Disney, Dopey, and Disabilities

In their essay on the portrayal of intellectual disability in Disney films, Schwartz, Lutfiyya, and Hansen assert that Disney stresses the need to adhere to “normalized” expectations of intelligence by creating intellectually disabled characters that viewers laugh at and distance themselves from. They claim that the character takes on three roles in his characterization as mentally handicapped: the “sub-human animal,” the object of ridicule, and the “eternal child.” Combined, these roles serve to extricate the character from those around him and set him apart as a being of less value. While I agree that there is often a character in Disney movies, or all movies for that matter, who behaves ridiculously or seems less intelligent than his contemporaries, it is absurd to conclude that this allows that character to be labeled as intellectually disabled. It is much more reasonable and fitting with the literary trends of writers like Shakespeare that this unique character plays the classic role of the fool, an essential and long-standing element of many novels and plays.

I agree with the roles the authors assert that the fool plays, from serving as a glorified punching bag for other characters to providing a cheap laugh at his own expense. I even admit that I actually find a lot of the foolish humor pretty entertaining at times. The part of this piece that bothered me was the fact that it seemed like the authors were saying anyone who behaves unconventionally or has difficulty fitting into a stereotypical level of intelligence is mentally handicapped. I was especially surprised by their reference to Dopey’s “Down’s syndrome-like features,” which is an incredible stretch considering that he’s an animated dwarf with few features that bear legitimate resemblance to a human being in the first place. All of the dwarves have large, emphasized eyes and flat nasal bridges, which are typical features of individuals with Down’s. But this alone doesn’t provide any kind of solid foundation to claim that Dopey is modeled after someone with Down’s because all the dwarves show these characteristics, which happen to be typical of many animated characters from Disney movies to Japanese anime.

Their argument that the framing of these characters as intellectually disabled is hurtful to those who have mental disabilities is incredibly hypocritical. It’s much more insulting and disrespectful to those who are handicapped to assume that Disney characters who provide a laugh through their dysfunctional behavior have some sort of intellectual disability. While the authors’ intentions may have been to defend the mentally handicapped, they actually make the issue much worse.