Why it is harmful when non-disabled actors play disabled characters: a guide for confused allies.
⚠️ Content warning for ableism, colonialism, racism, and exploitation.
When we talk about representation, I often hear the question “why is it bad for non-disabled actors to play disabled characters? Isn’t it an actors’ job to pretend to be someone who they aren’t?” This question frustrates me, so instead of being frustrated, I decided to make a comprehensive explanation for anyone who is confused.
Problem 1: The History
An abled actor playing a disabled character is frequently called “Cripping Up.” The term comes from the physically disabled community but it is used to refer to any type of disability being faked for media. {Note: the word is only for the physically disabled community to use/reclaim, but this phrase has migrated into the vernacular, and I use it here so readers can find more information.} There is a long history of commodifying and displaying disabled bodies for public consumption and entertainment. Part of this history are the Freak Shows that occurred in the 18–1900s. Disabled bodies, particularly the bodies of people from ethnic groups unfamiliar to American and European audiences, were exhibited for shock and horror. Performers in these shows were controlled and infantilized by the show’s owners, and were kept in poverty despite the large profits that Freak Shows made.
Problem 2: Profiting off of Stigma
Echos of Freak Shows exist in today’s modern media. Physical differences and burn scars are often used in horror movies to scare the audience. Creators are only thinking about how to make the most money, so they don’t consider the repercussions for the people whose disabilities they are dramatizing. Usually, the actors hired for these horror movies are ‘cripping up,’ and they will also walk away from the production without bearing the consequences of the stigmas they are perpetuating.
Problem 2: Profiting off of Stigma, continued
Even when disabilities are portrayed in a positive light, media corporations are still appropriating and profiting off of the experiences of disabled people. One example of this inspiration porn, media about the disabled experience, created by abled people, for the abled gaze. Inspiration porn is profitable because it makes abled people feel good about themselves, but disabled people rarely get any of those profits, and if they do, it’s often through terrible “charities” like Autism $peaks.
Problem 2: Profiting off of Stigma, continued
Another way that media profits off of disabled people without involving them in the process is through writing neurodiverse characters but never explicitly giving them a diagnosis. This is hurtful because media corporations take the traits that neurodiverse people are mocked, shamed, and sent to harmful therapies for, and it makes them ‘quirky.’ It smooths over the challenges that come with being disabled and makes it palatable for an abled audience. The media corporations erase the experiences of neurodiverse people by not including us in the writing or acting process and they won’t even credit the community from which their character’s traits came, because then it would be overtly appropriative.
Problem 3: Capitalism and the Scarcity of Work for Disabled Actors
I suspect one of the reasons that media corporations opt for ‘cripping up’ instead of hiring disabled actors is that disabled people require accommodations. Media is one of the industries where it is easiest to make excuses for not making accommodations because the company can always say someone was a better fit for the role. Disabled people are disabled full time. When an abled actor plays a disabled character, it takes away a job from a disabled actor, who already has fewer job opportunities, both in acting and in the rest of the world.
Excuse 1: What if they simply weren’t the best actor for the role?
Take a minute to think about how you are defining ‘best actor for the role.’ Is your image of how the character behaves based on an ableist stereotype? Do you want a famous person with lots of name recognition who will make your movie lots of money, or do you want an accurate portal of disability? Why aren’t there many very famous disabled actors?
Excuse 2: But the character has to do a scene where they weren’t disabled!?
Okay, first pause and make sure you aren’t making inspiration porn. Media focused on ‘overcoming’ a disability is often ableist. Okay, you want to do a scene before a character gets an acquired disability? Go with a body double. All those big-budget movies with lots of stunts rely heavily on body doubles anyway, no one will care. Lastly, if the media is too difficult for a disabled actor to film (I’m thinking about Sia’s lame excuses), it is probably not a good representation.
To conclude, I’m not saying that non-disabled actors can’t play disabled characters, I’m saying that they shouldn’t. Leave that space for a disabled actor to fill the role authentically. Don’t appropriate the disabled experience for profit without knowing the history of exploiting disabled people for profit. Stop telling our stories. Stop making excuses for why it is too difficult to include us in our own stories.
