Hello, readers. This is Brittany Clayton writing. Almost two weeks ago now while I was scrolling through my twitter, I found a tweet from a friend of mine. He talked about a show that he was hosting on a channel called AMI, (Accessibl Media Incorporated.) This show was called Blind Sighted and it peeked my interest. I decided to watch an episode just to see what it was like. While I was watching Blind Sighted, an ad came on for a program that would be airing later that night called 鈥淎MI This Wee.鈥�
I decided to check that program out as well. During the episode, the reporters were asked about the way they viewed the portrayal of people with disabilities in literature and the media. Immediately, two examples of literature came to mind. The first is Theodore Taylor鈥檚 鈥淭he Cay鈥�, which was written in 1969. In this novel, the main character, 鈥� Phillip Entire 鈥� is blinded when his ship is torpedoed on the way to Virginia. When he is blinded, Phillip automatically assumes that he is now helpless and cannot do anything. **Spoiler alert: at the end of the book, he gets his sight back.**
The second book that came to mind was Josh Birk鈥檚 鈥淭he Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.鈥� In this book, the main character, 鈥� Will Halpin 鈥� is deaf, but he rejects his deaf identity by transferring from a school for the deaf to the mainstream high school system. There are a lot of instances of humour in this book, especially around Halpin鈥檚 deafness. In sharp contrast to Taylor鈥檚 鈥淭he Cay鈥�, the disability is not being viewed negatively. In 鈥淭he Cay鈥�, the main character becomes disabled and assumes that he is helpless. However, in 鈥淭he Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin鈥�, the main character prevails even with his disability and is able to solve a crime. Birk鈥檚 鈥淭he Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin鈥� is evidently much more modern than 鈥淭he Cay鈥� because there are multiple references to the Halpin family watching television with closed captioning.
It is also very evident to me that there has been a change in the way characters with disabilities are portrayed in literature. I like the way that Will Halpin was portrayed in 鈥淭he Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.鈥�
The reporters on 鈥淎MI This Week鈥� also felt that there was a change for the better in the way that people with disabilities are being portrayed. One thing that peeked my interest, though, was that near the end of the program, the reporters were saying that they would like to see disabled actors playing characters who were able-bodied. There are some interesting modern-day examples of characters with disabilities being played by able-bodied actors. One such example is 鈥淭he Good Doctor鈥濃�榮 Shawn Murphy, the leading man, who also has autism. Another example of this is Glee鈥檚 Lauren Potter, who played Becky Jackson, 鈥� the character with Down鈥檚 syndrome.
While I agree with the reporters on 鈥淎MI This Week鈥�, I believe that in order to achieve that, a lot of careful research and casting would have to be done. If, for instance, the producers of a show cast an actor who was blind to play the part of a character who needed to drive a car, this would not be ideal. It would also not be ideal if an actor who was usually in a wheelchair was cast as the star football player who had to run around all over the place. In order to avoid those situations, a lot of careful research and casting would need to be done.
Did that entry about 鈥淎MI This Week鈥� peek your interest? If you want to watch AMI, here鈥檚 how you can access it: AMI is channel 888 for those who use rogers. When trying to access AMI, ignite tv is ideal as pressing 鈥�888鈥� takes you to the aquarium channel. For those who may have an Ignite TV, simply say 鈥淎MI鈥� while holding down the button that enables voice commands and it should take you directly there. I hope you have enjoyed reading this entry.