole person. The idea of people with disabilities being innocent creatures that are simple and childlike, tending to seem sweet and innocent at first glance, is another one dimensional portrayal that is common in the horror genre. As Hall (2016) pointed out, the innocent nature of people with disabilities in horror is prevalent, as is the case of Edwards Scissorhands (Di Novi & Burton, 1990) who cannot be described as anything other than someone with a disability who is portrayed as basically a bright-eyed toddler. However, Hall argues this portrayal of a person with disabilities inside a perfect cookie cutter fantasy world created by Tim Burton shows the corrupt reality of a world where “different” is removed and only “normal” is accepted. Yet, the argument seems to fall flat 19 19 when one considers the ultimate demise of Edward at the end of the film when he is banished to an isolated home on a hill. Alone and segregated, Edward is left to his own devices to live in solitude. The main female protagonist, Kim, is sad at the end of the film as she reminisces about the times she had with Edward, but the society has flourished now that Edward is in his rightful place, separate from everyone. No harm to the community was witnessed once they had removed Edward and his peculiar disability from the equation, society was well. Hall seems to want a lesson to be learned and a positive view of disability and inclusion, yet when the cinematic world of Edward Scissorhands is looked at as a whole, the real lesson is inclusion simply does not work, because when it is attempted, society is disrupted to a point of damage. The real lesson at the end of this film is that inclusion is bad, but as long as the practice of inclusion is ended, and people with disabilities are removed from society, then society can always go back to normal. Whittington-Walsh (2002) pointed out that people with disabilities have a long history of violence in film. They act out violently even when it is not towards a person, as Raymond Babbit does in Rain Man with repeated self-harm. This theme helps to “perpetuate fears of disabilities and support the ideology that people with disabilities should be isolated and living within the confines of institutions” (Wittington-Walsh, 2002, p. 705). It is the responsibility and concern of the viewer to challenge their perceptions of what it means to have a disability. As Bill Hughes put it, “in order for emancipation, people with disabilities need to challenge the [non-disabled] gaze of perfection’ by participating in the ‘social act of vision” (as cited in Whittington-Walsh, 2002, p. 706). The view of people with disabilities in film too often has a violent element. In Sling Blade (Meistrich & Thorton 1994), Carl has a moral high ground over the abusive father to his young friend, but in the end, it still resulted in murder. Whittington- 20 20

Walsh (2002) made the point that characters with a disability are relegated to being violent, and this is a typically a key feature of a character with disability in film.

Representation of Disability in Horror and Film The representation of disability in horror film has been overwhelmingly negative. It is common for directors throughout history to portray people with disabilities in a light that is negative, dangerous and extremely detrimental to the inclusion of people with disabilities into society. For inclusion to take place, people with disabilities need two elements: interpersonal relationships and community participation (Simplican, Leader, Kosciulek, & Leahy, 2015). These two elements are interlinked and it is very difficult to have one and not have the other according to Simplican et al. (2015). To extrapolate on this, when there are community interactions, inevitably there are interpersonal relationships and often these interpersonal relationships will foster and grow community involvement. With that in mind, the concern about representation of people with disabilities is a salient one when discussing the matters of inclusion. For one, if people with disabilities are presented as some sort of danger to others, some creature or person that is on the brink of acting out, then those interpersonal relationships will be that much more difficult to build. It then follows that without those relationships, the community involvement will be all but impossible. Add to the matter that a person with disabilities is viewed as a one dimensional “character” that is portrayed as a drain on society and a danger to the very foundations of a thriving community, then community involvement is again all but impossible. It is imperative then that the representation of people with disabilities and feelings towards them as a whole be discussed, before any growth can occur. The practice of using disfigurement as a way to show a character as evil is longstanding. The roots start with characters like the Phantom of the Opera (Laemmle & 21 21

Julian, 1925) whose facial deformities are played to show his dark inner self. The entire cast of Todd Browning’s Freaks (Browning, 1932) show deviance through their disabilities. These different types of monsters portray their danger not just through their actions of rape, murder and kidnapping, but are represented on the outside by their physical disability as a defining characteristic. The Universal Monsters of the 1950s and 1960s are most often creatures whose outer appearance is manifested at some level by their inner evil, such as The Wolfman (Waggner, 1941), Dracula (Laemmle & Browning, 1931) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (Alland & Arnold, 1954). Updated iterations of these characters are seen in films such as Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, where their outer representation reveals an inner evil. Looking at horror is important because few other genres of film can provide an insight into what scares society. For example, The Exorcist (Blatty & Friedkin, 1973), offers a look into the cultural struggle with God and the Catholic church in the 1970s; Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) highlighted fears of being harmed at one’s most vulnerable: alone and naked in a shower. Horror films provide a laundry list of shared cultural fears. This includes irrational fears of dreams, fears of the poor, fear of the occult, and a more modern fear of mishandling the spiritual realm. This practice of content analysis on horror can tell us a lot about how fears manifest themselves in the horror genre. Ironically, the first inclusive representations of people with disabilities on screen was in Todd Browning’s Freaks (Browning, 1932). The film circles around a band of circus “Freaks” who exact revenge on a female grifter and her strongman boyfriend. Given that the scientific community was struggling early on to understand disability and remove some of the stigma, in doing so they ended up oftentimes removing the humanity from people with disabilities. When this is connected with the ugliness of eugenics taking root around the same time, the person with disabilities becomes either something to ogle, or something to fear. In a review of representation of disability in horror films, 22 22

Whittington-Walsh (2002) discussed the reception of Todd Browning’s Freaks (Browning, 1932) because it featured an entire cast of people with disabilities. She talked about the controversy surrounding the film. Whittington-Walsh argued that although disability is often represented in film, most often as a negative, Todd Browning’s Freaks (Browning, 1932) was the first example of inclusion and this inclusion was the reason for its lack of initial success and subsequent banishment by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). People were not bothered by the portrayal of people with disabilities, rather they were bothered by the fact that people with disabilities were actually included and used in the film.

