Include ME, I count too

I hope this is not cheating as I hope to use this company as either my mentor or possibly assist them in spreading the word.

Changing The Face of Beauty

I work with special needs children, I do not like to use the word disabilities as others might including those affected by it because though they might not have an ability to do something they do have other abilities to do many other things successfully.  If we continue to use the word disability I believe that society will take it at its general meaning and not see passed this meaning.  I believe the word disability also promotes negativism.  However, in stating this I do not get upset or pass judgement on those who use this word, I am simply stating my belief.  I know many of you have heard these terms used before however you might not know that it encompasses many areas such as Downs Syndrome, Prader Willi Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Pervasive Development Disorder, etc.

I watch a show called parenthood, or at least I used to...I have a lot of catching up to do!  However, the producer, Jason Katims based the show loosely on his own life with his son who has Asperger's.  So I question, Why choose an actor who does not indeed suffer from Asperger's to play Max Braverman?  " An author is one of the speakers of his or her films" (Humm 98). Why does Katims not take on that role of speaker and use an actor with Aspergers?  Having special needs does not make it impossible for you to become your own person or partake in the same activities that a-typical people do.  Instead, they hired an actor by the name of Max Burkholder to play Max Braverman.  He does an amazing job as I do work with a child diagnosed with Aspergers however the show hired a behavioral psychologist to work with Max so that he knows how to play the role correctly for the scene they are shooting.
Why do we alienate people that simply have special needs?  If the show is willing to pay for a behavioral psychologist to show Max HOW to act why not hire an actor who suffers from the condition you are trying to portray and have the psychologist on call to assist should the need arise?  You obviously want it portrayed in the correct way, who better to do it than someone with the diagnosis?  "Relatively limited amount of factual information and a dual stereotype of people labeled as having autism as either dangerous and uncontrollable or unloved and poorly treated" (Jones, Harwood 5)



Unfortunately not all shows portray what it is really like to have a special need or what it is like to be diagnosed withDown Syndrome.  Not many shows inform the general public what it is like to interact with said persons.  Instead they give THEIR imagined version of what is real.  "It may look like something familiar, but in actuality it is a different universe from the world of the real" (Hooks 1).  We as a society learn a lot through movies and television and yet we are so completely ignorant as to many aspects of the world around us.  As Bell Hooks terms it "willing suspension of disbelief" (p. 3) we tend to "give ourselves over, if only for a time, to the images depicted and the imaginations that have created those images" and unfortunately we walk away with knoweledge that is not fact.

Who better to depict an image of FACT of these conditions then those families who are affected by it, by those people diagnosed with it.  However, very few movies and television shows actually seek to portray such diagnoses as autism, in Australia few are portrayed and they are portrayed incorrectly. (Jones, Harwood 5).  Mental Retardation has been portrayed in such movies as Slingblade and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.  None of the actors portraying this depiction of a mentally retarded person actually suffers from MR.  These movies portray severe cases of MR and so not many in society know that there are mild cases of MR that do exist and these people have the ability to function quite normally within society, in fact you might not even know that they suffer from this condition at all should one sit next to you.

Organizations focused on special needs people seek to change the way society thinks about them but are more focused on medical reform as many states do not cover many costs associated with these diagnoses.  It is also hard when for so long society has "shut the door" on them, confining them to psychiatric wards as a way to remove them from society back in the early 1900's.  Though institutionalizing is no longer the norm, we still have yet to open the door to them.  I don't believe this is much different from women in the media as we are still being portrayed in a negative way such as sex symbols with no brains.


This is where Changing the Face of Beauty comes in.  I feel that Changing the Face of Beauty is trying to set an example for those families who live every day of their lives knowing the true meaning about conditions such as Prader Willi syndrome, autism, Down Syndrome etc.  They are an organization created in the beginning of this year seeking to change what we see in advertising.  So many people are left out of the public eye because of their so called differences.  Take an abnormal psychology class and you might start thinking differently.  You might start to question what really is a-typical when the symptoms hit so close to home and you begin to think you might have more in common with special needs people.


Abby

Amber

Changing the Face of Beauty came about when the founders, Steve English and Katie Driscoll, got together because they each have a child with special needs and felt the need to immerse them in the world and show how they too can participate in activities just like anyone else can.  Katie Driscoll, whose daughter was born with Down Syndrome is also a photographer 5boysand1girlmake6.com, which I believe helps their campaign tremendously.  Her daughter was born with Down Syndrome.  Their mission is quite clear: "To integrate individuals with disabilities into general advertising.  It is our goal that all people will be represented all the time.  It is just right"  This mission holds true for all people.

Laylah

Aila

June

Kaylah

Taylor
 

 Last year Target ran an ad campaign featuring a boy named Ryan. Ryan has Down Syndrome, this fact was not mentioned when the ad ran.  Simply put, they included him.  If they mentioned his condition people looking at the ad might have had a different reaction, one possibly of empathy.  Instead Ryan was just one of the models.  These children, these adults...well they are not so different from the rest of the world.  They are people too.  They have dreams and aspirations.  Big bad media steps in and pretty much tells them that these dreams will never be met because they are not the face of society.  Well they are here to tell you that they are part of society, that they are part of the norm and they will not be rejected!  I support them.  I support this act.  I am greatful to Target and Nordstrom for using Ryan in their ads.  And yet I have one complaint, why just one ad?  Why just last year?  Why not continue on this path to include everyone.  Why not continue to take a stance and represent everyone, black, white, green, purple, autism, Down Syndrome.



 Images of: Kaylah, Taylor, Amber, Laylah, June, Aila and Abby were taken from Changing the Face of Beauty, link provided in the beginning of this post.

Bibliography:

Image of Ryan:
Time Magazine

Humm, Maggie  "Author/Auteur: Feminist Literary Theory and Feminist Film." Feminism and Film pp. 90-110.

Hooks, Bell. “Making Movie Magic.” Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies. New York: Routledge, 1996. 1-9.

Jones, S.C., & Harwood, V.(2009) Representation of autism in Print media. Disability & Society 24.1, 5-18