Disability Representation

The A Word:

The A Word is a BBC drama that ran for 6 episodes and is about a 5 year old called Joe who has autism and how his family cope with it. This portrays how a family deals and work with a child's disability; first they won't accept they are too sacred of the stigma it will bring especially as they live in a small village in the Lake District where everyone knows everyone's business and there is rarely anyone not "normal". This represents the stigma that many carry/worry about if being disabled/ having a disabled family member live with and how disability is judged as so negative that would would rather keep it secret or refuse to acknowledge it. This particularly shown to be worse in rural areas as shown in the A Word the people can be less accepting reinforcing the negative image of disability. As the drama develops it shows how the family struggle to decide what to do help Joe; this represents how much effort and work is put into helping a disabled family member and how this can put a strain on the family. Again this is an negative image of disability. The A Word can also represent disability in a positive way as well as it shows how the family will not give up on Joe and still love him fully regardless of his disability, Joe is also a lovable character that the audiences feel for which represents how a disability doesn't stop people from being likable.

Sherlock:

Sherlock is a BBC drama that is based of the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the BBC series staring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Homes and Martin Freeman as John Watson especially in the first episodes John Watson is represented as having symptoms at least of PTSD post traumatic stress disorder. He suffers from nightmares, trust issues, an intermittent tremor and a psychomatic limp. The first episode starts with John talking to his therapist where he is rather reluctant to go into detail and tries to claim hes fine. This represents how although John has gone to see a therapist he still can't admit anything is wrong. This is typical representation of disability particularity a mental disability of denying and claiming to cope. This is a very typical representation of males with disability in the media. As the episode and series continues John's illness is very quickly forgotten about and it appears that Sherlock and the adrenaline from the crimes have "cured" him. This is not a very good representation and often angers fans and viewers as they see it as completely unrealistic and a unfair portrayal of the disability. This represents the disability in a negative light as by completely ignoring it, it is represented as a weakness and as it is so easily "cured" in the TV show many people feel that it dose not represent just how hard it is to deal with and again paints the image of feebleness among people that do suffer from it. This is typical representation of disability for it to be shown as a weakness and something can easily be managed. This is particularly key for mental disabilities.

Holby City:

Zosia March is a junior doctor in the BBC drama Holby City. The first sign of the disorder is shown when Zosia has a particularly bad relationship breakup with another doctor Jesse. From here Zosia takes drugs to try to help her heart break and often goes out drinking which only worsens her mental state. Zosia is manic and out of control to the point where she puts patients lives at danger; her father (also in the programme) is Guy Self a top neurosurgeon and he refuses to acknowledge there is something mentally wrong with Zoisa. This is a negative representation of disability as it shows how people will not accept and are ashamed to admit it either for themselves or for family members. After seeing Zosia's video dairies where she talks about her mental state of mind, Guy accepts she needs help and sends her to a rehab clinic. Here is formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Again Guy can not bring himself to believe she has a real diagnosed