Discussion of Disabilities and Film
A Module for ENG 200
 Hollywood has taken a number of approaches to people with disabilities. Sometimes, the disability is the source of humor. At other times, the disability becomes the focus of the story. And in other films, a character simply has a disability.
During our discussion, we will identify movies that have characters with disabilities. Then we will discuss how those movies reflect the culture and time period in which they were produced.
We will use Freaks (1932) as the starting point for our discussion. Freaks centers on the lives of "sideshow freaks"--the term used in 1932 to describe carnival people with serious mental and physical disabilities.
During this discussion, we will consider the ways in which people with disabilities are portrayed in film. But, more importantly, we will focus on how those films both reflect and educate the cultural time periods in which they were produced.
Butterflies are Free (1972)
Because it reflects American culture in the early 1970s, one of the first films that I think lends itself well to a discussion of disabilities and film is Butterflies are Free (1972). I have compiled some notes about the film.
Assessment
An assessment rubric will be used to assess this discussion; a discussion that will be conducted over a two week period. Each week of the discussion will be assessed individually.
Purchasing Freaks
I purchased my copy of Freaks from Deep Discount DVD for $13.26. One thing I like about Deep Discount DVD is that they do not charge postage and handling fees.
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Reading Assignment
You should read Danel Griffin's review of Freaks. Although I do not agree with all of Griffin's analysis, I do think that some provocative points are raised in it.
You should also read Jeremiah Kipp's review to get a more restrained historical overview of the movie.
Research Assignment
Conduct research on the Internet and in Schoolcraft College's online databases about the issue of race and film. This research will be incorporated into our discussion.
If you are not familiar on how to effectively do online research or how to use the online databases, the following materials might be useful to you:
Unless you are working from campus, you will need a username and password to access the databases. For legal reasons, I cannot post them on my web site. But they will be posted for you in BlackBoard. Or, you can get them from one of our college's research librarians.
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