I thought South Park was the only comedy that knew
how to play on the average person’s discomfort and general cluelessness around
people with disabilities. But then I saw a recent episode of Ricky Gervais’
Extras. It was brilliant. One subplot highlights the media’s manipulative use of
stories involving people with disabilities. Another thread looks at some of the
more uninformed reactions to the romantic partners of people with disabilities
(“That’s really nice of you,” says the show’s monumentally dense female lead to
a woman who reveals she’s the fiancee of Warwick Davis, a British actor and
little person). Gervais and writing partner Stephen Merchant pull off the difficult task of using disability themes to poke fun at the main characters while avoiding any overtones of condescension or exploitation. It’s reassuring to know that at least some in the media industry actually “get” disability issues. Some might argue that it would be nice to see disability-related comedy coming from people with disabilities themselves and I certainly agree with that sentiment. We need to keep working as a community to get our talent in front of and behind the camera. But in the meantime, I’m glad we have allies like Gervais and Merchant.
Have you ever watched the British version of “The Office”? They had a female character who used a wheelchair and was subjected to all sorts of ridiculous questions and behaviors. In one scene, there’s a fire drill and the boss (Ricky Gervais) and his trusty sidekick decide to carry the (protesting) woman down the stairs in an act of heroic rescue, only to tire out after a few flights and leave her stuck on a landing halfway down. Brilliant. There was a guy who uses a wheelchair in the special features of “The Office” and I believe he was a producer of the show or otherwise involved behind the scenes. Which made perfect sense to me because those guys, Gervais and Merchant, totally “get” it, just like you said. And I don’t know that “getting” it comes without observing how most people react to your family member or friend with a disability.