Models of Disability in Horror Film The models of disability are present throughout film. The medical model for instance, is used extensively in films like Basket Case (Bruck & Henenlotter, 1982), The Green Mile (Valdes & Darabont, 1999), and Halloween (Hill & Carpenter, 1978). The idea that a person is considered to be disabled as it relates to how the medical community can fix them by using “medicine” (in some cases this is therapy), the person with disability is a person that is for lack of a better term, sick. In Halloween (Hill & Carpenter, 1978) for instance, the doctors continually fail to “heal” Michael and their failure leads to death in every case. The disability is something that the medical model is intent on curing. The moral model, for obvious reasons, exists all throughout horror film. Horror films often time act out as morality tales. Sometimes the person in the film has been immoral and their disability is brought on by their own actions, as in the case with Freddy Krueger’s physical deformities (Shaye & Craven, 1984). Other times the moral actions of others will cause these sins to create a disability that meets horrific consequences, as in the nuclear testing that created the villainous family in Wes Craven’s The Hills Have 23 23

Eyes (Locke & Craven, 1977). The moral model of disability seems to be prevalent in horror film from early cinema. The characters in Todd Browning’s Freaks (Browning,

1932) take a morally bankrupt woman and transform her into a person with disabilities because of her actions. The creation of Jason Voorhees happens through the immoral behavior of bullying children and sexually obsessed camp counselors (Cunningham, 1980). Voorhees turns into a killer because society brings out his true colors by not accepting him, and his mother begins a killing spree that he seemingly never finishes. The modern era of cinema has examples as well with a film like It Follows (Greene & Mitchell, 2015), where young adults who have been sexually promiscuous are tracked down by a mythical creature that will hunt and murder them as long as they live. The use of both of these models has been mined in horror since its inception which leads to a variety of common character tropes, which often times are characters with disabilities.

Disability and Propaganda in Horror Film This use of propaganda techniques, even if unintentional, are common in horror. Long dialogue free scenes that allow for tension to build and using visual imagery rather than words to simplify the message is a common practice. In a film like Nosferatu (Dieckmann & Murnau, 1922) there is a character who is easily defined as a person with disabilities. He is gravely allergic to the sun, and has the most particularly strict dietary restrictions one could imagine. Nosferatu is an example of representation of people with disabilities in a film using almost entirely visuals and minimal dialogue. The focus on the visual and de-emphasis of the dialogue leads to a powerful message that visually impacts the viewer and can create a narrative of fear towards these characters, which is problematic when the characters have disabilities. This once again breeds fear and misinformation about people with disabilities and seems to encourage their seclusion 24 24 from society and reinforces existing biases. The same tactic is used in many Hitchcock films and all of these films inform film today.

Summary The literature on the subject of the representation people with disabilities in horror film is rather scarce. No clear way exists to determine how to look at a film’s representation of people with disabilities. The research and conversation about the representation people with disabilities in film as a whole is small but present. The use of a discussion about how people in marginalized groups are represented in film is a useful way to extract a meaningful discussion about representation as a whole in cinema. It seems that propaganda has been discussed ad nauseam, especially as it relates to the topic of WWI and some studies are present on the effects of this as a whole on people. Yet it does seem that the discussion of its impact on people could be extended to a much fuller and even less broad sense, getting into more specific impacts on specific groups. There is little doubt that people with disabilities are used as a villains and monsters throughout much of cinema and specifically in horror. They have served as an easy target and become a trope for what we should be careful to watch out for or not become. The narrative in horror cinema has long helped to inform the public exactly what disability is and how to define it and thetas to a detriment of those with disabilities. The use of the medical and moral models as ways to define disability has had a great and broad reaching impact on the cultural conversation about disability and the opinions of people with disabilities. The even more concerning portion of this conversation is the fact that it seems to be inclusion and more to the point, anti-inclusion sentiments are the theme throughout horror film and a concern is raised that this is the overall narrative moving forward in film. That narrative is we should not include people with disabilities or the society will be harmed because of it.

CHAPTER 3: METHODS

Participant The researcher is a male graduate student at California State University, Fresno completing a master’s degree in Special Education. The researcher selected and viewed 12 films, every full length-theatrical release by the auteur M. Night Shyamalan. The auteur was selected because as a writer/director/producer, Shyamalan has a great deal of control over a film which limits the impact of collaboration with other contributors on the film. This enables the researcher a clearer picture of what the director was intending. Characters with disabilities were represented as a harm to others and as a harm to society.

Definitions Anti-inclusion: Any representation of a character with disabilities who is portrayed as dangerous to interpersonal relationships or to the community/society because of the disability (Simplican et al., 2015).

Harm to others: Any representation of a character with disabilities who displays physical or emotional harm to other characters. Harm to community/society: Any representation of a character with disabilities who performs acts that harm the community or society.

Instruments Field notes were taken on each film and tally marks were made in order to keep track of occurrences: (a) danger to others, (b) danger to society, and (c) inclusion as a harm to society. The following films were observed and evaluated for the 3 themes listed above: Wide Awake (Conrad & Shyamalan, 1998), The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999), Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000), Signs (Marshall & Shyamalan, 2002), The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004), Lady in the Water (Mercer 26 26

& Shyamalan, 2006), The Happening (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2008), The Last Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010), After Earth (Pinkett & Shyamalan, 2013), The Visit (Blum

& Shyamalan, 2015), Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017), and Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019).

Research Questions Three research questions guided the evaluation of each film: 1) Does the film show a character with disabilities as a harm to others? 2) Does the film show a character with disabilities as a harm to community/society? 3) Does the film have any anti-inclusion themes? The films selected covered only the films of M. Night Shyamalan The films that were selected were all released over the course of the last 27 years, starting in 1992 and the most recent being the January 2019 release of Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019). Following is a synopsis of each of the films.

