Disability in horror films

Cultural phenomenon

Promotional poster for Freaks (1932). Whilst the film has been praised for its majority disabled cast, it has also been described as exploitative.[1]

Horror films have frequently featured disability, dating to the genre's earliest origins in the 1930s. Various disabilities have been used in the genre to create or augment horror in audiences,[2] which has attracted commentary from some critics and disability activists.

Monsters and villains depicted in many horror films have often had physical or mental disabilities. These evolved from being sympathetic depictions of disabled characters in early monster films such as Frankenstein, to presentations of disabled people as "bloodthirsty and terrifying" in slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s.[3] Horror films have sometimes attracted criticism for their depictions of disability[3][4][5] or have been described as ableist.[6] Some films have been accused of reflecting eugenicist views held by the society of their time.[7][1] Tropes of characters "overcoming" disability, or of disability granting special powers, have been described as harmful.[8]

## Physical disabilities

[edit]

Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) has been highlighted as a notable example of a horror film for prominently depicting disability, and has received diverse commentary for its depiction of the community, with some labelling it as portraying disability sympathetic and anti-eugenicist and others criticising it for being exploitative.[3][1][9] As of 2020, it remains one of few American films to feature a predominantly disabled cast.[1] Independent film Deafula (1975) is notable for being entirely in sign language.[9] Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series and Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are both violent killers with disabilities that have been described as depicting disability as fearful or taboo.[3] In the 21st century, some commentators noted a trend of horror films depicting deafness in a perceivedly fetishistic manner, including A Quiet Place and The Unholy.[8] Lupita Nyong'o's performance in the 2019 film Us was criticized by disability rights groups for being inspired by symptoms of spasmodic dysphonia.[10]

## Mental disabilities

[edit]

The film Split has been criticised for its portrayal of dissociative identity disorder. In particular, it was criticised for stigmatizing the disorder, and potentially causing harm to those that live with it.[11][12] In an open letter to M. Night Shyamalan, disability activists wrote that "Split represents yet another gross parody of us based on fear, ignorance, and sensationalism, only much worse."[13]

The 2016 American horror film Spring Break Zombie Massacre was created by Sam Suchman and Mattie Zufelt, best friends with Down syndrome, who also starred in the film.[14] The movie was widely praised as refreshing for having neurodivergent minds in charge of the creative process.[15] It was also celebrated for featuring protagonists with Down syndrome whose disability was not the main focus of the film.[16]

## See also

[edit]

* Disability in the arts
* Disability in the media
* List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing

## Further reading

[edit]

* Smith, Angela (24 January 2012). Hideous Progeny: Disability, Eugenics, and Classic Horror Cinema. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-52785-9.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Lopez, Kristen (6 October 2020). "'Freaks' Is the Granddaddy of Disabled Horror, for Better and Worse". IndieWire. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
2. ^ Hall, Melinda (8 March 2016). "Horrible Heroes: Liberating Alternative Visions of Disability in Horror". Disability Studies Quarterly. 36 (1). doi:10.18061/dsq.v36i1.3258. ISSN 2159-8371.
3. ^ a b c d Lopez, Kristen (26 March 2021). "A Brief History Of Disability In Horror". FANGORIA. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
4. ^ Alexiou, Gus (25 November 2020). "Hollywood Must Stop Using Disability Imagery Purely For Horror And Cheap Thrills". Forbes. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
5. ^ Buckley, Cara (17 November 2020). "Scary Is How You Act, Not Look, Disability Advocates Tell Filmmakers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
6. ^ Garcia, S. (29 October 2018). "Villainizing Bodies and Minds: Ableism in Horror Movies". FEM Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
7. ^ Madden, Emma (10 July 2019). "Midsommar's ableism resurrects the dark history of eugenics-inspired horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
8. ^ a b Stine, Alison (16 November 2021). "Some horror movies take a new approach to disability: Fetishizing deafness". Perspective. Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
9. ^ a b Sutton, Travis (9 September 2014). "Avenging the Body: Disability in the Horror Film". In Benshoff, Harry M. (ed.). A Companion to the Horror Film (1st ed.). Wiley. pp. 73–89\. doi:10.1002/9781118883648.ch5. ISBN 978-0-470-67260-0. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
10. ^ Shoard, Catherine (29 March 2019). "Lupita Nyong'o under fire from disability groups for 'evil' voice in Us". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
11. ^ Nedelman, Michael (23 January 2017). "What Shyamalan's 'Split' gets wrong". CNN. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
12. ^ Morris-Gray, Ishan; Xu, Yicheng. "Column: M. Night Shyamalan and the Ableist Myth". farragomagazine.com. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
13. ^ "Open Letter to the Director". 28 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
14. ^ Hoffman, Ashley (14 July 2016). "These 20-Year-Old Friends With Down Syndrome Made a Zombie Film". Time. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
15. ^ Pratt, Mark (8 April 2021). "New film follows 2 zombie moviemakers with Down syndrome". WLUK. Associated Press. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
16. ^ Brunner, Jeryl (26 June 2021). "The Sweet Story of How Two Unstoppable Teen Filmmakers Got an Oscar-Winning Director to Produce Their Movie". Parade.

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