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Disability in soaps |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,884
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Disability in soaps
Would anyone like to see more disabled characters in soaps? I think it would reflect society better. As someone with autism I'd love to see someone playing a character with autism.
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Scottish Borders
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Yes I'd love to be in a soap and I have Aspergers Syndrome
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#3 |
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: London
Posts: 26,675
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I think minorities are under represented in most of the soaps except Hollyoaks.
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#4 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Over the hills and far away
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Emmerdale has Lizzie who is blind (the actress is in real life as well). The character Chris Tate was in a wheelchair for many years, and Jackson who was paralysed after an accident (although that involved the horrible assisted suicide story). Elderly Sandy is also quite physically disabled, and unable to get around without a mobility scooter. River City used to have an actress with down's syndrome a few years ago. The only other characters I can think of with a disability was Sandy in Crossroads, who was a wheelchair user, and Izzie in Coronation St.
I think in Emmerdale's case it would probably be unrealistic to have more disabled characters, given that they have a few characters with physical or mental health problems, purely due to the size of the village, but the city-based soaps could probably do this. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Sep 2013
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Hollyoaks had an austistic character (Spencer) and now Will, who isn't really disabled, but anyway. Nana's mobility is limited. Anna has mental health problems. Oh but now she's dead, because of Will. Indeed, I think 50% of soap characters have mental health problems otherwise they wouldn't be soaps...
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#6 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,445
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Hollyoaks have Oscar, who is deaf. I always thought Dylan from Casualty was supposed to have Asperger's, too.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Emmerdale is the only soap that has had a long term main character with a disability, and one whose plots didn't exclusively revolve around his disability.i.e. Chris Tate.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Moo
Posts: 1,148
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Quote:
Would anyone like to see more disabled characters in soaps? I think it would reflect society better. As someone with autism I'd love to see someone playing a character with autism.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Quote:
Roy from Corrie has autism and Izzy needs a wheelchair
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 53,967
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I always thought it was a shame that Pete and Hayley in Hollyoaks didn't last long and weren't particularly great characters because I always liked that "disabled issues" weren't really the point of them being there and they had stories outside of being in a wheelchair.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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Although it's never been made explicit, Roy Cropper seems to have Aspergers. He's eccentric and finds stressful situations hard to deal with. I would like Corrie to do a storyline where he is diagnosed with it. He is by far the most interesting character they have ever had, and I want them to delve deeper into his psyche and find out what makes him the way it is.
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#12 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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Quote:
Although it's never been made explicit, Roy Cropper seems to have Aspergers. He's eccentric and finds stressful situations hard to deal with. I would like Corrie to do a storyline where he is diagnosed with it. He is by far the most interesting character they have ever had, and I want them to delve deeper into his psyche and find out what makes him the way it is.
I should add, I don't consider OCD a disability, but it can be a very debilitating health condition, so I'm just using it as an example I much prefer when soaps take the approach that Emmerdale has with Lizzie and Chris Tate, and River City did with the girl who had Down's (it was a long time ago, I can't remember her name) - that they're characters first and foremost, and the disability is part of that, but not the whole.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
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Rhona and Marlons baby in Emmerdale was born with Downs Syndrome, and there was a storyline over the choice they had whether to abort him. Now he's born and is doing fine!
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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I'm not sure about this, sometimes I think it's good if in soaps (as in life) they don't label everything. Nikhil in Emmerdale for instance had some symptoms of OCD and perhaps an eating disorder. He didn't seem to have the more serious symptoms of OCD, so he might only have had it in a mild/moderate way. They could have had him being diagnosed and made an 'issue' storyline but they didn't, it simply remained part of his character. As someone who has severe OCD, but like Nikhil is high functioning I found that refreshing - I didn't want to see it turned into an 'issue' story.
