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Prompt #1 — Apply narrative prosthesis to one of the films we have watched (excluding Me Before You) or another film about disability. Briefly analyze how disability is used in the film. (Think about how disability is being used as a plot device, how it creates the narrative and furthers the plot, how disability is used as a metaphor, how does the disabled character(s) somehow help the non-disabled character(s) become better people, overcome a challenge, or have a better future?)

Wonder is a solid example of how narrative prosthesis is used through Auggie’s character and his facial differences. The plot itself is structured in the form of shifting from one character’s perspective to the next to reveal more details about the story and to get more angles on each of the main characters’ thoughts and feelings on not only their own personal experiences, but most importantly, their perception of Auggie, how it changes, and how he ultimately inspires them to make change in their own lives and to better themselves as people. In the Narrative Prosthesis Cheat Sheet, it’s stated that filmmakers often use disability to “make a character seem tragic or inspirational,” “explain a villain’s behavior,” or to “create drama or emotion.” Overall, I would say the first and third examples apply most to Wonder. When it comes to how Auggie is made to appear inspirational, the most obvious example is the very end scene where he is awarded for being an exceptional student when, in fact, he is probably the most ordinary kid out of all the characters if we’re simply reflecting on their actions and character growth over the course of the film. The film essentially uses his disability as a crutch to showcase this idea that, despite simply existing, he was able to help others around him become better people. The end scene disguises itself in this celebratory graduation to make it feel like Auggie has achieved something greater or has evolved over the course of the story when, in fact, he develops the least out of all the main characters. The only thing that’s being celebrated is how others changed around him. Other ways in which Wonder uses narrative prosthesis is how Auggie’s disability is used to create drama or emotion. Auggie’s friendship with Jack Will revolves around this entirely. There would be no real conflict between these two characters if Auggie didn’t have any facial differences. Auggie’s disability is what forces Jack Will to feel peer pressured by Julian into bullying Auggie, and it’s also the same reason as to why Jack Will felt the need to protect Auggie by getting into a fight with Julian. Auggie’s disability is what inspires Jack to be a better friend and stand up against Julian. Without Auggie’s disability, none of this would have played out in the way that it did. Those are just a couple of examples in relation to how Wonder uses narrative prosthesis.

Prompt #4 — How do films like Gattaca and Me Before You (it says Wonder but that doesn’t really utilize the better dead and disabled trope so I’ll just make it both of this week’s films) highlight the “better dead than disabled” trope? How is this message communicated to audiences, and what are the consequences? How could Hollywood avoid this trope?

Me Before You and Gattaca both highlight the “better dead than disabled trope” by expressing this idea that the disabled characters no longer have a sense of purpose or significance in the world they live in. Both disabled characters in the films were rich, fit, athletic, and successful before they became disabled, and they both spend the duration of their respective films in isolation and reflecting on the things they can no longer engage in in everyday life without making much of an attempt to aside from having able-bodied characters force them out of their self-constructed shells. By having both characters voluntarily choose suicide as their best option, both films perpetuate the idea that dying is more desirable than adjusting one’s lifestyle to disability and existing as a disabled person. In Annie Elainey’s video titled “Me Before You: Better DEAD than disabled?”, she says that “the way the character Will is written is to make you pity him and support his decision to end his life. Though I have to believe that many of the same people who believe that he should take his own life, believe that they would take their own lives if they were disabled.” This shows just how dangerous it is to be perpetuating this kind of rhetoric on disability. It reinforces people’s already damaging beliefs about disability and reaffirms their own fears and anxieties regarding disability. Art is a very powerful force in directing cultural conversations as well as general beliefs in regards to how something is represented or portrayed, and disability representation is no different. In Ariane Lange’s article on the Me Before You backlash, she writes about Dominick Evans, a filmmaker and writer, about how a “doctor at an Ohio hospital encouraged his girlfriend to let him bleed out when he was hemorrhaging and needed a blood transfusion to save his life after a surgery in 2012,” and this only exemplifies how dangerous representation like Me Before You can truly be if medical professionals are even perpetuating the idea that dying is a better option than potentially living as a disabled person. Movies like Me Before You can be harmful to people’s own lives. As for how Hollywood could avoid this trope, they simply have to begin by not defaulting to the easiest option, which is death. Death makes for an emotionally potent/impactful end to a film, and can be great Oscar bait when it comes to highly emotional performances. As a writer myself, art should not be created with success or accolades in mind. Disability representation in film is a victim of this. Better, more well-represented depictions of disability should show how existing with a disability can be positive, and how it isn’t a death sentence. Living with a disability is still living as a human being.

