(Montreal) Who are the Quebec characters living with a disability, deaf or neurodivergent? In which films, series, graphic novels can we find them and, above all, how are they represented there?
These are the questions that motivated the researchers of the Canada Research Chair in Media, Disabilities and (Self) Representations to create a database to list the times when one of these characters appeared in our stories, from 1980 to 2020.
For now, 214 Quebec works have been added, including documentaries, for a total of 541 characters. This is not an exhaustive review, as archival copies of some series cannot be found.
“What we observe is that there is an increase of more than 200% between the first decades, from 1980 until 1999, versus 2000-2019, notes Professor Mouloud Boukala, holder of the Chair of research. There are more and more media productions that feature characters, and there are more and more characters within media productions. »
On the other hand, less than a third (29%) of these fictional characters are played by an interpreter with the same characteristics, and this, in only a quarter (26%) of the productions.
Paul Lupien, chairman of the board of directors of the Confederation of Disabled People’s Organizations of Quebec, argues that “if we were another clientele, we would call it cultural appropriation”, citing the controversies surrounding the practice of ” blackface”.
“People might even have a bad opinion of people with disabilities at some point”, he laments, while employing community actors, “it would be much more representative and it would open people’s eyes at the same time “.
He also points out that “there are actors with disabilities who are members of the Union des artistes, but who do not work because they are not hired. They have the right to work like everyone else. »
The 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, conducted by Statistics Canada, indicates that one in five people aged 15 or older “had at least one activity-limiting disability”. In 2017, the median annual income was $39,000 in Canada. For people living with a disability considered severe, the median was more like $19,200.
The power of the image
If we look from the other side of the camera, the observation is even more striking: only 4% of works of fiction featuring characters with disabilities, deaf or neurodivergent have been created by someone who is openly part of from one of these groups.
Deaf people, people living with a disability, neurodivergent people would benefit from being met by producers, by broadcasters, by directors, who should include them from the ideation process. Often, we write something about disability, deafness or neurodiversity and we have no knowledge of the experiences of these people.
Pr Mouloud Boukala, Canada Research Chair in Media
According to him, excluding the people concerned from the creation of the project often leads to a “miserable” vision.
What worries him is that “the way we represent others has consequences on the way we will act with these people. […] Seeing the way people with disabilities are portrayed, “Ah, they are pitiful people, they arouse pity, they need to be helped, they are people in need”, after, people in real life people always consider their disability in this way. »
For example, there are three times as many characters who experience anger related to their disability (23%) than characters who fight for their rights (7%).
Characters with disabilities, deaf or neurodivergent are also often a source of conflict in the story (44%), and this, in the majority of works of fiction where they are represented (59%).
“We are really different from how we are described in the soap operas,” insists Mr. Lupien.
He has a lot to say about these characters, whom he often finds “ridiculous”. Those who, like him, use a wheelchair do not know how to use their device well, are extremely slow in their movements or accept without flinching that their chair is grabbed without their consent, for example. Sometimes those who speak in sign language say gibberish.
“It sure hurts us when people say things like ‘we saw it in the soap opera, the guy at the speed he moves, how do you want us to hire you? “”, he explains.
The Union des artistes, the Association des Réalisateurs et Réalisatrices du Québec, the National Film Board of Canada and Radio-Canada did not respond to requests from The Canadian Press.
At the time of writing these lines, it had not yet been possible to obtain an interview with TVA and Télé-Québec.
Télé-Québec, however, underlined in writing the results of its Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities 2021-2022, thanks to which “we note a strong increase in content aimed at raising public awareness, on TV or online, on this reality (172%). That’s 125 content, including shows like Mutants, It’s human, Awesome ! and Super Plex “. These figures include the representation of mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
The Noovo channel did not wish to speak in an interview, but wrote by email that “it is important that the diversity on the screen reflects the communities and the society of today. We are working in this direction not only to make room for more talent from diversity, but also to ensure that this diversity is reflected in the participants who take part in our programs and in the stories we tell. »