Why “Cripping Up” Is Problematic

Wheelchairs, walkers, and canes — we’ve all seen mobility aids in media, from film and television to advertising photography. Did you ever stop to consider that the people hired to play these roles are not actually disabled?

While there has been an increase of inclusivity in recent times to accurately cast people with disabilities, as seen in Call The Midwife and Game of Thrones, there are still issues that arise in the representation of disability.

Tammin Sursok, who played blind character Jenna Marshall in Pretty Little Liars once stated: “People think I'm actually blind in real life which makes me feel like I'm a really good actress because, like, obviously I can see!” No, Tammin, this is not obvious to anyone with enough knowledge and awareness that someone’s chronic illness is not always visible.

Even when a disabled actor plays the part of a person with the same disability, the writers of a script affect how that character’s disability is portrayed, and it may not always reflect someone’s accurate lived experience. When a role is cast for a character without disabilities, someone in a wheelchair, even if they are still ambulatory to some degree, cannot just go to a casting call for any character, when the need for mobility aids is not accounted for in the script. You may be capable of playing the whole range of emotion required and even be the best in the room, but if that role requires running or walking and you are not ambulatory, consider yourself screwed. When a normally functioning individual, who can physically play any part they want, takes a role of a person who requires a particular story or creative vision, that is one less job a person with disabilities has in a field where opportunities remain few and far between.