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Movies like Gattaca, The Elephant Man, and Wonder show how Hollywood often portrays the “better dead than disabled” trope, a harmful belief suggesting that lives with disability or difference are naturally less valuable. Which doesn't make any sense make movies about people with disabilities and not even having disabled actors to play the parts so now what they would really want. In Gattaca, Vincent’s genetic “imperfection” points out him as an “invalid,” and his struggle to hide it implies that his life would be unbearable if exposed. The Elephant Man describes John Merrick’s messed up face mostly through others’ horror and pity his life, framing his suffering as sad and his death as a form of release. Wonder, I know what you're thinking Wonder how is Wonder in this though as a heartwarming, chances supporting this trope by making  on Auggie’s life Purpose for acceptance, Showing how other people look at him rather than people getting to know Auggie and getting comfortable with him.

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An example of disability advocacy against harmful representation comes from the backlash to the 2016 film Me Before You. The movie centers on a rich man who becomes quadriplegic and chooses to end his life, strengthening the “better dead than disabled” trope. The dominant representation meant that life with a severe disability is not worth living, a message that disability activists immediately challenged. Groups know as Not Dead Yet, a disability rights association, protested outside the movie theaters and shared social media campaigns under hashtags like #LiveBoldly and #NotDeadYet. Activists argued that the movie encouraged People without disabilities assumptions by making disability as a life not worth living, while forgetting the truths of disabled people who live full, meaningful lives I mean it's ridiculous to think that just because someone would rather be de because of a disability.

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1.       Looking at “Wonder” through the lens of narrative prothesis the whole movies is just based on using Auggie as a plot device, mostly as tragedy and inspiration. But there are some certain parts of the movie that highlight it more than others. The movie took the multiple books in the Wonder series, each book being a different perspective of each character in the first book and combined it into one rushed project. The point of that combining was to show how “powerful” Auggie’s disability was at bringing people together and in some cases, like Auggie’s sister and her estranged friend, repairing broken friendships. In the movie the main reason Auggie’s sister and Miranda I think her name was, become friends again is because she misses Auggie and sees him in the audience of the play. Her life was falling apart, and she found out she was so popular when she pretended to be someone else and that somehow made her want to distance herself from her best friend. But her disabled brother is what made her see how awful she was being, and it inspired her to rejoin the family and apologize. In many ways I think that whole interaction falls into the tragedy category too. Miranda was popular because a lot of people at the camp felt sorry and patted her on the back for being a good sister to Auggie. So, she was using the “tragedy” of Auggie’s disability to gain popularity and that eventually led her to sabotage her relationship with Auggie’s sister. It’s such a strange movie that the more I think about it the more holes come into the plot. In the movie we don’t even know Auggie’s grades, but he simply gets an award for just existing at the school? He gets an award for inspiring other kids to stop acting like crappy kids. The teachers couldn’t actually teach and lead by example and they had to have Auggie use his magical disability inspiration powers to make everyone better. This movie truthfully just showed how writers will use the prosthesis to circumvent any actual character development and just say “the disabled person inspired the characters to do better; there we go print it out.”

2.       Time to talk about my favorite subject, the better dead than disabled trope. There is plenty of advocacy against that trope represented in media. “Million Dollar Baby” and “Me Before You” are examples of films that have this trope and the backlash from these films was fantastic to say the least. “Most of the vocal detractors of the film have been people with disabilities. Their main critique is that the film perpetuates the stereotype that life with a disability is not worth living; they vehemently object to the film’s exhortation (and promotional tagline) to “live boldly” when its main character ultimately opts to kill himself” (Lange). There were massive protests over “Me Before You” as this quote from the Lange reading demonstrates. It tries to play to the same old formula of using disabled people as an inspiration for the audience but instead it subverts expectations by the inspiration being for the love interest, Louisa, being inspired before Will kills himself because he doesn’t want to live being disabled. The backlash was covered by mainstream media thankfully and disability advocacy groups were able to get the message across. Many advocates with the same disability as Will’s came forward to protest this movie and due to the large media coverage, many people were able to see that. Now, “Million Dollar Baby,” so much to cover on this one. One disability scholar put it beautifully, he “saw little resemblance between actual people with disabilities and disabled characters in the movies” (Haller 175). “Million Dollar Baby” is the epitome of this as it is a movie ‘based on a true story’ that completely changed the ending for the worst. Instead of living her best life, like the actual person did, the boxer begs for her trainer to kill her which is seen as the right thing to do somehow. This movie as so outrageous it brought multiple disability advocates out of retirement in order to protest it. Unlike in the protests for “Me Before You” the protests for “Million Dollar Baby” were heavily downplayed by the media due to the critical acclaim of the film. For both these films the protests, and public demonstrations were done because they needed to show audiences that what Hollywood was depicting is incorrect, euthanasia of disabled people is not something to be romanticized, it is not inspirational, and it absolutely should not be portrayed in the positive light that it was in these two films. Films have a way of swaying audiences to have certain opinions on different groups and giving this message of pro-euthanasia would be detrimental to the health and well-being of disabled people across the world and that was what advocacy groups have been trying to avoid.

