The Freak Show

Over the past few centuries, individuals with any form of disability or physical anomaly were considered freaks, and completely ostracized in society. Many of these individuals found themselves in circuses and freak shows, where their “abnormalities” were on display for the entertainment of the “normal” people. In early American films, these abnormalities and disabilities were attributed to the antagonists and monstrous characters in the film. For example, as discussed in AOF, in the film Son of Frankenstein (1939), Ygor is the hunchbacked assistant to the mad doctor, and considered “evil because of his deformity as well as his close relationship to the Monster,” (AOF, p. 365). Even in more recent films, particularly the horror and slasher films that were popularized in the 1980s feature monstrous, physically deformed characters that go on revengeful killing rampages against the able-bodied characters that have wronged them.

In more recent times, there has been an increase in Hollywood films that focus on characters with disabilities in a more positive light. For example, Forrest Gump was a highly-acclaimed, Oscar winning film about a man (played by Tom Hanks) with an intellectual disability. Another successful film was Rain Man, about a man with Autism, which won four Oscars. These films took a step in the right direction by displaying characters with disabilities as normal people and not as “others” and freaks. Even though both of these characters are played by actors without actual disabilities, we are starting to see actors with disabilities and physical abnormalities in front of the camera as well. However, the storyline of these films are often specifically focused on the disability or abnormality or the character, which causes the actors identity to be once again defined by their disability.

However, there seems to be growing awareness surrounding disability and physical and mental abnormalities. Television shows like Little People, Big World and MTV’s True Life: I’m a Little Person, give viewers a chance to see that people with disabilities are just as normal as the rest of us. I think we will slowly start to see films with actors with disabilities, along with characters with disabilities, where the focus is on something other than their disability or physical abnormality. For example, as mentioned in AOF, The Bone Collector is a film starring Denzel Washington who plays a quadriplegic forensics expert. Although his disability is a component of his characters role, the film is not explicitly about his disability. I believe that with time will come more awareness and less ignorance, as we recognize individuals for who they are and not disregard those individuals from society for their differences.