May 10 2025

Media Film Analysis – Disability Ethics

I viewed 10 hours of film through a disability lens and a caregiver lens for my Disability Ethics class. For context, I have a disability and am a parent to kids with disabilities. I’ve decided to rate the films on a scale of 1 to 5 according to how they portray disability and caregiving. Low ratings indicate the use of tropes and stereotypes, with higher ratings indicating realistic portrayals.

Code of the Freaks (2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Code of the Freaks is a documentary about the portrayal and representation of disabled people in film. I wish I had watched this first as it would have set the tone for watching the other films. It is a radical framing of the portrayal of people with disabilities (hereafter PWD) in films. The documentary contains discussions about and analyzing specific films with a PWD character through a disability lens, with all commentators being in the industry and having a disability. I cannot stress how good and valuable this documentary is at shedding light on this topic. The content that follows is pulled from the commentary by the contributors. *A list of the films discussed or mentioned are published at the end of this paper.

The first film, and the most important, that the contributors discussed is Freaks (1932). The PWD in this film are met on their own terms. They all agree that this is one of the best movies about the PWD community; the disabled people have each other’s backs. It continues to hold the record for a movie with the most real disabled people in it, specifically people with congenital deformities. The villains are the non-disabled. You wanna be the freaks when watching this film.

There are a lot of stereotypes in movies regarding PWD. Many of the films get adapted from inspirational books. It doesn’t matter what happens in the movie, no matter the ending, it’s all inspiration. There are certain tropes and stereotypes that remain. If we see the disfigured villain (PWD) show up over and over, then we begin to think that evil doers must be ugly, disfigured PWD, and this is pushed forward. Creators become lazy. Inspirational narratives are offensive – humor has a better chance of being authentic.

Tropes:
Intellectually disabled = out of control
Mental disability = mindset of child, loses self control, kills people and then gets killed Autistic = meant to be in an institution
Kill or institutionalize the PWD

Still work to do in these areas that are not portrayed: Self-determination
Advocacy
Living in the community

The cure trope lets the audience off the hook, discarding assistive devices, becomes a miracle! Nowadays, a cure has morphed into not calling it a cure. When an actor wins an academy award for their roles as a PWD, this simulates that they are magically cured.

Radio (2003): Has the common trope of the views of the non-disabled being turned to the positive and they are inspired to be a better person.
The Soloist (2009): Main character becomes a more sensitive white guy because he’s engaged with Nathaniel (black PWD) as a human being.

The Hellen Keller movie (black and white version) is embellished, gives a lot of credit to the teacher, Anne Sullivan. Helen Keller succeeded because she was intelligent and brilliant. Not only because of the teacher. Actress who played Anne Sullivan is not even using ASL, it’s gibberish. Representational issues never occurred to the writer (of this movie).

The Elephant Man (1980): Couched in the medical establishment – voyeurism, looking for a thrill or looking out of curiosity.

There’s Something About Mary (1988): This film does an okay job. It doesn’t dehumanize PWD. The Wizard of Oz 1939: It seems Hollywood is always wanting to show little people as magical. The Green Mile 1999 and Daredevil 2003: Disability brings with it a magical quality – mysticism However, blind characters who want to feel your face are completely unrealistic.

Blind (2017): Notable as there is a double face feel.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): Gives a flaw by way of a disability to lessen the power of the black male character.

Fences (2016) : Disappointing as it had the same narrative as usual about the character with disabilities.

One commentator talks about the microaggression of telling people in a wheelchair that they are inspirational. She dislikes it. People watch these movies and then think they know about disability, for example, Rainman or Million Dollar Baby. This is dangerous. Typically there is only ONE character in a movie that has a disability. The helper model is tired and old.

There’s a kind of loving hyper fixation that has to do with the pornography and difference. We want to see because we are told to be fascinated and repelled, always an eroticism. PWD are usually depicted as having no sexuality, but when gender is added for women, it makes them more sexually attractive because it embodies feminine passivity and vulnerability. It’s usually a person with a disability having sex with a non-disabled person. It’s hard for viewers to imagine PWD as either consenting or adults.

The Sessions (2012): About PWD losing his virginity, written and directed by a disabled person, but still stays along the lines of a traditional disability narrative. In the story this is based from, there is no love story. To make the sex more palpable it had to be wrapped in a story of love. The message is that having sex with a disabled person is on some level an act of charity. We really don’t see sexuality for disabled people in films.