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1.     Apply narrative prosthesis to one of the films we have watched (excluding Me Before You) or another film about disability. Briefly analyze how disability is used in the film. (Hint: Think about how disability is being used as a plot device, how it creates the narrative and furthers the plot, how disability is used as a metaphor, how does the disabled character(s) somehow help the non-disabled character(s)become better people, overcome a challenge, or have a better future?)

Narrative prosthesis is used in the film Wonder to help keep the movie going, by using Auggie as the person who helps everyone. Although Auggie is a great scientist, friend, and family member, his key role in the movie is teach others to not be mean towards those that do not look like others. While yes the whole point of the movie is to not bully, it is also typically happening to other kids as well. Other “coming-of-age” bullying movies also reflect on that, other kids have a backstory about how this terrible bully also has nicknames for them and all of the terrible things they have done. In “Wonder” it was only Auggie. Auggie’s disability was used to keep this plot going of “even with a disability you can stand up towards bullies and choose kind”. Auggie’s disability was also used to help the other characters grow as well. It made all of his family members and friends a better person, but it never reflected on how Auggie’s friends and family made him a better person. While the point of the movie is definitely something that needs to be tackled and taught to kids, it could have been done in a way that is more realistic. Disability is not there to help you grow and learn, it is just there.

Share one example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation. (Several examples are in our readings for this week.) What was the dominant representation, and what did the disabled activists do in response? Why was this advocacy important, what did it seek to accomplish or accomplish?

One example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation is when the movie “Million Dollar Baby” came out. This movie portrays the trope “better dead than disabled” perfectly. Disability activists were extremely angry and showed extreme disappointment with the making of this movie. In the media advocacy and films article, it talks about how much activists were fighting against this movie. The activists spent a great amount of time towards fighting against the norms like assisted suicide, employment, independent living, etc. and it was practically all ruined by this movie. Retired activists even had to come out of retirement to fight against this movie (Beth Haller, p. 176). “Million Dollar Baby” represented that people with a disability, specifically spinal cord injuries, you are better off dead than to continue to live. She was a great boxer before her accident, best of her time, and now all a sudden her life is not considered worthy all because now she must live with a disability. The disability activists tried hard represent how this is not true, how people with a disability do not wish to be dad than disabled. They kept fighting like have been for years. With this fighting and correcting, they wanted people to know that having a disability is not the end of the world. They want to show people that whether you were born with a disability or got it, you are worth living.

This does not mean that what have happened to you during your injury (if not born with a disability) is hard on you mentally. The trauma of everything is extremely impactful, they do not wish to make you feel less than.

The same outlash was used when the movie “Me Before You” came out. Same story pretty much, spinal cord injury, he kills himself. This also resulted in huge protests, especially towards when the end of the movie says “live boldly” by the same man who killed himself because he became disabled. Activists with disabilities started to use this hashtag as apart of their posts, to show the world how to truly live boldly (and to kind of show one to the producers of this film). (Ariane Lange, Buzzfeed). In the Buzzfeed article, they do hope to see changes in Hollywood. Changes that won’t provoke a whole community of people without any real consequence.

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In ‘Me Before You’, the dynamics between the two main characters are represented in a light meant to be romantic, hopeful and even sometimes sexual? Yet the movie itself represents the disabled character as vulnerable, with lines like “He can’t/shouldn’t be alone for more than 25 minutes,” or the parents relying on Clark(aka MC) to change their son and make his life better, who’s entire personality in the movie is being disabled and how horrible being disabled is compared to his ‘cooler, more free’ life that he had where he could as he said, get women and travel.. as if being disabled has completely shut his life down even when new opportunities present themselves constantly and he has the money and power to go anywhere and do anything(within reason,) but there’s new alternatives to living, new ways about going through life that is barely brushed on and everyone is presented almost as encouraging as William goes to kill himself essentially, saying he’s an adult and can make his own choices? He can, but they knew he would die and did nothing. What if an able-bodied person wanted to take their life? It surely wouldn’t be a ‘they’re an adult and can make their own decisions’ kind of scenario at all. Clark, aka his caretaker, essentially immediately falls for him. Vice-versa of course and it’s seen as she has to save him and make his life worth living, and they kiss and it’s all romantic etc etc.. She has a boyfriend. This movie grazes on able-bodied savior tropes and better dead than disabled.

