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Logan Cavender

7/6/2022

ENG 374

Dr. Marchbanks

Supercrips: Helpful or Harmful?

American films have had a checkered past when representing historically marginalized

groups. Representation of things like race, religion, and gender identity has recently come under

heavy scrutiny, but one such group that is often overlooked is people with disabilities. One

problem that arises with representations of disabled people in American cinema is that there are

often negative stigmas attached to disabilities. In the excerpts from Erving Goffman’s Stigma, he

proposes quite simply: “By definition, of course, we believe the person with a stigma is not quite

human.” (DSR 135.) The alienation and discreditation that stigmas cause can be extremely

harmful and lead the stigmatized to suspicion, anxiety, and depression. (DSR 139.)

This is where the power of artistic expression comes in. These stigmas can be broken and

questioned through artistic expression; however, many end up reinforcing and upholding them.

One such example is J. Charles Haydon’s 1920 silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde,

who is supposed to be an embodiment of evil, and as means to represent this, displays physical

symptoms of multiple diseases and disabilities. These symptoms include the elongated cranium

and fingers associated with hydrocephaly and arachnodactyly, as well as his thinning hair

suggesting alopecia, just to name a few. This association of nefarious virtues, with physical

attributes and disabilities, is completely unwarranted and further entrenches stigmas and

stereotypes into American culture. Not all representations of disabilities in American film are

this unjust, however. One early example of a much more positive representation was Todd
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Browning’s 1932 film Freaks which featured a cast comprising mostly of real circus performers

with disabilities. Throughout the film, it shows many of the disabled characters performing

normal everyday tasks, and the film highlights the strong bonds formed between the members of

this group. Overall, this creates a deeply humanizing representation, that was very rare especially

in 1932 when the film was created. There is also another type of characterization that is common

when representing those with disabilities called “supercrips,” in which a disabled person can

overcome and extraordinarily compensate for their disabilities. While these types of narratives

mean well and seek to inspire, they often don’t consider how real people that live with these

disabilities want to be represented. Supercrip stories leave disabled people feeling that they are

unworthy of respect or acceptance because they don’t meet the unrealistic standards of success

displayed in these stories. The 2003 film Daredevil, and the 1942 film Eyes in the Night are both

supercrip stories but vary drastically in their representation of people with disabilities. Daredevil

perpetuates unrealistic standards of success that people with disabilities measure themselves

against, while Eyes in the Night gives us a meaningful character who doesn’t let his disabilities

define him.

The 2003 Marvel film Daredevil focuses on a lawyer who was blinded as a child and

seeks justice for the man who murdered his father. In the scene where Matt wakes up in the

hospital (9:15-10:30), he becomes acutely aware of all the sounds coming from his surroundings,

even as far as what is going on outside of the hospital where he just woke up. The camera work

is extremely shaky and cuts back and forth between close-ups of his face, and CGI radar-like

depictions of cars, pedestrians, and the room around him. All together this reflects the chaos that

he feels as he tries to understand the loss of his eyesight but the gain of a new sense of his

surroundings. We learn more about Matt’s abilities as the film progresses, in the rooftop scene
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(49:01-53:00) with Elektra, reveals how his abilities are improved in the rain and even appears to

predict that it will soon begin raining: “The temperature dropped two or three degrees. I can

smell it. The moisture in the air. It’s gonna rain any second now.” Although the events of this

movie are fictional, Matt Murdock’s radar detection is representative of a common and prevalent

misconception that blind people develop a “sixth sense” in the absence of sight. According to the

Iowa Department for the Blind, blind people’s senses of touch, smell, hearing, and taste aren’t

stronger than the average person, they simply learn to pay more attention to the information

given by these other senses. In addition to this sixth sense misconception, Daredevil creates an

idealized version of someone with disabilities. The problems that arise with ideals are described

by Douglas C. Baynton in his essay Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American

History: “The notion of an ideal implies that, in this case, the human body as visualized in art or

imagination must be composed from the ideal parts of living models. These models individually

can never embody the ideal since an ideal, by definition, can never be found in this world.” (DSR

19). In this case, Baynton is describing the ideal as a ‘normal’ person without a disability,

however, the same applies when looking at the hyper-idealized supercrips in comparison to real

people with disabilities, which sets a benchmark for acceptance that is unrealistic. It becomes

even more apparent that Marvel took little consideration for blind people when making this film

because it was released without audio descriptions, and the comics were without braille versions,

making it virtually inaccessible to the blind community. Some of the feats performed by Matt

during the film are so over the top that they almost come across as comedic, such as the one

where he dodges a stack of shards of glass thrown at him by Killshot (1:23:29- 1:23:21) or

defeating an entire bar full of assailants (23:30- 25:00). Brent Hopkins, a communications

specialist for The American Foundation for the Blind, said in an article for ABC: "They are
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normal people who enjoy everyday, normal things. … To live with a disability, you don't have to

be a superhero." When directors portray blind people in such an outlandish way, it completely

distracts from the self-sufficient normal lives that blind people are able to live.