Wide Awake Wide Awake (Conrad & Shyamalan, 1998) was the debut film Shyamalan, written and directed as he did for every movie discussed in this study. Wide Awake (Conrad & Shyamalan, 1998) is the story of a fifth grade boy, Joshua, who begins a search for the answers about life and death after the passing of his grandfather. Aided by a nun from his Catholic prep school and his best friend Dave, Joshua seeks to answer the big questions about God and ontology, eventually getting an answer in the most unlikely of ways.

The Sixth Sense The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999), was an enormous commercial success and at the time of its release changed how films were marketed and bringing back 27 27 a wonder and magic to the cinematic experience like few films in the modern era. The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999), begins by introducing us to Dr. Malcolm

Crow, a psychotherapist who is initially confronted by one of his patients, a young man who has clear signs of emotional disturbances. The opening scene ends with Dr. Crow being shot, lying on his own bed, from a gunshot delivered by his patient, as the camera fades out. The film then fades back in, this time with Dr. Crow walking down a street to meet his next client, a young boy who has been hearing and seeing things and needs psychological support. At the risk of writing the term “spoiler alert” in an academic article, it must be stated that the rest of this synopsis will indeed cover some territory that will ruin some surprises. As the plot unfolds, Dr. Crow starts to believe the young boy has a psychic connection to the “ghostly realm” or a “sixth sense” if you will, allowing him to speak to the dead. It is revealed at the end of the film, that Dr. Crow was also a ghost and had died at the beginning of the film. The themes of this movie are very genre heavy, with plenty of ghost lore, jump-scares, and haunting imagery. However, the film does deal with disability, as the movie starts with an anti-inclusion narrative, the emotionally disturbed adult shooting the innocent healer. The film also begins a running narrative by Shyamalan of people that are good, not being just normal but have an “extraordinary” ability, one that makes them even more than abled, but super abled, making them extra “good.”

Unbreakable Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) is the film that really begins some of the deep themes that are being discussed in this article. Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) is about a middle-aged man who slowly discovers he is literally unbreakable he cannot be broken. In addition, this character has the ability to touch people and magically know the evil deeds they either have done or intend to commit. Our 28 28 hero David Dunn discovers his powers when he meets Elijah Price, a comic book store owner of indeterminable wealth that waxes philosophical about comic books and their imagery. He is a brittle and sickly man that was mocked as a child because of his brittle bone disease that makes him extremely fragile and earned him the moniker of Mr. Glass. In complete and utter contrast to our hero, we discover the fragile character in opposition to our remarkably strong hero is in fact the villain, murdering dozens and injuring hundreds in his chase to locate David Dunn. The themes of evil paired with disability are strong and our film seems to attempt to explain how comic books work while engaging in anti-inclusion ideology as our hero discovers at the very end, the true colors of Mr. Glass.

Signs Signs (Marshall & Shyamalan, 2002) is a film circling around and struggling with faith. Rev. Graham Hess is a father to three children, a widowed ex reverend that attempts to make a life after the tragic loss of his wife in a car accident. They are living in a Midwest American town trying to get by farming their land when crop circles show up, which are only precursors to the eventual alien invasion. The invasion is worldwide but this story circles only around the Hess family. The family has a son with a very sickly son but in this film, the disability of their son, a deathly case of asthma, actually saves him from the evil poisons that were intended for the young boy. Aliens invade and are eventually destroyed by water which is poison to them; an inevitable fate when you land on a planet made 71% out of the one thing that is poison to you.

The Village The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) is the story of a small village of people living a colonial lifestyle in the middle of a small patch of land directly in the forest. The village is in fact tormented by creatures that they must keep track of at all hours of the day and night. These people agree they may stay in the village and will be left alone as 29 29 long as they do not go into the woods where the creatures live. Of course, we learn there is a twist, the older villagers came to live in this town to create a utopia free of city life and violence after they all met in a grief support group for people who died from violent crimes. The whole film culminates with a young woman with blindness needing to wander into the forest in order to get help from the outside world after another member of their village, a young man with intellectual disability, stabs and nearly kills a man the young woman with blindness loves. The culmination of the story is Noah dressing as the monster and attempting to kill the young woman only to be slain by her. The story has deep anti-inclusion ideology and points to disability, once again, as the catalyst for abhorrent and antisocial behavior.

Lady in the Water Lady in the Water (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2006) is an attempt to tell a type of story that has not been told. Cleveland Heep, the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex, discovers Story , a fairy type character from the “Blue World”, in the complex swimming pool. He rescues her from a wolf-like monster that is trying to kill her. Story is searching for “Author,” a writer that will save all of humanity. As the convoluted story unfolds, Story and Heep must form a band of people that will help her return home. After a failed attempt trusting a film critic for guidance, they form a new band of heroes and narrowly save Story, returning her home. The disability themes in this film are less prominent than his previous, a departure from his normal themes as he tried to create a new “type of movie.”

The Happening The Happening (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2008) begins in New York City's Central Park, as people begin committing mass suicide. What is initially thought to be bioterrorism, is in fact the environment, largely the vegetation emitting some sort of 30 30 pollen that makes humans suicidal. Elliot Moore is the films hero, a high school science teacher from Philadelphia. Along with some companions he heads to a nearby town where they set out to find safety and perhaps an answer to what is the cause of this horrific ordeal. After a few failed attempts to locate a safe place, the companions discover that the only important thing is family, and as they find meaning, the “attack” by the plants coincidentally ends. It is later theorized on a news channel that the plants were likely giving a warning to humans to show nature’s awesome power and to respect the earth.