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Question 1 response - In the movie Me Before You, a narrative prosthesis analysis, disability is used in this particular film, casting a light on Will, the main character, who, after 30 years of life, has become paralyzed. His negative attitude, the need to be left alone, and the desire to avoid experiencing failure in life contrast with a young girl who is full of life and wonder. Will had a great life, and he portrays how much he loved his life before he had gotten in his accident. Similarly, in analyzing Will's character, they portray him as an intolerable human being, which is why the family is so desperate for someone to work, as they have all quit. A young, pretty waitress, who the family hires in high spirits of bringing hope back into Will's life, starts on a rough beginning. But as the audience loves feel-good movies, Will begins to let his guard down with Clarke, enabling a friendship to develop and ending in a relationship. Turning into Clarke brings him back into society, takes him on dates, and tries to make him remember a life he feels he has lost. Portraying to the audience, she'll keep him wanting to live. Which is not the outcome the audience receives, but ending in him being an inspiration to Clarke, expressing how much he has changed her life and made her realize not to hold back for other people, and envision how a man should treat her. She can listen to his advice, as Will had left her money to live and travel to Paris, which he had spoken about. She is living her life through will and will never forget him. From an outsider's perspective, you wonder why Will couldn't live this life with her, even though it wasn't what he had imagined. It's still a life to be lived. He helped her break away from a small town, but on her own, and he was so miserable being disabled as a rich man, he couldn't find ways to live. Creates a negative overcast on the disabled community.

Question 2 response - One example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation within the film Me Before You is all the protesting that a harmful message was being put out into the world, that a quadriplegic man would rather die than live in a particular disabled state. As the film portrays the dominant representation as a better dead than disabled, presenting her statement, the director Thea Sharrock recently says "that the movie is about 'the right to choose" (Buzzfeed, Lange). It's also a stereotype, unspoken about, that typically, individuals who are disabled and have a physical impairment distinction about themselves do not get to make their own choices. It is determined by family and caretakers involved, who have prior knowledge of what has been going on. Me Before You showed Will, a quadriplegic man, was able ot choose for himself what he wanted over what everyone else wanted. The disabled activists got to choose what his life was, to feel like a man again, able to do something for himself. This was a powerful form of advocacy, it gave the disabled society a leg to stand on and speak their mind, better dead than disabled is a mis of these directors' portrayal. Enabling a group to come together and create a voice for themselves, which happened, "The backlash has proven the power of the activists' collective voice — and might mark a turning point for disability representation in film and television" (Buzzfeed, Lange). They accomplished a voice and a change in how they viewed society and how they should be represented to the world; their lives are valuable.

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Prompt 1:

The Upside which was produced in 2017 is a film that focuses on narrative prosthesis. The movie centers around a man named Phillip, who is wealthy and has been diagnosed with quadriplegia. Philip decides to hire a caregiver with no experience named Dell. Throughout the movie, Phillip’s disability is portrayed in many ways. The movie goes about to tell that if Phillip did not have paralysis, then he would not have a caregiver or any relationship to build the narrative. Phillip is seen as having limitations and his caregiver Dell is helping him overcome the limitations. Towards the end of the movie, we see that Dell has a growth in helped Phillip with his disability and caring for him with compassion and a way to have a better future. Even though Phillip does have a transformation it shows that Dell has more of a transformation. The Upside reflects a disability trope: the disabled character story is not as impactful or inspiring as the nondisabled character as they are improving there future.

Prompt 2:

One example of a disability advocacy comes from a movie named Million Dollar Baby. The movie begins with actor named Maggie who is a boxer and undergoes a tragic injury leading her to become paralyzed. After her tragic accident, she chooses assisted suicide instead of living with the disability. The movie shows a stereotype as the disability rights community points out how the film reinforces that living with a disability is not worth it. Many of times theaters show this response and then it begins to circulate around social media platforms. This draws dangerous attention to the viewers as it shows a portrayal and debates about assisted suicide. The importance is to recognize that this is a tragic representation of disability and people living with disabilities should feel as they have the opportunity to make many memories and have many life experiences instead of ending it all.

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Share one example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation. (Several examples are in our readings for this week.) What was the dominant representation, and what did the disabled activists do in response? Why was this advocacy important, what did it seek to accomplish or accomplish?

One example of disability advocacy can be seen in the protests against the 2008 movie Tropic Thunder, which was discussed by Haller (2010). It was said that the movie used the R-word 17 times, a term historically aimed at people with intellectual disabilities and closely tied to negative stereotypes (p. 181). Since language shapes attitudes (and the media is very influential), disability activists argued that such use of the word reinforced harmful ideas and made it seem acceptable to use slurs in popular culture. In response, disability organizations and many other individuals gained significant media attention on both local and national levels (p. 181). Advocates worked to educate the public about the history of the R-word, explaining why it should not be used in any context and how deeply offensive it is. Their advocacy had many results. For example, nationwide rallies and events put on in high schools encouraged younger generations to stop using the term (p. 185). The protests also contributed to legislative change, like in 2008, a bill was passed to remove the R-word from educational curriculum and health codes (p. 185). Additionally, the activism drew attention to how celebrities and even political figures were still using the slur, which showed how common and harmful it was (p. 184). This advocacy was important because it challenged Hollywood’s harmful representation while also achieving cultural and legal change. It not only pushed back against one movie but also educated society of how harmful it is to use certain words.

How do films like Gattaca and Me Before You highlight the "better dead than disabled" trope? How is this message communicated to audiences, and what are the consequences? How could Hollywood avoid this trope?

