A new study has found that nearly 80% of characters portrayed with disabilities in scripted TV series from 2016-2013 were played by able-bodied actors.
“The State of Disability Representation on Television: An Analysis of Scripted TV Series From 2016 to 2023,” commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, was based on a survey of 350 scripted TV shows from 2016 to 2023, with recent shows like “Sex Education,” “As We See It” and “Echo” highlighted for portraying disabled characters navigating dating and using wheelchairs. In total, only 3.9% of characters had a disability across the 350 shows, a disproportionately small number considering that nearly 30% of the U.S. population identifies as having a disability.
Of those characters with disabilities, only 21% of them were portrayed by actors with the same, or a similar, disability. The study notes that this number can fluctuate every year due to how low the number of disabled characters is, with the lowest share of 9.4% in 2018 and highest share of 33.3% in 2016.
“These findings reveal two stark realities; firstly, that the data underscores the underrepresentation of individuals with disabilities on television despite one in four Americans having a disability, and secondly, that progress towards this goal has stagnated in recent years,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “The narratives presented on screen greatly influence societal perceptions and understanding of inclusion. We urge writers, producers, and decision-makers to take note of our recommendations and commit to authentic representation without hesitation.”
The study also brought in the issue of intersectionality, noting that LGBTQ+ characters were twice as likely to be portrayed with disabilities than characters outside that community, with 8.5% of LGBTQ+ characters shown with disabilities. Additionally, 4.4% of all white characters were portrayed with disabilities, compared with 3.1% of characters of color. However, the study notes that racial diversity of disabled characters remained largely stable over the observed years.
In order to combat these low numbers, Ruderman’s study recommends that the industry green light more stories by people with disabilities behind the camera, adopt authentic casting processes and focus on crafting narratives that feature characters with disabilities without making the disability a focal point.
“At the Institute, we’ve always championed worlds on screen that reflect our real-world population off screen – using our data to inspire change in how characters and stories unfold,” said Geena Davis, founder and chair of the Geena Davis Institute. “Authenticity leads to richer stories and a more inclusive world on screen, and we can make that the norm and not the exception.”
(Pictured: Actor George Robinson in Netflix’s “Sex Education”)
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