The 1942 film Eyes in the Night directed by Todd Browning, is a breath of fresh air when

compared to many supercrip movies like Daredevil. The movie centers on a blind detective who

with the help of his seeing-eye dog uncovers a Nazi plot while investigating a murder. What

makes this movie shine is the plausibility of the story. While it may sound gimmicky, at no point

during the movie does it feel that way, except for a few of the acts of Detective Mac’s dog,

Friday. The key difference between Mac and other supercrips is that Mac’s character doesn’t

solely hinge on his disability. All of Mac’s success in uncovering the plot was because of his

solid detective skills, not some over-the-top powers or abilities. This is very apparent, especially

in the scene where Mac and his partner Marty investigate the apartment where Norma discovered

a dead body (21:32-23:52.) In this scene he proves himself more capable than his able-bodied

companion on multiple occasions, first with his discovery of the missing rug, and then later in

the scene when he chastises Marty for almost slipping up and getting them in trouble for

obstruction of justice. The camera work of the scene pans to follow Mac as he moves through the

room and pans down as he crouches to investigate the floor. This reflects that he is the man in

charge as it follows him in this scene. Mac is seen in the opening scene of the film practicing

what appears to be judo or some sort of grappling with Marty and is able to take him down with

ease. This scene is a small detail that adds a lot of credibility to his combat skills with later

skirmishes with the Nazis and is very plausible as judo is one of the most popular sports among

the visually impaired. These skills are put to use at the film’s climax (1:11:50- 1:12:53) when

Mac, with a swing of his cane, shatters the light and plunges the basement into darkness,
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effectively leveling the playing field between him and his would-be executor. Once again Mac

demonstrates his quick wit, waiting to strike until his aggressor has spent all of the ammunition

in his gun. It is at this point that he delivers the chilling line: “In the dark. In my kingdom.” This

is a key scene because it establishes common ground between the viewer and Mac, as we are

forced to rely on the same senses that Mac does in this tense scene. A likely factor for actor

Edward Arnold’s success in the role of Mac was that his father was blind. This personal

connection that the actor had with this disability really shows in his performance and

demonstrates the importance of understanding when representing people with disabilities. What

makes Mac’s character so compelling is the level of depth he has. While his character is blind, he

is defined more by his charisma, charm, skillfulness, and quick wits, rather than being solely

defined by his disability as so many supercrip characters are. Mac feels more like a detective

who happens to be blind than the common “inspirational” supercrip trope.

Supercrip stories are often created with the intent to inspire, but what it really comes down to is

who it is that they are trying to inspire, and at what cost. These films often intend to inspire

people without disabilities, by looking at disabled individuals and what they have done in spite

of their disabilities. This is described by G. Thomas Couser in his essay Disability, Life

Narrative, and Representation, where he states: For people with many disabilities, culture

inscribes narratives on their bodies, willy nilly.” (DSR 452). This is exactly what is happening in

films like Daredevil. The use of disability as a device for representing fortitude doesn’t take into

account how people with disabilities want to be represented. Jennifer Sebring said in a post for

The Mighty, an online support community for those undergoing health issues: “I do not exist to

be strong or inspiring to others. I exist for myself.” This sentiment is echoed by many with

disabilities, who simply want to be accepted for who they are, rather than be compared to
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something they are not. This really demonstrates the need for people with disabilities to have

input on how characters with disabilities are portrayed in films. Films with supercrips, when

executed properly and in a meaningful way, have the power to demonstrate some of the amazing

things that people with disabilities can achieve. On the other hand, if portrayals and characters

are not created in a meaningful way, and use their character’s disabilities as plot devices, or as

their main defining feature, they can fall flat.

Work Cited:

Baynton. Douglas C. “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History.” 2001.

Ed. Lennard J. Davis. The Disability Studies Reader, 5th Edition, Routledge, 2017,

pp.17-34.

Browning, Tod,. Director. Freaks. Loew’s Inc, 1932.

Couser, Thomas G., “Disability, Life Narrative, and Representation” 2005. The Disability

Studies Reader, 5th Edition, Routledge, 2017, pp.450-453

Goffman. Erving. “Selections from Stigma.” 1963. Ed. Lennard J. Davis. The Disability Studies

Reader, 5th Edition, Routledge, 2017, pp.133-44

Johnson, Mark,. Director. Daredevil. 20th Century Fox, 2003.

Robertson, John S., director. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Paramount, 1920.

Robinson, Bryan. “Daredevil Not Quite the Blind Man's Hero.” ABC News, ABC News
Network, https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101134&page=1.

Sebring, Jennifer (Hammond). “I'm Not a 'Supercrip,' and That's OK.” The Mighty, 23 Apr.
2020, https://themighty.com/2017/12/addressing-the-supercrip-stereotype/.
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Zinnemann, Fred,. Director. Eyes in the Night. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1942.