The Last Airbender The Last Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010) is a sci-fi film based on a popular cartoon series. Unlike his previous films, this film was based on a previous story that he adapted. The Last Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010) follows Aang, a young boy with the ability to “bend” (manipulate and control) all four elements. There is a war between the water, air and land tribes and the fire tribe. Aang goes on an adventure with a group in order to battle the fire tribe learning a number of lessons along the way. This inevitably culminates in a showdown between Aang and the Fire tribe’s champion.

After Earth After Earth (Pinkett & Shyamalan, 2013) is set in the near future, where a cataclysmic environmental event has forced humanity to flee from earth and establish a new world called Nova Prime. A thousand years later, an Army Ranger, Cypher, trained to suppress his fear in order to battle another alien race. The alien race us a creature designed to smell and locate fear as their weapon against humanity. This plays a part, as the Ranger and his son crash back on earth after a final mission. Cypher is injured and his son must venture onto earth alone, with its wild weather patterns and dangerous wildlife lurking around every corner. On his hero’s journey, the young son learns how to face his 31 31 fears and control them all while disappointing and making his father proud in alternating fashion. The film ends with the two rescued after the young boy calls for help and retrieves a beacon to save them from a grisly fate.

The Visit The Visit (Blum and Shyamalan, 2015) is about two siblings, 15-year-old Becca and 13-year-old Tyler, who visit their grandparents while their mother is on vacation with her new beau. Although their mother had a falling out with her parents 15 years ago, this seems to be the olive branch necessary for repairing this relationship. The children’s mother, Loretta, sends them together on a train to meet her parents in their small town to spend the week at their country home. As is the case in a film like this, the grandparents are not who they seem to be, acting progressively stranger as the film goes on until it is revealed while in the middle of a FaceTime conversation, that the people the kids are staying with, are in fact not her grandparents, but escaped mental patients from a local asylum, murdered the children's real grandparents and subsequently took their identities.

This film, once again deals with mental illness and the emotionally disturbed, in a way that portrays people with disabilities as dangerous to others and society. Although Shyamalan seemed to step away for a moment, from his themes in the prior two films, The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015) places him firmly back in similar themes as it relates to people with disabilities; People with disabilities are not to be trusted, they are dangerous and will harm you and those you love if you are not careful.

Split Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017) is the tale of a young woman suffering from childhood trauma that causes her to exhibit socially awkward behaviors. While at a birthday party, that she was invited to out of pity, she and her friends are abducted by a mentally deranged man, Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man we learn is suffering from 32 32 dissociative identity disorder (DID). Kevin has multiple personalities (23 to be exact) all vying for control of his actions. We see him battle with himself in therapy only to eventually succumb to the whims of his most sadistic and problematic personality known as “The Beast.” The interesting element Shyamalan writes in, is the effects of this “mental disorder” actually offer Kevin superpowers as The Beast, making him super strong and capable of superhuman feats. The imagery and locations chosen begin to exasperate the overall problem Shyamalan seems to have in portraying people with disabilities, as The Beast literally lives in a zoo and has been keeping the young women there for their eventual murders. He does indeed kill all but one woman, our heroine escapes because she bears scars from her abuse as a child that The Beast recognizes, and grants her reprieve. The movie ends as we discover David Dunn watching a news report at a local diner, placing this story in the middle of the Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) universe and introducing those characters into a third film, Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019).

Glass Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019), is the third film and culmination in the trilogy that begins with Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) and followed by Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017). The movie begins with Kevin once again kidnapping young “innocent” women in order to feed his alternate personality, “The Beast.” He is caught by Dunn, who we discover has been running a security agency by day and crime fighting by night. They are both caught and put into a hospital for the “criminally insane,” alongside Elijah Price. The doctor in charge of all three peoples care is one with a particularly specific specialty. She specializes in convincing delusional people who think they have superpowers that they do not have superpowers. The whole film leads to a showdown all built around Elijah cleverly orchestrating proof that superpowers do exist. This ends with 33 33 what was originally thought to be a story about Elijah, Kevin and Dunn proving their existence to be only the beginning of a larger story about people with superpowers accepting their own existence.

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF SELECTED THEMES

The purpose of this study was to examine themes of anti-inclusion of people with disabilities in films by M. Night Shyamalan. These themes were (a) danger to others, (b) danger to society, and (c) inclusion as a harm to society. The themes were observed and noted while the researcher viewed the twelve films. Themes were expressed through characters or actions of characters that show inclusion as something that would be leading to direct harm to the society, culture, or city that affords them the inclusion.

Character with Disabilities as a Harm to Others Of the 12 films observed, 7 showed characters with a disability causing harm to others: Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019), Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017), The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015), The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004), Signs (Marshall & Shyamalan, 2002), Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) and The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999). Of the three themes observed, causing harm to others had the most occurrences. Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019) had the highest number of instances at 23 and The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) and The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999) had the least at three (see Figure 1).

Character with Disabilities as a Harm to Community/Society Of the 12 films observed, 6 showed characters with disabilities as a harm to society: Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019), Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017), The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015), The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004), The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999) and Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000). Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) had the most occurrences with nine, and Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019) and Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017) tied with the least at four (see Figure 2). 35 35 Harm to Others 30

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Figure 1. Occurrences of harm to others by people with disabilities in films by M. Night Shyamalan. Harm to Community/Society 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Figure 2. Occurrences of harm to community/society by people with disabilities in films by M. Night Shyamalan. 36 36 Anti-Inclusion Themes Of the 12 films observed, 5 had an anti-inclusion theme: Glass (Blum &

Shyamalan, 2019), Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017), The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015), The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) and Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000). The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015) had the most anti-inclusion themes and The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) had the least (Figure 3). Anti-Inclusion 8

7

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3

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Figure 3. Occurrences of anti-inclusion themes in the films of M. Night Shyamalan.

