The Staged Stigma of Disability

Hello and welcome back to the Staged Stigma of Disability. Today I want to write about something a little different. With the current state of everything going on in the world, and with theatres having to close their doors for the time being, many people are stuck in quarantine craving the live entertainment and shows they would have seen prior to the pandemic. Theatres are looking for ways to change that though, through use of recorded productions and also livestreaming capabilities. Livestreaming and also recorded performances can help people with disabilities as well enjoy the theatre they love so much, with options such as closed captioning so people who are deaf can understand what the actors are saying. I thought I would take this opportunity to give a shout out to those theatre companies and websites that are helping theatre lovers get their fix during this unpredictable time in our history. On April 2, London's National Theatre launched for the first time " N

This past Sunday was one of my favorite days of the entire year, the Oscars! The one night of the year when actors, directors, producers, and everyone involved in the film making process come together and celebrate their achievements of the last year. Some of the awards went as expected (I went 4/4 in predicting the acting categories, and 20/24 overall, but who's counting), while others were quite a surprise (no spoilers if you have not watched yet, but I guessed Best Director and Best Picture incorrectly.) However the highlights of the night for me were not who was winning what or who was wearing what outfit by x designer, it was the Academy's embrace of representation for those with disabilities! Yes, you heard that right, in an industry where only recently real representation has been on a topic on everyone's mind, and during an evening where actors with disabilities were overlooked entirely in the nominations, there were two distinct moments of representatio

Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome to my first blog post of 2020. Today's post will be a bit more ranty than usual, but bear with me as it's something I feel needs to be talked about. Recently, a group of Hollywood stars and film executives signed onto a letter calling out Hollywood's "systematic exclusion" of disabled people in movies. The letter calls on the entertainment industry to audition people with disabilities and also cast qualified actors with disabilities, which would improve their visibility while also expanding the pool of talent overall Among the actors that have signed onto this letter are Mark Ruffalo, Danny DeVito, Edward Norton, and perhaps most surprisingly to me personally, Bryan Cranston. While I appreciate and respect any person who will stand up for the rights of the disabled and inclusion of actors who identify as disabled, the irony of Bryan Cranston signing onto this letter while not acknowledging his own past issues in this space is