Movies like Gattaca and Me Before You both show the ableism trope called the “better dead than disabled” trope. Me Before You, which came out in 2016, makes this trope noticeable. The movie advertises the idea of “live boldly,” but the main character, Will Traynor, who becomes quadriplegic after an accident, chooses assisted suicide. The movie suggests that because he cannot do the activities he once loved, his life no longer has value or meaning. This type of narrative tells audiences, as Lange (2016) discusses, that “life with a disability is not worth living” (para. 3). That is simply not true. People with disabilities can live meaningful, joyful, and full lives (like anyone else), and suggesting otherwise is harmful. Elainey (2016) adds that the movie also turns Will into a “plot device,” meaning his death is used mainly to push the growth of Lou, the non-disabled character. On top of that, disabled roles are often given to non-disabled actors, which limits real disabled voices from the screen (Will is not played by a disabled actor). Additionally, Elainey (2016) explains, the biggest challenge for people with disabilities is not the disability itself, but the discrimination and barriers created by society. Hollywood could avoid this trope by listening to disabled people, hiring disabled actors, and creating movies that show their lives as valuable and meaningful. Positive and realistic portrayals would help audiences see disability not as a tragedy. With all the media attention that the protesters got from protesting against this movie it will hopefully make changes in Hollywood (Lange, 2016, para. 19).

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Prompt #1: Apply narrative prosthesis to one of the films we have watched (excluding Me Before You) or another film about disability. Briefly analyze how disability is used in the film. (Hint: Think about how disability is being used as a plot device, how it creates the narrative and furthers the plot, how disability is used as a metaphor, how does the disabled character (s) somehow help the non-disabled character (s) become better people, overcome a challenge, or have a better future)?

In the movie Gattaca, narrative prothesis is used. Narrative prothesis is used to help build characters and story but it doesn’t accurately portray people with disabilities. The main characters in the movie both have disabilities. Jerome’s disability was that he was a quadriplegic and could not use his legs. Vincent had a couple of things wrong with him like a heart condition, ADD, and a brain condition. Both their disabilities really help build the plot. However, their disabilities do not reflect how a real person with these disabilities would live. The movie makes Vincent seem pathetic and that it would be hopeless that he would be successful in life and his career.  In the film they make it seem like he is not as good as others because of his disabilities, and the people in Gattaca treated him differently and like he was not capable. Jerome is viewed as being stronger and capable even though he could not use his legs because he was not born with a disability but became disabled because of an accident. The film makes it seem like Vincent’s disability is worse because he was born that way.  The scene where they switch disabilities helped Jerome get the job that he always wanted.

Prompt #2: Share one example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation. (Several examples are in our readings for this week.) What was the dominant representation, and what did the disabled activists do in response? Why was this advocacy important, what did it seek to accomplish or accomplish?

In the article Representing Disability in an Ableist World by Beth A. Haller, she talks about how movies do not accurately portray actual people who have disabilities (p. 175). According to her, “… the power of negative film images to add to the oppression of people with disabilities” (p. 175). For many years nobody protested or advocated for more accurate representation of people with disabilities in the media.  This changed after the release of the movie Million Dollar Baby when movie critics praise the film, but the disability community was livid about “… its portrayal of the assisted suicide of a person disability” (p. 176). Disability rights advocates protested the ridiculous message of Million Dollar Baby that someone with a spinal cord injury would be better off dead (p. 176). The anti-assisted suicide organization Not Dead Yet actively protested the Chicago Film Critics Association for giving great reviews to Million Dollar Baby and Not Dead Yet said the movie “prompts the killing of disabled people as the solution to the people of disability” (p. 177). The film does not accurately portray people with disabilities and did not follow the true rules of boxing. Other organizations also said that the movie prompted that living with a disability makes life not worth living.

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Apply narrative prosthesis to one of the films we have watched (excluding Me Before You) or another film about disability. Briefly analyze how disability is used in the film. (Hint: Think about how disability is being used as a plot device, how it creates the narrative and furthers the plot, how disability is used as a metaphor, how does the disabled character(s) somehow help the non-disabled character(s)become better people, overcome a challenge, or have a better future?)

The concept of narrative prosthesis suggests that disability in film and literature often functions less as a realistic representation of lived experience and more as a device that structures the story to engage and understand an actual disability life. In the film Wonder, Auggie's facial difference is not portrayed simply as one element of his identity, but as the very foundation of the narrative. His disability drives the plot forward, shapes challenges for others and serves as a metaphor for deeper life lessons.

Throughout the movie, Auggie’s presence only allows the people around him to develop and grow, such as his classmates, his sisters, and his parents. For example, his classmates learned to show empathy and kindness throughout their whole interactions with him, while his parents, especially his mother, rediscovered how to be there for Auggie's needs while still advocating for his disability needs. Auggie disability becomes a guide for non-disabled characters to become “better people,” which aligns with the critique of narrative prosthesis, disability is used to inspire change in others rather than being represented as a part of a person's everyday existence.

