The comedy series, which premiered today, depicts a gay man with cerebral palsy.
, the show's lead uses self-denigrating comments to make others feel more comfortable about his disability. At the most basic level, he is unable to own his cerebral palsy. Instead, Ryan morphs it into the injuries he sustained from a car accident to “normalize” it and to make it more relatable to his coworkers and peers.
In the trailer, there’s a scene where Ryan asks, “If you could get rid of the thing you hate most about yourself, the thing no one else understands, wouldn’t you do it?” Ryan’s way of coping with his disability is to make fun of it and even mask it before anyone else can. The underlying message of this show could be damaging for similarly disabled viewers. It perpetuates the notion that their existence is comical and that they should strive for a limited amount of “normalcy." In a day and age where society and media are sending the message to folks to be their most authentic selves, regardless of race, gender, body type or sexual orientation, it is disheartening that the same message cannot be sent about the disability community.
Considering how few shows there are on disabilities, the media must now move away from the “funny” narrative of disability and reach for programs that are authentic and more nuanced.I focus on the intersectionality of race, socioeconomic status, and politics on people with disabilities, especially women. I hold a master’s degree from Columbia Univer...
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