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.
E dos programas que apresentam pessoas com deficiência, a participação na tela continua baixa e favorece desproporcionalmente a inclusão de pessoas com deficiências não aparentes em comparação com pessoas com deficiências visíveis. A participação total na tela para pessoas com deficiência é de 8,8%, enquanto as pessoas com deficiência aparente representam apenas 0,4%.
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.
A representação de pessoas que vivem com deficiências visíveis é muito menor, caindo para menos de 1% em todas as plataformas. Essa lacuna na representação apresenta oportunidades para que os criadores de conteúdo e as plataformas promovam talentos e elevem as histórias de pessoas com deficiências visíveis.
“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.
Mas apenas a inclusão de talentos com deficiência não é suficiente. As pessoas que vivem com deficiências querem ver as realidades autênticas da vida cotidiana retratadas no conteúdo que assistem, e a representação atual está muito aquém das expectativas. De acordo com nosso Estudo de Atitudes sobre Representação na TV de abril de 2022, as pessoas com deficiência têm 52% mais probabilidade do que a população em geral de dizer que a representação de seu grupo de identidade é imprecisa.
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.
O setor de mídia e entretenimento tem liderado a defesa da diversidade em todas as formas e tem o poder de aumentar a conscientização e promover a representação de deficientes. Dar luz verde a mais projetos, incluir mais talentos com deficiência dentro e fora da tela, incentivar a autoidentificação para que os estúdios possam encontrar talentos e garantir representações autênticas são algumas das medidas que os estúdios e os criadores de conteúdo podem adotar. Em um mundo onde a luta contra as desigualdades e os estereótipos persiste, a mídia tem a responsabilidade de tornar a inclusão da deficiência uma realidade.
Observações:
- Análise de inclusão da Gracenote, terceiro trimestre de 2022
- Descritores de vídeo Gracenote
- Estudo Nielsen Attitudes on Representation on TV, abril de 2022
- Nielsen Ad Intel, terceiro trimestre de 2022
