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From: Dara McLAughlin
Date: 04 Sep 2000
Time: 22:15:54
Remote Name: p104-112.atnt1.dialup.abq1.flash.net
This is one comment included in the post on "22 Stupid Things to Say to a Crip." One of these days I'll have completed an explanatory essay on all of them.
THE PROBLEM OF SCARE TACTICS by Dara McLaughlin
This is a real experience and has happened just like this and sometimes a form of it. It happens to me and has happens to others who are visibly disabled such as wheelchair users. I'm minding my own business while shopping in a supermarket whe an argument pursues between a rambunctious child and her parent, in this case the mother. The mother has lost control of the situation and the child is squealing and as Mom lifts her by the arm, the kid starts kicking. What to do next? The mother points to me as I sit in my "chair" a half aisle down from them and say in a loud but trying to control it voice, "If you don't start behaving yourself, you'll end up like that!"
You'd better believe the child simmers down after this one. This remark reinforces in a five-second shot that disability is profound tragedy. But worse, that it's the result of "having been bad." Therefore, if you're always good then you're guarenteed good health as a reward. So are all people who use wheelchairs, canes, etc being punished? What else can a child think with their limited experience and exposure to the world?
But as far as Mom is concerned, the consequence of her remark/threat "worked." I doubt that the mother even in the remotest way thought about the fact that from then on, if the child believes the threat (and why not since there's no other information to go by) s/he will be frightened and feel threatened by the sight of people with disabilities. This is a direct route to prejudice and discrimination in the child's future.
There are many layers and sub layers to this scenerio all of which are negative, harmful, and unnecessary. Far too much to include here as I'm not delving quite that deeply into issues in this venue. Notice too, that even if the comment is made in a whisper, the whisper is loud enough for the disabled person to hear (or how would we know it happened?) so obviously, there is little or no concern for the feelings of the "human sample" of how a bad child could end up.
As for myself, do I get angry when this or a similar incident occurs? Yes, I do. How dare anyone assume upon a mere glance in a public place that they know enough about me and why I use a wheelchair, that they may use me as a tool to discipline their children. It's unconscionable enough that we have been raised in a society that used and continues to use disabled, disfigured, and otherwise physically or mentally unacceptable people as symbols of evil and shame. Literature, movies, stage plays, and the like are chock full of examples. Some are subliminal, some are overt.
Syd Field, a well-known screen writer, is guilty as hell for promoting this destructive symbology. In his book, "Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting" (third edition MUF New York Books) Field writes:
"Pictures, or images, reveal aspects of character. In Robert Rossen's film The Hustler, a physical defect symbolizes an aspect of character. The girl played by Piper Laurie is a cripple: she walks with a limp. She is also an emotional cripple; she drinks too much, has no sense of aim or purpose in life. The physical limp underscores her emotional qualities - visually." He gives more examples extending way back inot history the goes on to recommend "Form your characters by creating a character biography then reveal them by their actions and possible physical traits."
The book jacket cover states that "Screenplay has been hailed as the definitive approach to screenwriting of this generation, the outstanding guidebook in the field, and a classic of professional instruction." You should also note one more passage which when given the least amount of thought proves that this man doesn't know jack about disability and thinks no further than the sound of his own wonderful words to his own ear. He says, "Creating a character is a process, and until you've done it, and experienced it, you're more than likely to stumble around awkwardly like a blind man in a fog." A blind man in a fog? Like a fog really matters? This is one screenplay writer who should NOT be teaching or writing about disability. He's destructive as well as exploitive.
Do I get angry? Yes, I do. What do I do about it? I write. I talk. I tell my story and our story with raw edges and pure truth. I try to remember that as a species we have a long way to go before we shake off and discard our problems with one another's differences. So I do what I can do. Like write essays such as this.