The first century of disability portrayal in film: An analysis of the literature

Abstract

Despite high visibility and its potential influence on public attitudes, disability portrayal in film has been only an occasional topic of scholarly inquiry. This paper provides the first interdisciplinary review of the literature by integrating resources from film history, the social sciences, rehabilitation, mass communication, psychology, psychiatry, and education. Several topical areas are evaluated, including history, quantitative investigations, the quality of cinematic representations of disability, and the politics of film. Psychiatric disorders were found to be the most frequently depicted, with many stereotypic depictions of a wide range of disabilities identified. Directions for future research, with recommendations for quantitative investigations and a call for additional interdisciplinary research, are discussed.