Furthermore, the film frames Auggie's difference as a call for help but also as a metaphor for inner beauty, courage, and moral growth. While framing aims to be uplifting it also risks reducing his disability to a symbolic function instead of presenting it as an ordinary aspect of human diversity. In this way, Wonder demonstrates how narrative prosthesis continues to shape disability representation in Hollywood movies. In the article, “This issues of someone’s “state of mind” should be at the forefront of the discussion of assisted suicide and disabled people, but rarely is.” ( Haller, pg.179). Rather than fully centering Auggie's own perspective, the film uses his disability as a narrative tool to deliver moral lessons to non-disabled audiences. Which is a lot of the time is not even true or the true meaning of living with a disability.

Provide one example of how disability is presented as an individual problem in a film we have watched, rather than a cultural, political, or social one. How does the film lean on the medical model of disability and how could it better support a social model of disability? In other words, how could the film show disability as a cultural, political, or social issue, not an individualized issue?

In the Elephant Man, disability is presented primarily as an individual and medicalized problem rather than as a cultural or social issue. John's physical difference is portrayed as a personal tragedy, something that isolated him and defines his life. The film emphasizes his suffering through a medical lens, showing doctors attempting to diagnose, which frames disability as a defect within an individual , something to be pitied, studied, or corrected.

By centering John’s  difference as a personal burden, the film overlooks the role of society in creating disabling conditions. The cruelty he experiences, being displayed as a “freak” and being denied his own dignity, are not an inevitable consequence of his body but the result of cultural and social prejudice. According to Elainey, “It perpetuates negative and ableist stereotypes about disability; it perpetuates the ideology that disabled lives are not worth living” (Elainey, 00:00:20-00:00:23). A social model of disability would shift attention from John’s body to the prejudice and discrimination structures around him. Instead of treating his difference as a problem to be managed, the film highlights the principle of “normal”, and the struggle of understanding disability and human diversity.

If the film learned into the social model, it could portray John not as a passive figure of pity but as a man navigating systemic injustices. Scenes could emphasize how institutions, such as medicine, entertainment, and charity, did use him for their own purpose, while denying him agency. By focusing on cultural and political forces rather than his body alone, The Elephant Man could show disability as a product of societal attitudes and inequalities, not just an individual tragedy.

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Prompt 1

In Wonder, disability is central to the story’s structure and emotional weight, making it a clear example of narrative prosthesis, a concept where disability is used as a plot device to support the development of non-disabled characters or the narrative itself. The main character, Auggie Pullman, has Treacher Collins syndrome, a condition that makes his appearance different from other children. While the film tries to promoe kindness and acceptance, Auggie’s disability is shown less as a view of his own internal world and more as a means for the emotional growth of those around him.

Characters like Via, Auggie’s sister, and Jack Will, his friend, go through significant character development because of their relationship to Auggie. Via feels neglected but later grows through her relationship with her brother. Jack Will learns empathy and becomes a better person after initially betraying Auggie. Even the school becomes kinder and more compassionate by the end of the film. In all these cases, Auggie’s disability serves as a metaphor for overcoming adversity, and his presence pushes the non-disabled characters to grow, reflect, and change.

While Wonder aims to normalize differences and promote understanding, it also leans into the idea that the disabled character exists to help others to become better people. This reinforces narrative prosthesis by using disability not just as a trait of a person, but as a tool to move the story and other non-disabled characters towards being better.

Prompt 3

One example of how disability is represented as an individual problem would be shown in one of the more recent movies we watched, “Wonder.” Auggie Puhlman is a boy with Collin’s Syndrome and is the main focus of the film. As the film plays out, the focus is always on Auggie and what is happening because of how people treat him due to his disability. The film dives deep into people treating him poorly and like some un-human creature and how he drives to overcome it. At the beginning of the film, the countless surgeries and hospital visits are hammered down upon and things like plastic surgery are brought up as jokes by Auggie himself during the film primarily focusing on the medical side of his disability. While the social aspect of his disability is investigated by Auggie making friends and overcoming bullies, the film could have gone deeper into the mental side of what Auggie is dealing with. Instead of having everything Auggie goes through being a means to an end, the film could have gone in the direction of Auggie and his family using what he had gone through to build awareness for what other kids with disabilities are going through. Rather than a family issue or a small school issue, the Puhlman’s could have made the issue of bullying and discrimination a larger issue which it is and have had it be not just a small school bullying problem.

