Challenges to representation of disability in arts and media ... on radio and social media

More disability, arts and media news, firstly from Nathan Basha - be quick, the audio file is available only for 7 days. The interview runs for a substantial 12 minutes:

I had the pleasure of joining my colleague and mentor Genevieve Clay-Smith from Bus Stop Films on Mornings with Wendy Harmer on ABC 702 (radio) yesterday (23 May). 

We were talking about the work Bus Stop Films undertakes around inclusive film making and how we can and need to get more job opportunities for people with disability in the Film Industry.  

Listen to the interview here - we are on at about the 1 hour 41 minute mark.

You can move the audio file slider directly to the 1 h 41m mark to hear the interview.


Not only do we want to see more representation of people with disability on film it needs to be done well. This recent Twitter Q &A about the yet-to-be-released feature film 'From Me to You' exemplifies how not to do it, and how people with disability can use social media to challenge the inherent ableism in the film:

Sam Claflin Ends Twitter Chat on #MeBeforeYou - After Disability Activists Fight Against the Film's Ableist Message
Dominick Evans, Storify, 23 May 2016

May 23, the official @MeBeforeYou film Twitter account announced that actor @samclaflin would be hosting a twitter chat, and disabled activists from around the world showed up to challenging the harmful messages and assertions this film makes. 

These messages include:

- Disabled people cannot have healthy, intimate relationships
- Disabled people's deaths benefit non-disabled people
- Disabled people are better dead than disabled ...

Added 25 May 2016:

Spare me, “Me Before You”: Hollywood’s new tearjerker is built on tired and damaging disability stereotypes

Emily Ladau, Salon, 24 May 2016
The love story of a suicidal quadriplegic and his young aide is the latest to objectify disabled people ...

"Ableist, Stereotypical, and Offensive" or: Why I Hate "Me Before You" (15m 15s)

Dan Harvey, 24 May 2016
Thirteen years ago today, I sustained a spinal cord injury, and began living my life as a person with quadriplegia. Ten days from today, on June 3rd, "Me Before You" -- a film that features a character with a spinal cord injury -- will be released in theatres across North America. To celebrate my anniversary, I made this to explain why "Me Before You" is offensive, ableist, and perpetuating negative stereotypes about disability.