Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=MoErkesyMyM

Transcript

Our thoughts and feelings surrounding disabilities and inclusion are impacted heavily

from the media. The media can portray both positive and negative views of

disabilities which helps the audience develop their own attitudes. However, people

with disabilities are often viewed negatively through stereotypes. The media can

persuade the way the audience is to view people with disabilities, which often is then

reflected on how we treat people with disabilities in real life (Kapus, 2014). In many

movies, the person with the disability is often seen as the laughable character and

who is unable to participate in everyday activities. However, this is not the case in

the movie 'Wonder'.

The movie ‘Wonder’ follows a young boy, Auggie, who was born with Treacher

Collins Syndrome, which is a condition where some of their bones and tissues in

their face aren't developed. After being homeschooled all of his life, Auggie now

transitions into mainstream schooling for grade 5. From Auggie’s viewpoint, he had

surgery to make him fit in better socially, not to improve his function. Auggie’s

disability relies on kindness, not civil rights.

The purpose of this movie is to rework disability representations to show that people

with disabilities are just ordinary people. The movie provides the audience with a

realistic representation of the mixed attitudes that members of the society have on

people with disabilities. The movie addresses stereotype challenges and exclusivity

that people with disabilities face daily. However, in saying this, the movie shows the

audience that Auggie is just like every other ten-year-old boy, where he has normal

hobbies and a supportive family.

The movie portrays Auggie in a positive light in regards to his disability as he is

shown to be no different from any of the other children besides his physical

appearance. In many films “when a character has a disability, the disability itself is

often seen as the whole character” (Samsel & Perepa, 2013). However, this is not

the case in this movie. Auggie’s disability is a barrier for him as physically looks

different to everyone else, where he often gets judged and isolated based on his

appearance. Throughout the movie, Auggie's Mother continually tells him how

important it is to embrace his individuality by telling him "You can't blend in when you

were born to stand out". In the movie, Auggie is often wearing an astronaut helmet to

help hide his face, used to gain a sense of safety and belonging. The movie also

explores the effects that societal views have on people with a disability. One scene

shows Auggie asking his mother "why do I have to be so ugly". Through this, the

audience can gain an understanding of how Auggie feels after being bullied due to

his physical appearance. Towards the end of the movie, once Auggie's peers get to

know him, they discover that he is just like them. I'm sure many people with

disabilities would have gone through this same experience.

This movie addresses many stereotypes and social barriers for people with

disabilities are often faced with. The barriers and stereotypes that are presented in

this film play a significant role in Auggie’s character. This movie shows that people

have a lack of knowledge with disabilities which causes incorrect assumptions. By

people having very little knowledge of people with disabilities, they are likely to

believe any stereotypes they hear (Pearson & Trevisan, 2015). Auggie’s peers ask

him if he has to eat special food and assume that he is academically challenged.

One of the students tells Auggie that science is quite hard and he might not be able

to do it. Ironically, Auggie is seen to be quite intelligent, especially in science, where

he has a lot of knowledge in the area.

Another stereotype people with disabilities are often faced with is that people with

disabilities are incapable of living and participating in everyday life. However, even

though Auggie has a disability, he is able to go to school and was able to participate

in everything that all the other students could do and make friends. The movie also

shows how people with disabilities are bullied through language. Auggie is seen to

be bullied verbally at school where he is called 'a hideous freak', 'the plague' and he

even overhears a group of boys at school saying, "if I looked like him I would kill

myself". Research shows that children with a disability are bullied twice as often as

children without a disability (Schwartz, Blue, Mcdonald, Giuliani, Weber, Seirup, &

Perkins, 2010).
Wonder provides an accurate representation of disabilities and inclusion throughout

the movie. Auggie's principal is an excellent example of this as he addresses the

students who have bullied Auggie and makes it clear to everyone “that this school

has no room for bullying”. The principal is an advocate for inclusivity, where he

educates students and teachers on disabilities. The principal states that "(Auggie)

can't change the way he looks but maybe we can change the way we see him".

Another representation of inclusion is seen when one of Auggie's peers can view his

disability from a different perspective. Instead of bullying him, he has empathy for

him and tries to become his friend. Once he becomes friends with Auggie, he then

realises that Auggie is funny, smart, and a good friend. This is essentially what the

movie wants to promote, a society where we promote inclusion, equality and not let

stereotypes influence our judgement (Lu, Webber, Romero, & Chirino, 2018).

The movie 'Wonder' is an accurate representation of disabilities and exclusion as it

teaches the audience how we need to be kind, accepting and tolerant. We must not

make judgements from the way someone looks. This movie shows how people with

disabilities benefits a whole society. The main moral of this movie is to always look

beyond external appearances in a person.

 References

Kapus, A. (2014). Portrayal of people with disabilities in the media. Socialno

Delo, 53(3-5), 199.

Lu, J., Webber, W., Romero, D., & Chirino, C. (2018). Changing attitudes toward

people with disabilities using public media: An experimental study. Rehabilitation

Counselling Bulletin,61(3), 175-186.

Pearson, C., & Trevisan, F. (2015). Disability activism in the new media ecology:

Campaigning strategies in the digital era. Disability & Society, 30(6), 924-940.

Samsel, M., & Perepa, P. (2013). The impact of media representation of disabilities

on teachers' perceptions. Support for Learning, 28(4), 138-145.

Schwartz, D., Blue, E., Mcdonald, M., Giuliani, G., Weber, G., Seirup, H., & Perkins,

A. (2010). Dispelling stereotypes: Promoting disability equality through

film. Disability & Society,25(7), 841-848.