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Monday, January 20, 2025
'Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement:' Sebastian Stan delivers powerful speech at the Golden Globes, but his disabled fellow actor was overlooked
The Mary Sue: The movie A Different Man highlights the condition neurofibromatosis, where non-cancerous tumors appear on a person’s body. While Sebastian Stan is the lead actor of the film, and just picked up an award for his performance at the Golden Globes, the real star of the show is Adam Pearson, who actually has neurofibromatosis.
I think this article raises a very important point about ableism, especially when regarding a desire for institutions to look inclusive without actually being inclusive. It's very telling that one actor won an award while the other, who actually has the disability discussed in the project, wasn't even let through the door. It brings up important issues of representation in media because without examples, such as this movie, that showcase disabled actors actual systemic change is never going to happen. Due in large part to people not being able to see themselves in that light and therefore assuming that certain kinds of people arent aloud in certain settings, such as the golden globes. It is exciting that a movie centering around a disability received this sort of recognition, much like Coda a few years ago. It proves that just because a certain kind of story has never been told before does not mean that it cannot be successful and critically acclaimed. It's just a little frustrating when Hollywood is so close yet so far from creating a diverse exploration of the human experience rather than presenting the same tried and true WWII movie.
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I think this article raises a very important point about ableism, especially when regarding a desire for institutions to look inclusive without actually being inclusive. It's very telling that one actor won an award while the other, who actually has the disability discussed in the project, wasn't even let through the door. It brings up important issues of representation in media because without examples, such as this movie, that showcase disabled actors actual systemic change is never going to happen. Due in large part to people not being able to see themselves in that light and therefore assuming that certain kinds of people arent aloud in certain settings, such as the golden globes. It is exciting that a movie centering around a disability received this sort of recognition, much like Coda a few years ago. It proves that just because a certain kind of story has never been told before does not mean that it cannot be successful and critically acclaimed. It's just a little frustrating when Hollywood is so close yet so far from creating a diverse exploration of the human experience rather than presenting the same tried and true WWII movie.
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