Glee

While I was living abroad, I was only marginally aware of the media that was thriving in America.  There are still movies that people reference now that came out while I was in the Philippines that I was previously unaware of.  The shows, movies, and trends that did reach me while I was abroad, did so because they generated enough buzz to sustain relevancy during the rare occasions I was able to access the internet long enough to plug in to the American media stream.  One of these shows, was Glee. I wasn't surprised by the widespread success of Glee; they do a reasonably good job of blending irreverent comedy with performing/singing/dancing, and do so while invoking nostalgia amongst their viewers by featuring some of the most recognizable songs of the last thirty years.  When I finally did get a chance to see Glee for the first time, I was less interested in the singing and dancing than I was in the disabled character, Artie.  I immediately began to wonder whether or not the actor who plays Artie (Kevin McHale) is actually disabled.  Hollywood has a long and unfortunate history of using non-disabled actors to represent disabled characters, and Glee proved to be no exception.

This article, from the Guardian, was written by a person with a disability and outlines the ways Glee has failed to accurately represent disability through Artie's character.  Not only did they miss an opportunity to cast a disabled actor, of which there are plenty who possess the singing and acting chops to play the Artie character, they also chose to represent disability in the same, tired ways it's typically been represented throughout mass media.  The episodes that are centered around the Artie character are meant to be inspirational and uplifting; Artie succeeds against considerable odds, constantly having to overcome his disability in order to achieve what is so much easier for the non-disabled characters to achieve.  His disability is never forgotten nor ignored.  Some episodes show him dreaming of what it would be like to be 'normal', a world in which he can sing and dance (out of his chair) just like everybody else.

Even if Glee possessed no intentions at approaching disability in a more accurate, socially progressive way, the most egregious decision they made was to cast a non-disabled actor.  It might be tempting to suggest that this casting choice demonstrates a level playing field; perhaps Kevin McHale was the best candidate for the job.  I'm more inclined to believe that their casting choice gave them the freedom to do episodes where Artie triumphantly left his chair, and his disability, behind.  I believe Glee missed a real opportunity to portray a disabled character with talent and charisma that is completely unrelated to his disability.