They have been branded demonic and feeble-minded for centuries and are seen as a strain on the public purse. Now there is an attempt to change the public’s perception of the disabled using animation, but is this enough to change an age-old stereotype? Chinwe Akomah investigates.
The comedian Jim Davidson once caused uproar when he refused to perform in front of a Plymouth audience because wheelchair users had occupied the front row. Part of his act was aimed at disabled customers and he would be unable to perform under such circumstances”. And last year the BBC reported that pro-golfer Tiger Woods was forced to apologise when he referred to himself as a “spaz” after his poor golfing performance.
Comments such as these have sparked concerns that disability discrimination is still rife but there is little belief that Creature Discomforts, the brainchild of award- winning Nick Park will change this.
In November last year Park’s company Aardman Animations and the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity launched the Creature Discomforts campaign. Based on Creature Comforts, it combines the hugely popular plasticine animals with the voices and experiences of real disabled people. And it is hoped that the campaign will challenge the negative attitude the public has towards the disabled. Sarah Devenport is not convinced.
Sarah is a 20 year-old geography student from Preston. She has had Kniest disease since birth. Her condition means that she has difficulties with her joints and may develop arthritis while young. She is also partially deaf, blind and is wheel-chair bound. Sarah’s parents refused to send her to a school for disabled children, believing it would force her to accept the handicap label.
She says, “The media portray us as needy. I am in a wheelchair but I can still do things. It can be seen as sarcastic and patronising. Animals and humans are different things. You tend to laugh at it.”
The plasticine characters had previously involved light-hearted themes such as Christmas but now they will be used to get a serious message across, which may be seen as patronising and defeat the purpose of the campaign.
Ann Batty, the Preston human resources and administration officer for the cerebral palsy charity, Scope, believes that Creature Discomforts will raise awareness because people enjoy watching animations and the information would be remembered for longer periods. But she adds, “Education from an early age would help massively towards combating disability discrimination”.
Similarly, Professor Jennifer Harris, the Director of the Interdisciplinary Disability Research Institute at the University of Dundee, believes that animations are not effective,“My experience is that it is only direct contact with disabled people that changes people’s perceptions.”
But some disability charities have welcomed the campaign. Bryan Dutton from Leonard Cheshire: “We want to change the way they see disability, to think and act differently”. Pukar, a charity working with disabled ethnic minorities in Preston, believes that the media coverage is a good thing.
Their manager, Nisha Patel, believes the public look down on disabled people as though they are not intelligent. It is worse for disabled ethnic minorities as they are largely marginalised by society.“We live in a world where we have ideals to be certain ways. If you don’t fit in, people see the difference as a problem and fear you, and it brings about ignorance. Disabled people need to get more chances with the media so that people’s perceptions change.”
However, Nisha suggests that employers also have a duty. “Training programmes can help and a lot of people need to be trained on the frontline. It does impact.” It remains to be seen what impact Creature Discomforts will have when it is aired in January but there is a difference between Jim Davidson and Tiger Woods gaffes and the animations. While the formers put disability discrimination in the public eye the latter attempts to debunk disability without the discrimination.
It seems that it is not about apologising for our prejudices but making sure there are none to apologise for.