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION

When analyzing Shyamalan’s films for representations of people with disabilities, the researcher observed many themes. For example, many of the villains that Shyamalan chose as his antagonists were either mythical creatures, or had a disability. In some cases, the villain would be seen as innocent or even trustworthy only to reveal their true selves later as violent social deviants. Of Shyamalan’s 12 films, 10 had characters with disabilities. In those films, six of the characters with a disability acted violently towards people. Five films had at least one theme of anti-inclusion. This shows a pretty clear pattern for Shyamalan’s work painting an unflattering picture of people with disabilities. An interesting distinction also arose when analyzing these films. Shyamalan wrote directed and produced each of the 12 films chosen for analysis. There were two films that did not have any characters with disabilities, The Happening (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2008) and The Last Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010). The latter has the distinction of being the only film Shyamalan adapted from an existing source. This means many of the themes and topics were largely adopted from this source material and Shyamalan seemed to stick closely to this material, of which disability was never a theme. Shyamalan did not create these characters; he simply put them on the screen, so in many ways we can say his influences and trademarks are largely absent from this film. This can explain in part why there seems to be inconsistency to the disability themes.

Harm to Others or Community/Society In The Sixth Sense (Marshall & Shyamalan, 1999), the story begins with Dr. Malcolm Crow, an award winning child psychologist, who is shot and left dying on his own bed. Vincent Gray is a former patient who breaks in attacks and shoots Dr. Crow. This patient is emotionally disturbed and all because Dr. Crow cannot “help him.” This need to heal Vincent is an example of Shyamalan’s use of the medical model. It seems 38 38

Shyamalan tends to see disability as something that needs to be healed. To make up for not healing Vincent, Dr. Crow finds redemption by working with a young boy named

Cole, who has the same diagnosis and his attacker: schizophrenia, mood disorder and bipolar disorder. Gray is frantic and manic, he is thin and sickly, and he is a clear and present danger to Dr. Crow and his wife from the first moment he is on the screen. Dr. Crow realizes his mistakes with Vincent throughout the film and is able to guide his new patient Cole, onto the correct path. He just did not understand how to manage Vincent when he was his doctor. Vincent is an example of what will happen to Cole if Cole is not healed by Dr. Crow. Vincent is a dangerous person with a disability and he acts out violently by shooting Dr. Crow. The one patient Dr. Crow cannot “heal” turns out to be the one who kills him. The narrative of healed and sick is present here. It shows that Vincent and his disability are in need of healing and without healing, there are grave consequences. The story picks back up after the shooting when Dr. Crow meets his new patient,

Cole. According to Dr. Crow’s notes, Cole has possible schizophrenia, a mood disorder and shows signs of self-harm from the scratches observed on his arm. Dr. Crow later confirms this diagnosis after a conversation with the Cole. All of these symptoms are common for students with an Emotional Disturbance (ED) diagnosis, so Cole can easily be considered to have a disability. Given Cole’s bizarre behavior and isolation from other children throughout the film, he is portrayed as a threat to society given the context of Vincent’s prior actions. There is also an instance where a teacher calls Cole a freak, once again isolating Cole and making him a pariah, and a third instance of recognizing Cole as a danger to society. In Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000), Elijah Price masquerades as a good guy for most of the film but is revealed to be a villain in a plot twist. Elijah is born on a train to the absolute terror of his doctor who is mortified that he was born with 39 39 broken limbs. His birth is met with a guttural scream by the mother, indicating not sadness but rage and terror mirrored by the fear in the doctor’s eyes. Elijah is wickedly smart and cunning. He is found to be the culprit in multiple terror plots with a body count of four-hundred and fifteen. He exploits his disability to get closer to the wife of the hero David Dunn. In every way his disability is used to define him as evil: the film holds him in direct juxtaposition to David Dunn. Dunn is indestructible and powerful and the object of Elijah’s sinister plot to fetter out his arch nemesis, someone who is his exact opposite. Dunn is played in contrast with the weak and frail figure of Elijah, who is also called Mr. Glass. When Dunn is shown lifting every weight possible on the rack, the next scene cuts to a list of broken bones Elijah had just endured. The heroism and nobility of Dunn is framed by the opposite characteristics of Elijah. It is pointed out that comic book villains have oversized eyes, often to portray that they have a “skewed perspective,” and it is certainly the case that Elijah’s eyes are pronounced. It is never said outright, but when all this imagery and dialogue is collected and sifted through, it is as if Elijah’s disability essentially made him destined to be nothing but a villain. When Elijah reveals he is in fact the “arch nemesis” to Dunn, it is followed by a caption that announces Elijah was institutionalized as criminally insane, criminalizing his disability and making another connection to disability and villains. This film begins a trilogy where Shyamalan fleshed out this narrative even more. Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017) follows Kevin, a man with DID, who has 22 distinct personalities with a threat of a 23rd. This 23rd personality is called the “Beast,” and some of his other personalities think this is the next evolution for humankind. The movie circles around the abduction of three young women who are intended to be fed to the “Beast” once he emerges. The film depicts the main character as a troubled person, but complex nevertheless. Kevin has personalities that are trying to stop the “Beast” from emerging, but they are thwarted at every turn, a hint at evil tendencies that cannot be 40 40 squelched inside the person with disabilities. The “Beast” does eventually emerge and he is brutal; we see him literally feed on one of the girls and murder his own doctor by squeezing her to death. The “Beast” crawls on walls and runs on four legs, he feeds on the soft belly of a woman like a jungle cat on a wildebeest. In the end the “Beast” allows one girl to go free, a reprieve to this woman for being abused just as he was. This also adds to a narrative about people with disabilities, much like the skewed view of Mr. Glass, Kevin has warped thinking and is only really out to kill the innocent. “The Beast” says that only the broken are truly pure, displaying the skewed view of a person with disabilities, an obviously anti-social sentiment from the villain. Kevin is a danger to others and society. The film ends with Kevin’s different personalities talking to himself about the next chapter of his life, as he escapes capture and is roaming free. The person with disabilities has escaped and on the hunt for an innocent. Signs (Marshall & Shyamalan, 2002), shows a stark decline in representation of people with disabilities. There were three characters with disabilities and only one that could be considered in need of services as it relates to the IDEA (2006). The protagonist, a reverend named Graham, has two small children. Morgan is a young boy with severe asthma but no signs of any developmental disabilities, and Bo who may have OCD or some other disability that could earn her services depending on the severity. There was one depiction of characters with disabilities as a harm to others or society. The aliens in the film, hell-bent on taking over earth for its resources, have a disability that is specifically environmental, water is acidic to them (why take over a planet covered 71% in what is essentially acid to you, is not something we will discuss here). These characters have a disability that allows the humans to save the world by exploiting the disability of the aliens. In the film this is described as a “weakness,” and used to kill the aliens. As for the human characters, their disabilities are shown as gifts by God, designed 41 41 for a higher purpose. The alien’s weakness turns out to be their Achilles heel, and helps the humans to defeat them.