Coming Home (1978): The sex scene is very authentic, but still has the old trope of what can be felt and what can’t be felt (PWD in a wheelchair). There is a need for real vulnerability on both sides and to explore that.

Blind women are super eroticized. With blind men you get the trope of the blind guy having a superpower – the men can reclaim masculinity that disability has taken away (presumably). Blind males in movies will drive cars as that’s the limit of the imagination as to what freedom could be for them (by the writers). Black disabled (blind) men are disempowered, less threatening.

Radio: Insidious message is that he always has to be monitored and has to be protected from his own behaviors, because he’s black, because he doesn’t understand he’s at risk because of racism. Black PWD aren’t meant to advance, they are meant to stay in their innocent, happy states forever.

Me Before You: Pity inspiration. PWD kills himself and leaves his fortune to the love interest so she can go live her life free of him.

Gattaca (1997): A kill and a cure in the same movie, same kill scene in Elephant Man, when the PWD serves the purpose of making the change in the nondisabled guy, they are done away with.

Million Dollar Baby – The ending is changed. It is based on a true story. The real life person did not want to be killed, and was still alive at the time of this documentary. It is the most appalling movie briefly starring a disabled character. This type of story should be shattered and not validated.

What’s it mean to have a happy ending in these films according to these commentators? Being killed, being cured, institutionalizing. I see their point.

Progress has been made, but Hollywood has spent far too much time pretending that PWD are not real. There is a need for more PWD advocating for this and in the industry. Movies have the power to shape how society sees people with disabilities.

Brain on Fire (2016) ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

The Brain on Fire film is based on a true story and it shines a spotlight on an extremely rare condition called anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis. The main character is the 217th person diagnosed with it. Disability plays a central role, with a romantic relationship, and work ethic being a part of the plot also. The main character, Susannah, is portrayed as slowly being unable to participate in daily life.

Susannah is a bright, 20 something newbie journalist with the New York Post. Just when she begins to receive more responsibilities with her journalism, she begins experiencing strange symptoms: what appear to be absence seizures, hearing voices, imagining a skin rash, hoarse coughing, numbness on one side of her body, and losing track of time. After visiting the doctor and having an MRI, she is given the all clear.

Susannah has a seizure, is taken to the hospital, and goes to stay with her mom after being discharged. While there she has another seizure. She’s in the hospital again and has a visit with the same doctor who gave the all clear the time before. (This is actually maddening and triggering). They have done an excellent job at portraying how doctors blow off symptoms, especially with women. (Oh my holy hell). She begins to exhibit really high highs, and really low lows. Now the psychiatrist is telling her there’s nothing wrong, and that it’s just work and all that she has going on. (Perhaps this movie should have a trigger warning).

This movie does a very good job at showing the strong advocacy and determination of parents to not accept a bullshit diagnosis. Yet, ultimately unrealistic on finding a doctor who finally figured out what was happening. Susannah was one of the lucky ones. Lucky that she and her parents are white, not poor, and have insurance. Just imagine how many poor marginalized people die from this condition, misdiagnosed as having a psychiatric condition. She was also lucky that she had two parents who were active and present in her life. Not everyone has that.

This film is incredibly informative, as I learned something about autoimmune disorders and how difficult they are to diagnose and treat. I think the film did okay at portraying the disability accurately, other than the barriers I mentioned in the previous paragraph. If this had happened in the middle ages, Susannah would have been labeled an idiot and thrown into an idiot cage to entertain the townspeople. This film had the trope of a happy ending, by way of a “cure” (being diagnosed and recovering with medication), classism, and white privilege.

Can You See Us? (2022) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

Can You See Us is based on a true story about how albinism is viewed in Africa. When the child is born the father rejects the child and the mother as he doesn’t think the child is his because he appears to be white. Mom and baby are also rejected by the mother-in-law. This film illustrates an incredibly difficult situation having to do with the culture portrayed in the movie. It’s so damn heartbreaking. The husband kicked her out when she came home from the hospital with the baby. He pushed her into a taxi along with the baby and said he didn’t care where she went. Taxi driver takes her in as she has nowhere to go and he raises the child as his own. To keep her son safe from society, the mom homeschools him. He can’t go outside to play with the other kids, and doesn’t understand why. Mom tells him he’s ill, but doesn’t tell him the truth about himself.