I should add, I don't consider OCD a disability, but it can be a very debilitating health condition, so I'm just using it as an example I much prefer when soaps take the approach that Emmerdale has with Lizzie and Chris Tate, and River City did with the girl who had Down's (it was a long time ago, I can't remember her name) - that they're characters first and foremost, and the disability is part of that, but not the whole. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: South Wales
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at the moment jean with bipolar
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#16 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 229
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Quote:
Ah, good point. I forgot about Izzy out off of Corrie. They have dealt with her disability very well.
I think it would be more helpful to show how sometimes people in wheelchairs are restricted in getting around despite all the regulations in place. I don't think it should become all the character is about by any means but at least reflect real life a little bit.. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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Quote:
Roy from Corrie has autism and Izzy needs a wheelchair
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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And don't forget Tyrone who has a mental age of about 4
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#19 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
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Lets all not forget about Eastenders superstar Adam Best.
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#20 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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I understand what you're trying to say, but I don't want disability to be brushed under the carpet, either, and forgotten about. There's lots of misconceptions about Aspergers, and if Roy Cropper was officially diagnosed with it, there'd be a better understanding of it, and people would see that the disorder is a spectrum within itself and no two people afflicted with it are the same. Some people think that everyone with AS is like Rain Man. If a soap opera watched by ten million people could show this is not the case, it would definitely help.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Leeds
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Quote:
I don't agree that they deal with Izzy's situation "well". I am constantly amazed that Izzy gets around so swiftly, up steps, into a flat etc with no apparent difficulties. I think it makes wheelchair use look far easier than it really is!
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jul 2011
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Tell me about it. I am in a wheelchair and I went to the Corrie set back in the days of the Granada Studios tour and believe me those cobbles were a nightmare and there are no dropped curbs or anything. And I am still trying to work out how Izzy gets into the factory when there are three steps up to front entrance.
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#23 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
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Quote:
Tell me about it. I am in a wheelchair and I went to the Corrie set back in the days of the Granada Studios tour and believe me those cobbles were a nightmare and there are no dropped curbs or anything. And I am still trying to work out how Izzy gets into the factory when there are three steps up to front entrance.
I don't want Izzy's disability to define her either, but I agree that it wouldn't hurt to put in the occasional throw-away line for her, about struggling to get into the Rovers or the flat, or some shops etc. |
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#24 |
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Quote:
I don't agree that they deal with Izzy's situation "well". I am constantly amazed that Izzy gets around so swiftly, up steps, into a flat etc with no apparent difficulties. I think it makes wheelchair use look far easier than it really is!
I think it would be more helpful to show how sometimes people in wheelchairs are restricted in getting around despite all the regulations in place. I don't think it should become all the character is about by any means but at least reflect real life a little bit.. Quote:
Tell me about it. I am in a wheelchair and I went to the Corrie set back in the days of the Granada Studios tour and believe me those cobbles were a nightmare and there are no dropped curbs or anything. And I am still trying to work out how Izzy gets into the factory when there are three steps up to front entrance.
I don't know who lives where in Corrie.Yes I agree that soaps could have little touches that just make it more 'real' like ramps and other adaptations -things that could be done to suggest the difficulties the character might face, without turning them into an 'issue' - just an everyday part of life for that character.
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#25 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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Quote:
I think minorities are under represented in most of the soaps except Hollyoaks.
I'd say homosexuality is pretty well represented in Emmerdale and Corrie also. I don't watch EE anymore or Hollyoaks, so can't comment there. I would like to see more mental/physical disabilities across the board though. Edit: I was just thinking... what happened to Lizzie in Emmerdale? |
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I much prefer when soaps take the approach that Emmerdale has with Lizzie and Chris Tate, and River City did with the girl who had Down's (it was a long time ago, I can't remember her name) - that they're characters first and foremost, and the disability is part of that, but not the whole.
I don't know who lives where in Corrie.Yes I agree that soaps could have little touches that just make it more 'real' like ramps and other adaptations -things that could be done to suggest the difficulties the character might face, without turning them into an 'issue' - just an everyday part of life for that character.