Opinion: British TV show challenges stereotypes
November 14th, 2009
Writing in the [UK] Guardian, actor Simon Startin praises “Cast Offs,” a new British TV mockumentary that maroons six people with disabilities on a remote British island. Startin, who has multiple disabilities, says the series portrays its characters provocatively without making apologies or “spoonfeeding” disabilities to the audience. An excerpt:
Early press coverage of the series is getting pretty excited about the notion of disabled people getting drunk and having sex (this is not news to me), but I sincerely hope this not all Cast Offs is remembered for. It aspires to be a seminal piece of television by being a vigorous riposte to traditional “impairment-informed writing” that fails to see any further than the disabilities of characters. Cast Offs promises to create storylines that go far beyond this, and in the process portrays its characters as fully rounded people, not “merely” disabled.
See also:
Is sex for the disabled the last taboo? — [UK] Times
Cast Offs: Channel 4 comedy drama tackles ‘ last taboo’ of disability — [UK] Telegraph
Cast Offs: An intrepid foray by Channel 4 into sensitive territory — [UK] Times
With Cast Offs Channel 4 has turned disability into a comedy drama — [UK] Times
(Guardian photo from Channel 4)

