Nov 25 2008
Warning! Disabled People, Don’t Look!
As a former care worker in a nursing home, I have had the privilege of getting to know hundreds of disabled people over the years. Many have been physically disabled, others have been mentally disabled but they all had one thing in common - they were human. I used to love talking to them and listening to all of their stories. Of course, the presence of a wheelchair or aids to help them doesn’t make them any less interesting. As with all of us able-bodied, that is down to our personalities and I fail to view someone in a different way because they happen to be blind, deaf, paralysed or in possession of a prosthetic limb.
So imagine my disgust when I heard today that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) gave the 12A film Special People a censor warning because it featured disabled people.
Yes, the BBFC, which is supposed to be both impartial and moral, marked the film because it featured a disabled cast. It is the first British film that has largely had disabled actors playing disabled characters, which is actually something to be proud of. But no. The BBFC decided that this very fact may offend people and made sure that everyone knew in advance. Special People was effectively discriminated against.
Firstly, if anyone fails to go to see a film because it stars a disabled person then he or she has serious issues and should look long and hard in the mirror before stepping outside. Of course, disability groups reacted, quite rightly, with outrage and the notice was removed from the film earlier on this month, but it does beg the question of prejudice. Why stop at disabled people? Why not note if a film has a strong, independent woman in it as that may offend some? How about ethnic minorities? If the BBFC started to note that there were women or ethnic minorities in a film then the whole of the UK would hit the roof so how is this acceptable? It never fails to amaze me that a burglar that had broken into a home and been bitten by the household’s dog would get an apology and compensation because of human rights but they do not seem to apply to those who are not considered “normal” by some people in positions of power.
1 in 5 people in the UK alone are disabled today and have a huge part to play in society. As such, it is about time that the last of the remaining prejudiced institutions in the UK woke up and smelled the coffee because there is no place in modern society for any form of discrimination today.
