Authenticity of Movie Characters with Handicaps

This image is a prime example of Dr. Shaun Murphy's savant condition in action, allowing him to vizualize the sitiation and then come up with a solution or treatment by "testing" it in his active mind. Standing near him is Dr. Aaron Glassman who serves as his superior and one of his mentors throughout the show. “The Good Doctor” is a show about Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital -- a move strongly supported by his mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman. Having survived a troubled childhood, Shaun is alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, but he finds his niche using his extraordinary medical skill and intuition to save lives and challenge the scepticism of his colleagues. – According to Rotten Tomatoes Dr. Shaun Murphy is played by actor Freddie Highmore. For those who recognize the name, one of the ...

Amara in action supporting Noah as he faces another challenging day in middle school. She serves as a positive example of what it is like to live with a similar condition to that of her character in the show. “The Healing Powers of Dude” is an eight episode show that is a Netflix Original who focuses on Noah who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. Through the support of his emotional support dog Dude combined with his friends Amara and Simon he works through numerous issues in the show as he adjusts from homeschool to middle school life. While the portrayal of the accuracy of social anxiety disorder could be interesting for this show, I am going to focus on Amara who is wheelchair bound. Sophie’s role and acting in the show is extraordinary and represents a shift in perspective of working with actors with disabilities and displaying characters with disabilities on screen. Sophie was born with a disability that resulted in her being wheelchair-bound from the age of four, and whi...

The film Music by Sia features a character named Music who is a young, non-verbal woman with Autism. Music played by actor Maddie Ziegler does not live with the disability of non-verbal autism in real life.  Similar to the situation presented in Atypical there is an element of this invisibility disability that makes it hard for actors with this disability to take on this role. It is challenging to work with individuals with Autism in any sort of workspace, but acting requires a special set of skills. This does mean that individuals with Autism cannot be actors, but it is hard for them to work within the schedule set by directors for the making of the show because they need more breaks and time to complete the tasks required by actors. Beyond the question of the capability of actors to perform, viewers are longing for authenticity of characters with Autism on screen. The major critics of the film “Music by Sia”, claim that Mu...

Blog 4: School shooting as Degrassi leaves Jimmy wheelchair bound Degrassi is a show about Jimmy, a high school student who loves to play basketball. Unfortunately, he got injured at school during a school shooting and is now a paraplegic. While he was down at first, after careful reflection he finds a way to do what he loves, play basketball despite being wheelchair-bound (source). The character, Jimmy Brooks, played by Drake Graham, is left paraplegic and wheelchair-bound after a school shooting. After leaving the TV show, Degrassi, Actor Aubrey Drake Graham became a rapper commonly known as Drake. He is not a wheelchair user in his daily affairs and the pressure of being wheelchair bound through his character Jimmy pushed him over the edge. Drake did not enjoy playing Jimmy and after two seasons of playing this wheelchair-bound character, Drake left the show to be a rapper. The Huffpost article explains how Drake had given the directing team some warning demanding that they h...

  Atypical is a show about how Sam, who is on the Autism Spectrum, navigates high school, college, dating, and relationships, and viewers witness his unique perspective on the world. The character in this show in question is Sam Gardner who is on the Autism Spectrum. His fascination includes the South Pole, Antarctica, and Penguins. This character is played by actor Keir Gilchrist. Actor Keir Gilchrist is neurotypical, not on the autism spectrum.  Actor Keir Gilchrist did a fair job playing the character Sam Gardner in the show Atypical. A role that did not come easy to him because he is not on the Autism Spectrum. There was significant and important preparation that Keir took on to successfully complete the role. As soon as he learned he was casted for the role he began reading “The Journal of Best Practices – a seminal book on Asperger Syndrome” ( source ). This journal is mentioned in the show as something the parents of Sam read to get an understanding into his mind set. H...

  Prior to beginning the exploration into connection between the character and Gary Sinie’s experience using wheelchairs, please take a moment to review the movie trailer . This helps viewers who have not seen the film get a sense of it and viewers who have seen the movie remember it. It would be particularly helpful to pay attention to the connection between Dan Tayor and the characters he interacts with throughout the trailer.  Upon review of the trailer, one notices that there are only three brief moments of Dan Taylor with Forrest Gump. These moments are quick and busy as Forrest Gump pulls Dan Tayor out of the explosion site and carefully moves him out of the way. In one of the brief moments at 3:29 Forrest Gump is holding and comforting Dan Taylor as helicopters come to rescue the two of them. Unfortunately the major failure of the trailer is that it does not show the lieutenant legless and wheelchair bound. This is a disservice to the movie because it does not show its ...

The goal and plot of the show: “McKinley High School, in Lima, Ohio, is forever changed when Spanish teacher Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) revives the school's show choir. As Will begins to recruit members for his dancing and singing Glee Club, he realises that his ragtag group of high school outcasts could become a sensation. The students who take a chance on Glee Club soon become life-long friends as they battle school humiliation, heartbreak, loneliness, and bullying. When Glee Club proves to be very good and talented, the school's cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch),takes it upon herself to destroy the club and everyone involved with it. As Glee Club is thrown numerous challenges by the high school popular kids, rivalling show choirs, and Sue, Will won't give up on the budding student stars. Will faces phenomenal stress levels as he deals with one of his students, Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), being mercilessly bullied, trying to meet the diva that is Rache...

Individuals with disabilities are successful individuals who deserve a fair chance at being considered for roles on screen. Actors are often assigned to play roles that do not align with their reality as an individual. The boundaries concerning the cultural identities actors can assume to embody characters in films or TV shows are unclear. Throughout cinematic history, actors have frequently crossed cultural boundaries in portraying characters due to the ambiguity of these delineations. At one time individuals in the acting and directing community felt it was acceptable to have actors play characters of different races than the actor. For example, it was once thought and felt that it was acceptable for a White actor to play a Black or Latina character, which was done by adding layers of makeup to make that appearance. After films and TV shows were released with actors taking on a different racial identity for the sake of the character, it was decided that this was a boundary that shoul...