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.

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Apr 21st, 10:00 AM Apr 21st, 12:00 PM

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