From the [UK] Independent:

Jack Thorne, a co-writer for the BBC series “Cast Offs,” says his own experience inspired him to create a show that explodes a few myths about disability. Thorne has a condition called chronic cholinergic urticaria, which is basically an allergy to heat, and another co-writer, Alex Bulmer, is blind.

Thorne says the protagonist of the series, Dan (portrayed by Peter Mitchell, left), represents himself as he was adjusting to life as a man with disabilities. He says the show is about Dan being “born-again” as he is immersed in the world of disability and “discovers that not all disabled people are as introverted or full of self-hatred and pity as he.”

Dan’s coming-out story is all about that basic truth – a truth I learnt as he did: disabled people are just as annoying as non-disabled people.

… Disablism remains a big prejudice in modern society. Last year on Jay Leno’s primetime talk show, the President of the United States made a joke about disabled people which, if it had been about any other minority group, would have led to serious questioning of his ability to lead the country. Obama said that his performance at bowling was so bad “it was like the Special Olympics or something”. Disability, by Obama’s definition, was about difference and failure.

And TV buys into this prejudice; if it moved on from race discrimination in the 1970s, it’s not moved on from disabled discrimination yet.

Thorne says his show is a “filthy, funny, different TV show” that tries to shed the usual stereotypes of people with disabilities as quirky object of pity and rather portray them as authentic.

(Independent photo)

Earlier posts here and here.

See also:

• Cast Offs – Time to cast a new light on disability — [UK] Independent
• BBC casts deaf actress in lead role — [UK] Daily Mirror
• It’s okay to call me a spastic, says comic Laurence Clark — [UK] News & Star
• It’s OK, you’re allowed to laugh at Cast Offs — [UK] Times

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am and is filed under entertainment, media, television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post