Disability Theory

PSYCHOANALYSIS (FREUD) AND DISABILITY

EVANS (1998), drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysis, states:

“Disable people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries."

"During the socio-developmental process of infancy, a range of strict rules of decorum involving standards of privacy, decency and dignity effect a representation of these activities as taboo…therefore images of disability which cause unpleasure to the self simply be representing that expelling as already complete. We become literally alienated from (and cannot identify with) the object/person we observe.”

 

 

 

 

How is disability represented in the extract?

After looking at the work of Freud, in 1998 Evans stated that “Disable people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries." The extract I have studies both conforms to and breaks this theory.

The extract starts with a full shot of the three characters that are featured in the scene and then the camera tilts down to out the disabled character into full view. This conforms to Evans’ theory because it shows disabled people as underdeveloped and imperfect. This is furthered when the camera tilts back up to look at the man standing behind the wheelchair which makes the audience think that this character is more important, which is not necessarily the case. From the off it is made clear that the young man is disabled by the use of a wheelchair used to aid him. The feature of mise-en-scene makes it clear for the audience to identify which character is disabled  which follows on from before with the character being made to look childish, dependant and underdeveloped, as stated in Evans’ theory, as well as the fact that he is with his dad when it becomes clear why they’re at this woman’s apartment. It is clear from the start that the extract uses continuity editing to make the shots change smoothly, abiding to the 180 degree rule, which makes the audience feel comfortable watching the scene. This breaks the theory by making all of the characters seem equal.  The sound at this point is just the door opening and the dialogue which opposes the theory by making everything seem normal, something or which disabled people are said to not be.

The dialogue in the next part furthers the audience’s view on the female as seeing Blake as an equal, although it is shown physically that he is disabled. Something that happens a lot through the dialogue is the use of high and low camera angles where the camera looks up to look at the two able bodied and down to look at Blake. This conforms to Evans’ theory because it is condescending to Blake, showing him as childish and underdeveloped. This is furthered when the female asks for the “formalities” and Blake asks his dad to get the envelope out of his bag. This up tilt to the man makes him look superior to Blake and this makes Blake look childish and dependant. The woman then says “Make yourself comfortable” which could be seen as talking down to Blake, treating him like a child, however I think it is her treating him like an equal, as something she would say to all of her clients, which opposes the theory. When she leaves the room, Blake rolls over to the step, where he asks his dad for help to get up the steps. This conforms to Evans’ theory by showing that Blake is dependent on him for mobility, for example when going up steps which he can’t roll up in his wheel chair. Then, his dad goes over and carries him onto a bed, which furthers this childish, dependant nature that he is stuck with and also clarifies the reason for their visit. Once in the bedroom, the dialogue continues with Blake and his father, where Blake asks his dad to undo his dungarees a bit so it is clear that they are not wearing the same t-shirt. This makes Blake seems childish, like the theory states, because it shows him not wanting to look too much like his father, which is something a lot of young people don’t want to do. From a long a shot you can see that the woman is looking at them from around the corner, showing her as uncomfortable which follows Evans’ theory because it make Blake appear like an ‘other’ as Evans stated. We then have an eye line match as we see the males from her perspective before she enters the room and we see her talk to the men. To say goodbye to Blake, his father kisses him on the forehead, which we see from a medium lose shot, which follows Evans’ theory by showing Blake as childish. Then Blake’s dad goes to leave and we see a medium shot of the female shutting and going to lock the door due to an obvious discomfort, before deciding not to lock the door. This could be an action code for something that will happen later in the episode. The camera doesn’t move around, it jumps from location to location around the apartment and this jump cutting makes the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable which could be used to express the representation of disabled people as ‘other’ as said by Evans. Once they are both in the bedroom, she offers to get Blake a drink, and most the action form this room is now seen from a fixed camera (handheld?), showing the action in a medium shot of the two characters and abiding by the 180 degree rule entirely.

Then the clip uses parallel editing to follow what is happening in the bedroom and also with Blake’s dad after his return to their vehicle. The scene at the van begins with a low angle eye line match looking up at the apartment where Blake and the female are, indicating that they are of higher status than Blake’s father at this point, and then uses jump cuts to show a passing of time as different things happen in the vehicle such as the window going up and down, the radio being turned on and the horn being pressed accidentally. Furthermore, in terms of sound you hear some diegetic noise consisting of classical music when the radio is turned on, the window going up and down and the horn being pressed. This shows the viewer that people who are able-bodied are no better than people who are not; they are all equal, due to the childish behaviour that the man is carrying out.

When the narrative goes back up to the apartment, the camera is still abiding by the 180 degree rule and stays in the same area for the remainder of the clip. From here, non-diegetic music is played until the end of the extract with some dialogue over it. This dialogue includes discussion of Blake not being used to being touched other than for help with moving. This demonstrates Evans’ theory by implying that Blake is excluded from ordinary life because of his disability. Then, in terms of mise en scene, the female takes Blake’s t-shirt off, as shown with a series of perspective changes, a low angle looking up at the female (making her look more important than Blake due to her being the one to take his shirt off due to him being unable to) and a pan and tilt from the camera back to its original position, and it becomes clearer that Blake’s disability is a result of his spinal structure due to the appearance of his body. This follows Evans’ theory because it shows him as imperfect and underdeveloped.

In conclusion, in the extract some parts of Evans’ disability theory is proven to apply to the representation of disabled people in tv dramas, however, most of it isn’t relevant to this extract, for example disabled people being “helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries.”