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4. The better dead then disabled trope, is a very hard trope to watch for me. This is because I do not understand why the directors do not have the characters fighting to be happy with their new life. Just like in Me Before You it went on and on about how much pain he was in and how unhappy his new life was. But it never had a scene where he was thankful that he was still alive. He could have easily been killed right away and the movie would have been over in the first 10 mins. But it gives off a vibe that oh if you are in pain it is ok to just die instead. Which is a terrible thing to do, and just like the video Me Before you: Better DEAD than disabled? [CC] this movie triggered people who are chronically ill, or are wheelchair users. Even though in today’s world we take so many steps saying that suicide is never the answer, but I have never seen it made for a disabled person. But the article The "Me Before You" Backlash Was Bigger Than Anyone Expected had a quote stating “the movie is about “the right to choose” and called activists’ anger a “misunderstanding,” while screenwriter/novelist Jojo Moyes said you can’t judge a character “unless you put yourself in somebody’s shoes” — which only made protesters angrier.” But like I said earlier, suicide is never the answer, why is it ok for a disabled person? Now when I was growing up, in 8th grade I had a friend who was really sick. I remember my parents sitting down and telling me before school that he took his own life. It was very hard, but during the school day it just turned into he was in a lot of pain and was tired of fighting. It just makes me think if this trope wasn’t around and these suicide pervention adds where started to be directed at chronically ill and disabled people how many people it would save.

3. In the movie Me Before You there was a point in time that they were talking about Paris. William said that this was his favorite place to go, but he does not want to alter his image from when he went before his accident. William went on to say he does not want to go there when it is a burden to fit behind a table, or he doesn’t want to have to be fed his food. But it was his favorite place he has ever gone to. Then at the end of the movie it has Lou in Paris reading a letter from William and him explaining to her again why he loved the place. The director was trying to use this as Narrative Prosthesis, like the article Narrative Prosthesis Cheat Sheet states they are using this as a tool to build the plot. But this makes me think why is Paris not accessible for disabled people? Why can they not enjoy it as much as the able bodied counterpart? Like what William said he can not even fit in most tables at restaurants. That makes me think that it is a political or cultural problem. If it was easily accessible then he really wouldn’t have an excuse to not go back there other than he does not want to alter his image of Paris as a disabled person. But instead the movie made it seem like it was because of his personal or individualized issues on why he does not want to go back.

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1.     We see narrative prosthesis in the movie Wonder. Auggie’s disability is being used as a plot device because the movie is centered around him and the way he looks different than the other kids in school, with Auggie being bullied by Julian and his friends because of him being different than everyone else because of his disability makes it a bad thing. We see in the film that Auggie ends up helping other characters become better people just by being himself and showing them that just because he looks different than everyone else doesn’t me he actually is. Jack Will would be a good example of Auggie helping someone become a better person because Jack Will didn’t want to be his friend and was asked by the principal, and Jack Will was still making fun of Auggie especially during Halloween, but when Auggie stopped talking to him and hanging out with Summer more then Jack Will missed their friendship and became friends again. Jack Will also stood up for Auggie against the 7th graders when he most likely wouldn’t have in the beginning of the movie or when he was being a fake friend. As you can see focusing on Auggie’s disability and story throughout the film creates this narrative prosthesis of what it is like to live with this disability and leads to misunderstanding (WTF is Narrative Prosthesis). The misunderstanding that this prosthesis creates is that kids with disabilities will be bullied or have no friends in school and can create such a big worry to parents who actually have a child with a disability that is about to start school.

3. An example of how disability is presented as an individual problem that we have watched is Me Before You. The movie leans on the medical model by failed rehabilitation when they said he could only move his thumb and index finger just a little bit, and when will talks about the deficiencies of what he cannot do. This movie can better support a social model by showing that people with disabilities can have a good life, a life worth living (Haller , 2010), and get away from this “better dead than disabled” that way we can socially construct a new view of disability. Elainey makes a good point in her video saying that while adapting to becoming a disabled person it makes it almost even harder when all these able-bodied people are saying these ableist things like “I’d rather be dead than have a disability” or “wow you are such an inspiration” and even just as a society not having access for disabled people make it hard as well (2016). So I start to think back to Me Before You and see that people treat him differently after becoming disabled, like his mother asking why he hasn’t answered her calls, and where he’s been, basically treating him like a child all over again when he was 31 years old. The movie could’ve shown disability as a cultural issue by the way everyone just accepted that he was going to have an assisted suicide by the end of the film, which is now enabling the better dead than disabled trope.

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Prompt 1: Narrative prosthesis is a common trope in media that includes disabled characters. The definition of narrative prosthesis is when disabilities are used in media to progress a storyline or plot, or to build characters. (cheat sheet) As you can guess, this usually is done less than respectfully, and authors often use this as a crutch, or in the terms of narrative prosthesis, as a fake limb. They rely on it to help give characters depth, often turning the disabled character as an inspiration to everyone else, instead of just making them a regular character who should not be inspiring masses of people to be better. An amazing example of this would be the movie Wonder. While Auggie is framed as the main character, he is used to inspire the whole school and steer them away from their ableist ways. Beautiful, right? Well, that is not actually the case. Most commonly, disabled people in real life are thrown away or tossed aside because they are “too much” and need to put up with the mass amounts of bullying they receive. And while Auggie has the second one down, and put up with horrendous bullying, it still is not accurate. To put it frank, no disabled kid would win an award over the popular jocks, or the smart nerdy types. And that does not mean that disabled kids do not deserve it. They are just constantly in a state of being overlooked and sold short just because they differ from people. Auggie puts up with plenty of bullying-being told that he should not be alive, or that he is a freak- throughout the whole movie and forgives them all for the horrible mistreatment by the end of the movie, and everyone becomes an amazing person after. Instead of a heartwarming tale, it would be more realistic to just let disabled people share their own experiences, and I can guarantee that it will not be so heartwarming, with everyone just becoming a better person.

