Welcome to Ralph Li, Roxanne Roxas, Jennifer Snow, and Joline Chen’s COGN 150 Final Project Blog. So what is R2J2? To clarify, it's nothing immensely cryptic.
Essentially, Ralph + Roxanne = R2 and Jennifer + Joline = J2. We know, we know. It's not very original, but it gave us a good laugh.
If you like our not-so-subtle play on words/reference to Star Wars, then perhaps you'll find the rest of this blog interesting as well.
We are here to analyze films, cartoons, and animations in relation to disabilities in media. We hope you find the content of this blog entertaining, intriguing, and perhaps even enlightening.
Sources:
Sally Chivers, “The Horror of Becoming ‘One of Us’: Tod Browning’s Freaks and Disability,”Screening Disability, Ed, Christopher Smit and Anthony Enns," (57-64).
Paul Longmore. “Screening Stereotypes, Images of Disabled People in Television and Motion Pictures”. Why I Burned my Book, and Other Essays on Disability. Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 2003.
Nicole Markotic, “Disabling the Viewer: Perceptions of Disability in Tod Browning’s Freaks,”Screening Disability, Ed, Christopher Smit and Anthony Enns," (65-72).
Jack A. Nelson, "Broken Images: Portrayals of Those with Disabilities in American Media," The Disabiled, the Media, and the Information Age, (1-24).
Martin F. Norden, The Cinema of Isolation, A History of Physical Disability in the Movies. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ, 1994.
etc.
This blog is a project done for UCSD's COGN150 class. We do not claim to own or hold any authority over the content discussed. Please don't sue us.
The Transforming Figure of “The Beast”
The Beast character in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is often overlooked as a character with a disability. We often associate physical disabilities with the inability to perform basic motor functions essential to daily life. In the film, the Beast does not exemplify any lack of physical ability. In fact, he seems to possess supernatural strength which can be taken as an enhanced ability. Sure, we perceive him as an atrocious looking fellow with poor etiquette, but hardly as someone with a disability. When we delve a little deeper into the film’s imagery and symbols though, we discover that the Beast is in fact a disabled character and Disney uses this fact to highlight its story of both external and internal transformation.
The closest “disability” the Beast exemplifies is that of physical deformity. While not a disability that creates physical hardships, physical deformity, especially disfigurement of the face, does provoke public scrutiny and is accompanied by social limitations. The disability involved is not a lack of a necessary function, but the lack of socially acceptable appearance. This discourse brings to mind an episode of The Twilight Zone called “Eye of the Beholder” that touches upon the desire to “fit in” and the social acceptance of image.
There are real life examples of the Beast character. The Elephant Man of the 19th century, although set within the freak show context (infamous for its exploitation of disabilities), is a perfect example of an individual solely viewed as a spectacle and contrived as socially inept by societal standards. Likewise, the Beast is portrayed as a brute with a personality that matches his appearance. As a result, this physical abnormality is seen as a trait that is displeasing to the audience and something that needs to be changed.
Here is a quote from Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability by Paul K. Longmore that I thought was appropriate in describing how Disney was portraying the Beast.
Disability has often been used as a melodramatic device not only in popular entertainments, but in literature as well. Among the most persistent is the association of disability with malevolence. Deformity of body symbolizes deformity of soul (Longmore 133).
In the film, Disney employs the physical disfigurement of the Beast as an outward representation that parallels his internal struggles. The message that comes across to viewers and is especially impressionable is that physical “beast-like” characteristics and “ugliness” are associated with bad behavior and a bad personality. Most notably, the fact that the film emphasizes the transformation of the Beast as a necessity hints at the idea that deformities are unnatural and ought to be changed.
