Disability Representation Deconstruction

For our film opening we have decided to have a disabled killer, subverting a lot of psychological/slasher films. What we are trying to portray is the fact that disabled people aren't always these innocent and uninvolved characters, they can be just as able and as malicious as anyone else. Having done some research, this was an original idea and so we decided to stick with it.

Disability within the media or within the film and television industry is a bit of a taboo subject, it is never represented badly because people don't feel like they can cross that line. When there are disabled characters present, they are usually physical disabilities which the audience can see e.g. they are in a wheel chair or have some sort of physical disformity. This is partly to do with the fact that it is easier for the audience to see a physical disability, but also because mental or internal disabilities are harder to portray tastefully.


In American Horror Story, there is a scene when two boys are going into a haunted house. A little girl pops up and warns them not to go in; she has downs syndrome. The boys are rude to her and threaten to hit her with a bat even though she was trying to help them by saying 'Excuse me; you are going to die in there.' She was polite and trying to warn the boys. When they do go in, she says 'you are going to regret it. You are going to regret it. You are going to regret it.' The repetition, almost like an echo, makes the girl seem a bit creepier because she's obviously seen what happens in the house and knows what goes on, but nonetheless, she is a 'goodie'.

Choosing deafness as our disability subverts the common conventions because firstly it's a disability that people can't see, and also we have made our killer the dead person. This may mean that the audience feel themselves sympathising with the killer, or they may feel guilty about not feeling sorry for the 'deaf guy'. Either way it will be a feeling that they haven't experienced before.