Prompt 3: In the movie Me Before You, disability is presented as an individual problems multiples times. The main character is left on his own, his girlfriend leaving him, his mother looking for a caretaker, and him lonely and waiting for death. While there is an adjustment phase to all substantial changes, he was happy at the end of the movie, with a girl who loves him with or without a disability. But he still ultimately chooses to end his life at the end of the movie. The film’s tagline is “Live Boldly” While the main character lets himself die at the end, which might be the direct opposite of what the tagline was inferring. It just gives off the impression that you should live life to the fullest, but only if you are not disabled. As Lange said in their article, this stereotype is harmful. It makes people think that disabled people cannot have a life worth living, and that they will never have a pure romance, or hold a job, have kids, and they will forever be dependent on someone to keep them alive. Instead of portraying disability in this way we should be instead trying to destigmatize the world around us. Letting disabled people share their truth and show that life is capable and worth living with a disability.

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1.     In Gattaca, disability functions as a very clear example of narrative prosthesis. This functions primarily as a plot device that shapes the story of the non-disabled protagonist. Eugene who was once a “perfect” person genetically becomes paralyzed after an accident. He is reduced to serving as a prosthesis for Vincent. Eugene has great genetic material which allows Vincent to pursue his dreams of traveling in space, while Eugene is used for his genes and his life is portrayed as devalued by disability. Eventually suicide is framed as a noble or hero act of sacrifice. As Ariel Henry argues in What “Wonder” Gets Wrong About Disfigurement and Cranioacial Disorders, disability is too often represented as tragedy or a lesson for others, rather than a lived identity with value. This arms he audience in thinking this is how I should view myself or disability as a whole. Similarly, Beth Haller backs this up with notes that mass media frequently use disability as a metaphor which strips the disabled characters of agency to inspire non-disabled audiences. Not giving the disabled characters a real story or future send out stereotypes of the wrong message. Gattaca reinforces these patterns by denying Eugene a manful and true future of his own and instead used his disability to highlight Vincents perseverance. The film shows the harmful idea that disability is valuable only when it advances the growth and success of non-disabled characters.

4.     Films like Gattaca and Wonder both highlight aspects of the “better dead than disabled” trope, through different lenses. In Gattaca, disability means that you are an inferior part of society, and the character Eugene who was once genetically “ideal” but became paralyzed, ultimate decides it is better to end his life. His death is framed as a hero or noble sacrifice that allows Vincent a non-disabled to succeed. This reinforces the idea that life with a disability is unbearable and that death can be a dignified escape. According to our cheat sheet reading real people with real experiences see these films and stereotypes and misunderstandings are formed about what is it truly like to live with a disability. This gives us a better idea of how dangerous these tropes in films can be. In Wonder, while more positive, still communicates a subtle version of similar logic. Auggie’s facial difference is portrayed as less of an aspect of his identity and more as an obstacle other must learn to be okay with. This turns him into an “inspiration” for the non-disabled characters rather than making his a fully developed character. Both films show the overall message through their characters and framing that disabled lives are tragic, a burden, or only valued when they serve a non-disabled persons growth. The consequence of this trope is audiences internalizing the belief that disabled lives are less worth living. Hollywood could avoid this by involving disabled creators in storytelling, portraying disabled characters with agency and complexity while being able to reject the narrative of disability being something to overcome or something that makes life unlivable.

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1. Apply narrative prosthesis to one of the films we have watched or another film about disability. Briefly analyze how disability is used in the film. (Hint: Think about how disability is being used as a plot device, how it creates the narrative and furthers the plot, how disability is used as a metaphor, how does the disabled character(s) somehow help the non-disabled character(s)become better people, overcome a challenge, or have a better future?)

2. Share one example of disability advocacy against a harmful representation. (Several examples are in our readings for this week.) What was the dominant representation, and what did the disabled activists do in response? Why was this advocacy important, what did it seek to accomplish or accomplish?

3. Provide one example of how disability in presented as an individual problem in a film we have watched, rather than a cultural, political, or social one. How does the film lean on the medical model of disability and how could it better support a social model of disability? In other words, how could the film show disability as a cultural, political, or social issue, not an individualized issue?

4. How do films like Gattaca, Me Before You, and The Elephant Man highlight the "better dead than disabled" trope? How is this message communicated to audiences, and what are the consequences? How could Hollywood avoid this trope?