Twitter campaign and hate speech

An article from The Guardian's "Comment is Free" today carries very clear info on how the notion of the disabled as the other, or always the alien/different one in any group, carries beyond constantly repeated negative media representations. We can talk about anything or any concept that becomes 'common-sensical' (few argue against it) as hegemonic: the concept coined by Antonio Gramsci to illustrate how power is exercised as much through cultural control as through police and military power. The media impact can also be described as normative: making something appear normal or typical (eg, romance is for heterosexual couples, disabled characters are burdensome and odd, not like 'us', the majority of 'normal' folk).

Although many of the comments were essentially hate speech, the Twitter example given here shows how the power of mainstream, mass media can be undercut by small campaign groups or individuals on social networks - in some cases at least.

Article link. It carries some strong language, quoting abusive comments.

Disability in society: let's make today #letstalkdisability day

Social media has been useful in triggering a positive debate on how to talk about disability in public. What do you want to ask?

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• • Sharon Brennan
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 January 2013 11.21 GMT
  • Jump to comments (26)

A demonstration by disabled people against cuts to their benefits in Westminster, London. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

Disabled people are at an impasse. After years of campaigning, the public is finally waking up to the unfair and arbitrary cuts we face under this government. Monday night's Panorama was just one more mainstream documentary highlighting the struggles we face accessing financial and social support. This time, the focus was on private companies that are awarded government contracts to help find disabled people work, yet show scant regard or support for the people they are being paid to help. Panorama claimed to have found evidence of staff using the code "LTB" – lying, thieving bastards – to refer to disabled and unemployed people. How can we expect to be treated with dignity and respect in this context?
Yesterday, the Twitter hashtag #HeardWhilstDisabled gave a pithy insight into the prejudice disabled people are exposed to every single day. The comments people face about their disability on a daily basis ranged from the depressingly offensive ("I think I'd rather kill myself if I was like you. No offence.") to the daily frustrations of accessing basic services ("Couldn't you get your chair into a normal fitting room? We use the accessible one for storage.")
Almost every person with a disability has a similar story to tell.

More repns of disability (beauchamp)

If you click through to http://beauchampcollegemedia.com/2012/01/11/582/ you'll find some useful categories of rep'ns of disability with embedded clips to illustrate the points

SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS:
http://www.trinimex.ca/disabilityinmedia/lesson6.htm - 'The 'Super-Crip' Phenomenon' [this does seem a widely recognised term, just add single quote marks if using it]

The second disability stereotype that will be explored is “disability as hero by hype”. This stereotype is more commonly referred to as “the super crip” pereception. When not pitied, persons with disabilities are sometimes seen as “heroes,” or in other words, outrageously admired for their “courage” and determination. This stems from the belief that life with a disability must necessarily be horrific and unsatisfying, and as such, we must admire persons with disabilities for being able to live “the way they do.” Much like portraying disability as a form of lesser self-worth (as is often the case with the “disability as pity” stereotype), placing persons with disabilities on a pedestal is another way to denote this social group as “other”. This particular stereotype is also linked to the idea that disability in one area is complimented with superior abilities in another area (for example, the misconception that people who are blind have superior hearing).

http://beauchampcollegemedia.com/2011/04/06/tv-drama-and-representation-videos/ - more Beauchamp vid examples
http://www.slideshare.net/jfoster10/representations-of-disability - the Ppt already embedded on the semioditic blog, v useful illustrations/breakdown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_in_the_media - Wiki which also cites 'supercrip'

Finding more egs to practice

Search "ocr g322 disability" on YouTube or Google: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=OCR+G322+disability&search_type=&aq=f

Cast Offs eg

You could also view the C4 series Cast Offs (here's the official YouTube site) for practice (embedding for these clips is disabled)

Casualty clip

This is useful to practice; look at how the two central characters are framed differently, and how editing when each is talking is quite markedly different - they're not represented as equal. One seems more central to the drama; the conflict is his conflict over what to do with his brother, how to cope with the issue of hiring a carer or continuing as his carer. The disabled character is often off-frame even when talking; the OTS shots when he's talking are a little unusual, and the editing choice is not to focus on him when we'd generally expect him to be central to the shot sequence. Okay, reaction shots are not unusual, but this goes further in the way it excludes him, makes him of secondary importance. The shot as they exit the shop is telling: as the wheelchair disappears off frame we stay with the other brother, centrally framed in a MCU.
Nonetheless, there are several two shots used to signifiy their bond and togetherness, and the 'defective gene' joke is used for exposition: to inform us of how comfortable they are with each other (although the disabled character does get cross at his brother for seeking to include him in flirty banter, sternly telling the cashier that his brother seeks to ignore his condition). The odd thing here is that the brother's actions are actually quite positive, but the editing and self-pitying dialogue from the wheelchair-bound character, reduce this to a narrative about the jumper-buying brother and his issues; his brother is only really providing signifiers about his emotional state.
You'd look out here for basic aspects of continuity editing, plus realism codes, amongst many other aspects...
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