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.
而在有残疾人参与的节目中，屏幕份额仍然很低，而且与明显残疾的人相比，非明显残疾的人的参与比例过高。残疾人在银幕上的总份额为 8.8%，而明显残疾者仅占 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.
可见残障人士的代表性则要低得多，在所有平台上的比例均低于 1%。这种代表性上的差距为内容创作者和平台提供了机会，让他们能够支持人才，提升可见残障人士的故事。
“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.”
随着第三季首播登上Netflix热播榜第四名，且迄今累计播放量突破2.9亿小时，《死党》的火爆人气证明观众并非回避残障演员参演的作品，反而正积极拥抱这类内容。
但是，仅仅纳入残疾人才是不够的。残障人士希望在他们观看的内容中看到日常生活的真实写照，而目前的表现形式与他们的期望相差甚远。根据我们在 2022 年 4 月进行的 "电视表现态度研究"，残疾人认为对其身份群体的描述不准确的可能性比普通人高出 52%。
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.
媒体和娱乐行业一直带头倡导各种形式的多样性，并有能力提高人们的意识和推动残疾人的代表性。为更多的项目审批绿灯、在屏幕内外纳入更多的残疾人才、鼓励自我身份识别以便电影制片厂能够找到人才以确保真实的描述，这些都是电影制片厂和内容创作者可以采取的几个步骤。在这个与不平等和陈规定型观念作斗争的世界里，媒体有责任让残疾包容成为现实。
备注
- Gracenote 纳入分析，2022 年第三季度
- Gracenote 视频描述符
- 尼尔森电视代表态度研究，2022 年 4 月
- 尼尔森Ad Intel，2022 年第三季度