The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015) is a film about two children visiting their estranged grandparents alone without their mother. There are three characters with disabilities in the film. The young boy, Tyler, is portrayed to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) throughout the film, a fact that the grandfather later exploits for torture purposes. The Grandfather and Grandmother (Nana and PopPop), are revealed to not be the real grandparents of the children; they have killed the biological grandparents and are both actually from a hospital for people with mental health disorders. This film portrays people with disabilities as a harm to others fourteen times. The grandparents start by instilling fear into the kids and then the film devolves into chasing the children around the house and torturing them in numerous ways. The grandparents as escaped mental patients act out in all the ways a “crazy person” in a film would. They display radically bizarre behaviors scratching at walls, torturing with feces, and sitting alone and then laughing uncontrollably and maniacally while staring into a wall. Once the children realize they have been duped, literally by escaped patients from a “Mental Hospital” as the movie refers to it as, the abuse ramps up. Becca and Tyler are chased and nearly killed by these people only to eventually kill them both and escape. There is a particularly bizarre scene where the grandmother admits to drowning her children in a suitcase at the behest of aliens in a pond. This cartoonish portrayal of mental illness and treatment of people with impairments as wildly erratic and homicidal is troubling. The people with disabilities in this film are portrayed in such a silly light, it almost overpowers the narrative that they are dangerous to others and harmful to society. Without question, as it relates to poor representation of people with disability, The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) is the pièce de résistance. This movie seems to pick from trope’s greatest hits. The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) is about people from 42 42 a grief support group, who decide to create a small utopia in the middle of an animal reserve. They live a colonial like existence where none of their children or other members outside of nine elders, know about the modern world. These people have taken an oath to never reveal the secret or make contact with the outside world. This commitment to creating a perfect world requires that they pretend there is a group of monsters that live in the surrounding woods that will kill them if they ever set foot in them. This is quite a commitment to utopia and the only issue they end up facing is a young man with ID. Noah is portrayed as having a childlike innocence and his silliness seems to be infectious and disarming. Multiple times he is referenced as innocent, another trope about people with disabilities only slightly less common than people with disabilities being “childlike.” One day when the head elder’s daughter gets engaged, a woman named Ivy that Noah loves, finds her fiancé and stabs him twice in the stomach. This forces the people to put their secret society at risk by sending someone out in order to get medicines to save him. They choose Ivy who is a person with blindness. She is also seen as innocent and pure of heart, but her goodness supersedes her disability, in fact she has a sixth sense of sorts and can see the good in people and can be led by an intuition. It is said that she can see, but just in a different way than others. This mitigation of her disability and emphasis on her special gifts bring her up to even, and make her not so much a person with a disability, but in this case a person with a special gift that is meant for a very particular purpose. The reason is that Ivy is the only person who can leave the village get medication and return without ever knowing an outside modern world exists. In this way she actually has a gift not a disability. On the opposite end, Noah has been locked away in a room isolated from everyone for stabbing Ivy’s future mate. Noah escapes and steals one of the suits the elders use to scare the people into believing the creatures really exist in the woods. Noah tracks down Ivy and attacks her only to be fended off and killed by Ivy as she believed she was killing a monster and not a Noah. In this case, Noah literally turns into the 43 43 mythical monster, attacks the young woman and is slain with much rejoicing once she returns to tell the story. Noah’s inability to understand danger or realize consequence puts people in danger and risks the foundation of their society. The story implies that he is not meant for this civilization. In Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019), there are examples of people with disabilities causing harm to society and others at a high rate. The story shows “The Beast” and Mr. Glass, kill multiple people, kidnap and torture people and attack the police multiple times. The characters team up at one point to escape and it is clear they cannot be contained. The narrative here seems to be that even when put away, people with disabilities cannot be contained. They are capable of escaping and the damage they can cause is considerable. There is a distinct danger to society when those with disabilities are loose. They are meant to be feared and destined for destruction.

Anti-Inclusion Themes In Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) there are two moments that relate to inclusion. In the first, we see young Elijah afraid to go outside because the kids call him names and because he is afraid to get hurt. His mother bribes him with comics to get him to go outside. Her desire to involve Elijah with the other kids only serves to define his obsession with comics, exacerbate his inability to fit in and is portrayed as a catalyst to his desire to find a place in the world and prove he is not a mistake. His actions later, involving the terror attacks are built on this theme, that Elijah must prove he has a purpose and is not a mistake. Of course the thing that makes him a mistake in the first place is his disability. Later, Elijah is revealed to be the true villain and the reality that his obsession with comics had brought about the deaths of hundreds. He rants at the end of the film claiming it all had just begun, once again displaying the danger of including 44 44

Elijah into society. It seems to be the case that with his disability he is not to be included and when he is, the consequences are deadly.

