Disability in Comedy

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The Large Presence Of Comedy In American Culture Comedy is an integral category of the entertainment business. From 1995 to 2013 comedy films had a total box office revenue of $54.88 million in North America (Movie 2014). That is a whopping $12.55 million more than the next highest grossing genre; adventure films (Movie 2014). People are clearly willing to spend money for the chance of a good laugh. If such a large portion of the population is watching comedy the genre must be relatable to a large portion of the populations’ everyday lives, however that is not the case for one of America’s most marginalized groups. As recorded in the 2010 census, 56.7 million people living in the United States were reported as having a disability (Brault 2012). People with a disability represent about 18.7% of the United States’ population, yet they are underrepresented and often misrepresented within comedic entertainment (Brault 2012). Disability representation in comedy has little diversity, addresses disability from a medical model perspective, and minimizes the potential of those with disabilities. The Medical Model Of Disability In Comedy Comedic entertainment includes disability in a way that sees the disability as an issue that must be fixed. This view represents the medical model, while a complete social model of disability of comedy would expect movies, television shows, fictional characters, and children’s cartoon characters with disabilities to be as equitably represented as those without disabilities (Gliedman 1980). Comedy oppresses those with disabilities by applying a medical model that labels disability negatively. This negative view is revealed in the way comedy depicts its characters overcoming their disabilities. This depicti... ... middle of paper ... ... reader (pp. 223-236). NY: Routledge. Lockyer, S. (2010). Reading Little Britain comedy matters on contemporary television. London: I.B. Tauris. Longmore, P.K. (2003). Screening stereotypes: Images of disabled people in television and motion pictures. In Why I burned by book and other essays on disability (pp.131-146). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Movie genres by box office revenue in North America 2013. (2014). Statista. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/188658/movie-genres-in-north-america-by-box-office-revenue-since-1995/.. O'Connor, M. (n.d.). The Comedians with Disabilities Act. Michael O'Conner Comedian. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://michaeloconnell.com/michaelocomedy/comedianswithdisabilitiesact.htm. Vion, D. (Director). (2011). Creating A World As It Should Be [Documentary]. USA: Mobility International USA.

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