Disability representation on television is increasing, but slowly. And in an ever-expanding programming landscape, it’s also increasingly harder to find, and viewers in the disability community are struggling to feel seen.
In the U.S., 26% of the adult population lives with a disability, and 1 billion people worldwide are members of the disability community. But as prominent as this community is in the population, it remains largely unseen, or inaccurately depicted, in content that appears on screen.
As of September 2022, there were 923,229 total television program titles available to audiences, up 43% since the third quarter of 20191. And while the volume of disability-inclusive content has increased over time, progress is slow, especially when compared to the increase in available programming generally. Disability inclusion in video content peaked in 2019, when 518 productions were released featuring disability themes and characters2. But this number is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to total content production. As of December 2022, 7,556 video titles included disability thematic attributes, but that represents just 4.1% of the 183,089 total titles with descriptor metadata released during the same period.
With inclusion numbers like these, it’s not surprising that 46% of people with disabilities feel their identity group is underrepresented on TV. In fact, disabled people are 34% more likely than the general population to feel they are under-represented on screen3.
Und bei den Sendungen, in denen Menschen mit Behinderungen zu sehen sind, ist der Anteil des Bildschirms nach wie vor gering und begünstigt unverhältnismäßig stark die Einbeziehung von Menschen mit nicht offensichtlichen Behinderungen im Vergleich zu Menschen mit sichtbaren Behinderungen. Der Gesamtanteil von Menschen mit Behinderungen am Bildschirm beträgt 8,8 %, während Menschen mit sichtbaren Behinderungen nur 0,4 % ausmachen.
While screen time is low across all platforms, cable stands out as having the highest total disability representation on screen, at 9.5%. And this on-screen representation is having an effect on how audiences with disabilities feel about cable—disabled people are 23% more likely to say that cable is the most relevant platform to them, compared to the general population2.
Menschen mit sichtbaren Behinderungen sind mit weniger als 1 % auf allen Plattformen weitaus weniger vertreten. Diese Lücke in der Repräsentation bietet Möglichkeiten für Inhaltsersteller und Plattformen, Talente zu fördern und Geschichten von Menschen mit sichtbaren Behinderungen hervorzuheben.
“The inclusion of disabled talent does not happen by accident. It is critical to have representation behind the scenes to ensure better and more authentic representation on screen,” said Lauren Appelbaum, SVP of Communications and Entertainment & News Media, RespectAbility. “We need people with disabilities in a position to influence storylines and narratives, help make decisions about casting and talent, and represent the disability community throughout the creative process.”
Spotlight: Dead to Me
One show putting a spotlight on people with visible disabilities is Dead to Me—a dark comedy about the friendship between a recent widow and a free spirit with a secret. Actress Christina Applegate, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, plays one of the two main characters, Jen. As one of a very few leading characters with a visible disability, Applegate is aware of how her disability might be perceived by viewers.
In an interview with The New York Times, she explained, “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am. I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane…I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it.’ Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls.”
With its season 3 premiere debuting at number 4 of Netflix’s top 10 list, and with more than 290 million hours streamed of the show to date, Dead to Me’s popularity demonstrates that audiences aren’t shying away from watching content with disabled talent, rather, they are embracing it.
Aber allein die Einbeziehung von Talenten mit einer Behinderung reicht nicht aus. Menschen mit Behinderungen wollen in den von ihnen gesehenen Inhalten die authentische Realität des täglichen Lebens abgebildet sehen, und die derzeitige Darstellung bleibt weit hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Laut unserer Studie "Einstellungen zur Darstellung im Fernsehen" vom April 2022 sagen Menschen mit Behinderungen mit 52 % höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit als die Allgemeinbevölkerung, dass die Darstellung ihrer Identitätsgruppe unzutreffend ist.
To underscore the importance of inclusivity and authentic representation, consider the disability community’s views about ads that appear during inclusive programming and ads that feature people with disabilities: the community is 17% more likely to engage with the brand when the ad is placed within inclusive content and features people from the disability community2.
And the advantage for brands can mean increased revenue for inclusive content providers and platforms. Brands spent $738 million on advertisements in disability-inclusive broadcast and cable programs—7.5% of the total $9.9 billion in ad spend across broadcast and cable during the same period4.
Die Medien- und Unterhaltungsindustrie hat sich an die Spitze der Befürworter von Vielfalt in allen Formen gesetzt und hat es in der Hand, das Bewusstsein zu schärfen und die Darstellung von Behinderten voranzutreiben. Die Freigabe von mehr Projekten, die Einbeziehung von mehr behinderten Talenten auf und neben dem Bildschirm, die Förderung der Selbstidentifikation, damit Studios Talente finden können, um eine authentische Darstellung zu gewährleisten, sind nur einige Schritte, die Studios und Inhaltsproduzenten unternehmen können. In einer Welt, in der der Kampf gegen Ungleichheiten und Stereotypen anhält, haben die Medien die Verantwortung, die Inklusion von Menschen mit Behinderungen zu verwirklichen.
Anmerkungen:
- Gracenote Eingliederungsanalyse, Q3 2022
- Gracenote Video Deskriptoren
- Nielsen-Studie über die Einstellung zur Darstellung im Fernsehen, April 2022
- Nielsen Ad Intel, 3. Quartal 2022