The overall theme of Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017) seems to be anti-inclusion, creating an anti-inclusion theme around the character with disabilities. Kevin’s therapist is shown having a conversation about a conference where she will unveil her findings, that people with DID can somehow have super powers. She believes if a person truly believes they have a superpower the mind will create a way to make the body transform them. When this ability is given to a person with disabilities, it is dangerous, as the therapist learns later, when she becomes the first victim of “The Beast.” As the police tally up the body count and the young protagonist finds safety, The Beast is seen escaping and preparing for something even bigger. He believes that his transformation into The Beast has made him perfect. The societal attempts to include Kevin, through therapy and into the work environment resulted in death and pain for three different women and the film portrays him as on his way to do much more damage at the end. His inclusion and the attempts to include Kevin in the general population seems to be a huge detriment to society. The Visit (Blum & Shyamalan, 2015) has a particularly interesting theme as it relates to inclusion. The city the kids are visiting and the where their grandparents live has a hospital that specializes in mental health. These hospitals are no doubt important and doing good work across America. However, this story tells a grim tale about inclusion, feeding fears of anyone who may live near or around such a hospital. This is a tried and true trope throughout all of horror, the escaped “mental patient.” The actual biological grandparents volunteer at this hospital, again making the viewer ask, what if they did not. Had they lived in some town miles away, or volunteered at the local VA hospital, then perhaps none of the carnage would have occurred. The criminalization of those in the mental hospital calls back to the Jukes and the Kallikaks is undeniable. The 45 45 anti-inclusion message is clear, having a town share a space with people who have mental health concerns turns out poorly. Shyamalan once again falls into tropes and makes the horror surround those with disabilities, this time the disability is mental illness. Noah’s inclusion into the society is seen in The Village (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2004) as an absolute danger to other’s way of life. If Noah were not included, then Lucious would not have been stabbed leading to the near fall of the society. In addition, Noah dresses as one of the monsters and attacks Ivy, once again, his inclusion is seen as having brought harm and nearly stopped Ivy from saving the life of her betrothed. That is two instances of anti-inclusion themes. Had it not been for the inclusion of Noah, it could be assumed that none of this would have happened. Noah is seen multiple times putting their society at risk by crossing into the woods, and laughing when they are supposed to be quietly hiding from the monsters. He is also responsible for killing rabbits, skinning them and then leaving them out as a warning; presumably he does this to pretend to be the monster. Although the creatures are not real, Noah’s inability to truly understand put their world at risk. The tropes notwithstanding, Shyamalan includes an anti-inclusion theme, this time making the person with ID a monster, assaulting a young woman, attempting to murder a young man and nearly destroying the whole utopia they live in. His ability to harm and inability to understand ultimately was not a fit for their society. In Glass (Blum & Shyamalan, 2019), the movie picks up three weeks after Split (Blum & Shyamalan, 2017) ended. “The Beast” has kidnapped some women to feed on again only to be thwarted by David Dunn. The anti-inclusion story here is complicated because people like Dunn, Elijah Price and Kevin are supposed to be kept from society. In this case, even Dunn is included in the isolation. A doctor captures each of them and puts them in an institution, the same one Elijah went to at the end of Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000). This movie more than the others uses rhetoric to show the danger of inclusion. The Beast says multiple times that, “the broken are the pure.” This 46 46 sentiment is not a terrible one but when it comes from the mouth of a monster, one that feeds on the innocent, it is clear the monster should not be in society. Making this character have a disability only serves to conjure fear of those with disability. The fact that people with disabilities break out of prison and have to be killed by a secret society only further to portrays why inclusion is not a good option.

Further Discussion The Happening (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2008) is an odd movie out of the group, where disability is largely not dealt with in any way. There is the use of the word cripple at the beginning of the film, in reference to a character in a book someone is reading, but this seems rather innocuous in the grand scheme of the film. An interesting theme to consider about the film, is that the movie could be seen through the lens of an environmental model of disability. The movie has people infected by toxins released by plants into the air; this toxin goes quickly to the human brain and makes any person infected, become completely paralyzed and frozen in a catatonic state; shortly after they gain bodily control these people commit suicide. In this film the environment dictates ability. Another distinction for this film is that it has replaced the villainous people with disabilities as the antagonist with the environment. Shyamalan is not afraid to wholesale go in on metaphors and he is also not afraid to be completely obvious. In this case the environment “fights back” because humankind is currently “killing it.” There are three other films that scored low on the “inclusion scale” (harm to others, harm to self, theme of anti-inclusion) used to analyze all twelve films: Wide Awake (Conrad & Shyamalan, 1998), Lady in the Water (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2006), and After Earth (Pinkett & Shyamalan, 2013). Wide Awake (Conrad & Shyamalan, 1998) is a coming of age film about a young boy, Josh, who is grieving over the loss of his grandfather and seeking answers about God and the afterlife. In this film, aside from Josh 47 47 having a best friend who has epilepsy, there is little to no representation of a person with disabilities. There is a scene where Josh is questioning God. He has been told there is a

Bishop at the all-girls school across on the other side of campus who is supposed to “speak to God.” Josh ventures to see him but when he comes face to face with the Bishop in the bathroom, Josh sees he is frail and sickly. The fact is more than enough for Josh to accept prima facie evidence that the Bishop couldn’t possibly be a vessel for God. This sort of idea does seem to find its way into Shyamalan’s films, that frailty and weakness equal untrustworthiness. This may be one of the sources for the distrust he has for people with disabilities in his later films. After Earth (Pinkett & Shyamalan, 2013) also has a unique distinction. The Last Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010) is the only whole film that Shyamalan adapted, however, After Earth (Pinkett & Shyamalan, 2013) is the only other film Shyamalan directed that he did not create the story. This fact can explain the lack of disability representation in this film just like the lack of representation of disability in The Last

