Event Title
Fear of Independence Stereotypes of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Film
Location
CSU 204
Start Date
21-4-2008 10:00 AM
End Date
21-4-2008 12:00 PM
Student's Major
Gender and Women's Studies
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Cheryl Radeloff
Mentor's Department
Gender and Women's Studies
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
Society has traditionally placed stigma on people with disabilities. This stigma is reinforced from the media. Portrayals of people with disabilities, whether serious depictions or as comic relief, convey societal fear about people with disabilities being independent people. Through a visual/audio content analysis of five feature films (I Am Sam, Radio, The Other Sister, Sling Blade, and The Waterboy) from the last ten years, this research showed how media perpetuates stigma on people with intellectual disabilities and how this stigma is shaped by characters' gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and social class.
Fear of Independence Stereotypes of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Film
CSU 204
Society has traditionally placed stigma on people with disabilities. This stigma is reinforced from the media. Portrayals of people with disabilities, whether serious depictions or as comic relief, convey societal fear about people with disabilities being independent people. Through a visual/audio content analysis of five feature films (I Am Sam, Radio, The Other Sister, Sling Blade, and The Waterboy) from the last ten years, this research showed how media perpetuates stigma on people with intellectual disabilities and how this stigma is shaped by characters' gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and social class.
Recommended Citation
Wilcox, Amanda. "Fear of Independence Stereotypes of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Film." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 21, 2008.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2008/oral-session-05/7