He sneaks out to play with other kids who tease him, and push him down, hurting him. The film carries a very solid message that no one is born to hate, but they are taught to hate by parents. Mom is overprotective of him. But she finally lets him attend school. Kids make fun of him, and are mean to him, but he makes a friend.

“What people don’t understand they fear, what they fear, they seek to destroy.” This is a quote used several times throughout the movie. A neighbor musician teaches the boy how to play the guitar, and also teaches him to value himself, and to know that he is worthy.

In this culture, some call albinos, Diamonds. Hurting an albino, cutting off a piece of them (a body part), earns them money. Mom and step-dad die, and PWD has to go live with his real dad, who doesn’t know him, and he doesn’t know his dad. Step-mom and dad are horrible to him, they are abusive. The roles the PWD had are an object of curiosity, laughable, and as a burden.

I don’t think this film teaches about albinism as it wasn’t portrayed accurately. The actor does not have albinism and went outside without eye protection. His eyes are pigmented also.

However, it did teach about how albinism is viewed by that culture, a belief that many still hold, and about hate and discrimination. But thanks to the real person (with PWD) this movie is about, those beliefs are beginning to change. This film has the trope of having an inspirational happy ending, but it feels truer to life. It also has the trope of the “bad” father eventually being turned by his son, into a father who is proud of his son.

Fundamentals of Caring (2016) ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

In Fundamentals of Caring, a dad, Ben, whose child died and is in the middle of a divorce gets trained as a caregiver. He learns the *ALOHA method (a real method) for working with disabled people. He takes a job caring for a teenager, Trevor, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (hereafter DMD). He talks Trevor into going on a road trip to experience and see some of the things on his bucket list. Trevor opens up and allows himself to try new things. This is a feel good movie that covered the topic of DMD as well as could be in an hour and a half film. There are two main themes, the expansion of Trevor, and the healing of Ben.

The disability plays a central role as the main character has DMD. I feel Trevor falls into his own worst enemy category as the film is about him moving out of this categorization. The actor who plays the disabled character is not disabled. We learn that DMD is rare, affecting about 1 in 3,500 males. Other characters always asked “What’s wrong with you/him?” I think this was a missed opportunity for the movie to touch on why this isn’t the way to approach PWD.

This film did a pretty good job at pointing out some challenges and barriers to being in a wheelchair as they touch on difficulties with access. It also touched on the panic of not having the necessary meds and equipment when traveling (even though Ben was joking with Trevor). Isolation was another topic that the film touched. Trevor has led an isolated life with very rigid routines. This could be eye opening for anyone who hasn’t experienced being around someone like this.

The film had the trope of a non-disabled character being inspired and changed by the disabled character. They may have tried to balance this by having the disabled character be inspired by the non-disabled character. The disabled character gets a crush on a non-disabled character and she has a crush on him. This is another trope. They could have moved away from this by having the crush be on a disabled character.

*ALOHA Method Ask
Listen
Observe
Help
Ask Again

Lucca’s World (2025) ⭐ 1 Star

Lucca’s World is based on a true story. The dad has a prosthetic leg, so the actor is disabled in real life. He is a peripheral presence. Mom has a difficult birth and the infant is in ICU, in an induced coma. There’s a lack of oxygen at birth and scarring on the brain. There’s also a younger brother. Their afternoons are spent going from one therapy to another, physical therapy, magnet therapy, swim therapy. Mom is Barbara. Lucca is the child (with PWD) and has pediatric cerebral palsy (CP) and epileptic seizures. Mom wants to try a new treatment that stimulates the damaged brain cells so new cells can be created – Cytotrons. The film covers the financial stress of mounting medical bills and credit card bills, and tension between parents about money and untested treatments.

The actor is not disabled. This film is absolutely horrible. It portrays children with CP as needing to be fixed. The music is absolutely cringe, sad and dramatic. They have also gone over the top with the determination and positivity of the mom, and fawning over Lucca. Mom loses her job due to being distracted and missing so much time, dad has been out of work for over a year. Horrible platitudes, like enjoy the process, stop and take in the view. (Gross)! It also offers false hope for parents in regard to Cytotrons. The final song actually has these words, “I will try to fix you”. It’s just disgusting. Lucca was portrayed as being unable to participate in daily life, from the medical model of needing to be fixed. This movie has the trope of sappy inspiration, embellished with a happy ending of PWD being cured. It is completely unrealistic.