Airbender (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2010). The film includes few people with a disability, a wounded soldier and the protagonist's father, Raige. What is interesting about this film is, just like The Happening (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2008), it works as an allegory for the environmental disability model as well. In this film earth has been uninhabitable, with wildly fluctuating temperatures and where animals perfectly evolved to kill humans. Kitai goes on a hero’s journey to get help for him and his father who is trapped in a grounded ship with his leg in traction. Kitai requires all sorts of specialized adaptive equipment in order to traverse this treacherous landscape. The uninhabitable earth renders Kitai with a distinct disability, he is unable to breath. Kitai has a special breathing apparatus that allows him to breath for a certain amount of time, without it he will die. He cannot accomplish his quest without assistive technology. The need for assistive technology in order to manage the environment is an environmental model of disability. 48 48

In Lady in the Water (Mercer & Shyamalan, 2006), Shyamalan gives his main character, Cleveland, a pronounced stutter. His proximity to the magical narf, Story, cures his stutter as long as she is present. Story’s ability to heal Cleveland’s stutter is used in the film as an example of her power to make people around her, the best version of themselves. When Story is in the presence of Vick, he no longer has writers block and is able to write a great book that inspires change and great peace across the world. In a movie otherwise devoid of disability, this stands out because it is an example of the medical model of disability. Story the medicine, she “cures” Cleveland of his stutter. The medical model tends to paint people with disabilities as patients waiting for a cure instead of accepting the humanity of a flaw. The rest of the films deal with disability and have at least one anti-inclusion theme and multiple representations of disability as dangerous to people and society. Of the remaining films, Signs (Marshall & Shyamalan, 2002) has a more positive representation of disability. The young girl, Bo, has a mild case of OCD. The boy in the film, Morgan, has a severe form of asthma that threatens his life. We learn in the film, that there are invading aliens and they are dangerous. A particularly vengeful alien breaks into the family home and sprays poison at one point to attempt to kill Morgan but his asthma actually seizes up his lungs making it impossible for him to inhale the poison. As for Bo, her obsessive behavior with clean water makes for a perfect weapon later when battling the same alien. These characteristics actually lead to good outcomes for the characters and society as they help to defeat the aliens. However, the aliens as villains are once again saddled with a common trope for Shyamalan, they have a disability and are considered weak. These weaknesses come in the form of a physical disability, in this case a viscous allergic reaction for the aliens. Shyamalan often times makes connections between evil and people with disabilities. 49 49

It is also interesting to consider the infatuation with superheroes in American cinema. Marvel comic book heroes are filling movie theatres and they have all sorts of heroes with flaws and villains that are not dealing with disability, yet Shyamalan chooses to create all his villains with distinct disabilities. Magneto (Donner & Singer, 2000), Thanos (Feige, Russo, Russo, 2018) and dozens of other villains show no signs of disability. Yet, all of Shyamalan’s villains do have a disability, unless of course, they are the plants and trees. The vilification of disability and those living with disability is a concerning trend for Shyamalan and seems to have become more prevalent in his most recent films.

Limitations The study was performed by a divorced male that is 44 years of age. He is the father of three children with disabilities, all of whom receive services at school including supportive services, nursing services and other accommodations in school. He also is a Special Education teacher at an adult transition program working with students in an

Orthopedic Impairment classroom and is currently working on his master’s degree in Special Education. All of these factors can lead to a hyper awareness of representation of disability. There were a few adjustments that should be made moving forward. Instead of calculating each individual instance of inclusion themes, it might be better suited to just acknowledge if the theme was or was not present. The number of instances gets very complicated and sometimes two themes may both fit the criteria. A simpler study, only counting the number of instances where there was harm to others by a person with disabilities and recognition of an overall anti-inclusion theme would make the study a bit easier to replicate with another filmmaker. 50 50

Each film in the selected group can give a whole picture of what may be a theme for a particular filmmaker but a more thorough look into a single topic, perhaps a short series like Shyamalan’s Unbreakable (Mendel & Shyamalan, 2000) trilogy would allow for a deeper examination into other themes rather than only counting specific instances. The use of a subgenre might be a better study. If the topic questions were streamlined to only two questions it would make it easier to review a large number of films as opposed to just a dozen.

Future Research This topic is rich and has very little research up and to this point. More conversation can be had if research chose to simply pick other auteurs and filmmakers to do a critical analysis on. Another very rich area to analyze would be different subgenres of horror film. Looking at the Slasher films, ghost and supernatural, revenge movies, monster and creature movies and any others would be a great start. A next step might be to branch out into doing critical analysis on the representation of disability in fantasy movies as well as science fiction. A study on representation in general could be useful as well. A conversation about the lack of people with disabilities represented in films in general could be had, as well as how they are portrayed. A number of research articles were done regarding either specific films or a whole overview of representation (Hall, 2016), but almost none were written on an entire genre. It would be useful to expand on the inclusion test presented in this paper and create a Bechdel type test for disability. A Bechdel test is an easy test about the representation of women in film (Rughiniş, Rughiniş, & Humă, 2016). If a film has two or more women in it and the two women talk about something other than a man, then the film passes the Bechdel Test. A Bechdel test for disability might have one or more characters that have a disability and that person does not cause harm to others or society, you could pass this 51 51

“Bechdel type disability test.” If there was a simple and easy tool like the Bechdel test, that could be held up next to a movie, it would do a lot to expand the conversation and begin to make changes in societal thinking about people with disabilities and disability in general. Perhaps there is a great need for this conversation to continue in regular life and with people all over the world, making disability a center of conversation and expanding the public's ability to think about disability in all sorts of ways. The main goal in a project like this is to begin a discussion about disability. Disability is important because too few people with disabilities are in a position to exact change or advocate for themselves. The person with disability is not defined by their disability and they should not be reduced to a caricature. Disability needs to begin to be seen as just a variation of what it means to be human, not defined as a flaw. For too long people with disabilities have been viewed as broken or partial versions of whole people. There cannot be advancement for people with disabilities before we view disability as just a different type of ability and not as people that are lacking for ability.

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