Ray (2004) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

Ray is a true story based on the life of Ray Charles. He had his sight as a young boy, but lost it around 12 years old due to a medical condition. He began losing eyesight after younger sibling died. His mom taught him how to memorize where things are, and how to use his hands to feel for doorways. Ray learned to play the piano while sighted.

The film begins in 1948 in Florida as it follows Ray by bus to Seattle for a gig. He’s offered a gig, but also gets taken advantage of. They call him “green” (inexperienced) so they take advantage of that. He breaks free from those folks, and gets with a new band. He tells them he needs to be paid in singles. I had not even thought about paper money. There’s no way to tell the difference in the bills. Band members don’t include him in socializing, saying they don’t want to babysit him. They are mean to him at times. He appears to have trauma related to water, imagining water and a body at times as he saw his younger sibling drown. He didn’t know he was drowning, and then he froze. He gets introduced to drugs by a band member – heroin, maybe.

He eventually leaves the band as the money guy tries to stiff him and says he’s not running around and finding singles for him. Atlantic Records tracks him down and gives him pointers on having his own unique vibe. Eventually Ray gets addicted to heroin.

He had to deal with Jim Crow laws down south. Ray decided he would not play there because black folks couldn’t be in the audience and on the dance floor due to segregation. He broke contracts, refusing to play. He made history being the first black entertainer to refuse to play in Georgia. He gets arrested for being in possession of heroin. It’s a huge scandal.

He had a strong mom. Once he went blind, she was not a helicopter mom, she stood back and (closely) let him figure out how to use his other senses. By way of one of Ray’s kids asking how he knows the colors of his socks, we see that he has numbers sewn into the sock. He feels the number and knows the color, 1 = Black, etc.

On the verge of losing his career, his music, his family, he enters rehab. He goes completely off of heroin, with excruciating withdrawal symptoms. Once he made it through, he never touched heroin again. He contributed $20 million to African-American colleges and charities for the blind and deaf.

The movie has a peripheral actor with dwarfism, who helps Ray. Ray is portrayed as his own worst enemy. We also get exposure to the intersection of racism and classism with the disability. The actor who plays Ray is not blind. Not knowing how much is fabricated for the narrative, I feel this film did a pretty good job.

Blood Orange Lipstick is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

*Films mentioned in Code of the Freaks:

A Patch of Blue 1965

Avatar 2009

Basket Case 1982

Basket case 2 – 1990

Born on the Fourth of July 1989

Blind 2017

Blind Fury 1989

Blink 1993

Charly 1968

Children of a Lesser God 1986

Coming Home 1978

Crash 1996

Daredevil 2003

Dark Knight 2008

Dr. No 1962

Dr. Strangelove 1964

Fences 2016

Forrest Gump 1994

Frankenstein and Dracula 1931

Gattaca 1997

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 2001

Heidi 1937

Hook 1991

Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939

Jennifer Eight 1992

Johnny Belinda 1948

King Kong 1933

Magoo’s Puddle Jumper 1956

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 1994

Me Before You 2016

Men of Honor 2000

Million Dollar Baby 2004

Monkey Shines 1988

My Left Foot 1989

Mystery of the Wax Museum 1933

Nosferatu 1922

Of Mice and Men 1992

Phantom of the Opera 1925

Radio 2003

Secret Garden 1993

Sling Blade 1996

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937

Soul Surfer 2000

Split 2016

Stuck on You 2003

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1924

The Elephant Man 1980

The Green Mile 1999

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1968

The Man Who Laughs 1928

The Mummy 1932

The Mummy 1959

The Old Dark House 1932

The Penalty 1920

The Sessions 2012

The Shape of Water 2017

The Shining 1980

The Soloist 2009

The Spy Who Shagged Me 1999

The Terror of Tiny Town 1938

The Wizard of Oz 1939

There’s Something About Mary 1988

To Kill a Mockingbird 1962

Unbreakable 2000

Wait Until Dark 1967

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane 1962

Wild West 1999

Wolf Man 1941

Wonder Woman 2017

Resources – Movies

Code of the Freaks (2020) Brain on Fire (2016)

Can You See Us? (2022) Fundamentals of Caring (2016) Lucca’s World (2025)

Ray (2004)