What “The Peanut Butter Falcon” Teaches Us About Ableism in Hollywood

I chose to watch “The Peanut Butter Falcon” because this movie sets a realistic standard of how people with disabilities should be represented on the big screen. Consider a world where Margot Robbie had down syndrome, she would not have been casted to play Barbie in the film “Barbie”.

Hollywood has a habit of reflecting ableist perspectives. Meaning that through the lack of representation of people with disabilities, discrimination against them is heavily reinforced. Although diversity, equality and inclusion are being addressed and combatted among the industry, those conversations mostly exclude the disabled.

Actor Danny Woodburn stated it clearly, on the topic of Hollywood’s diversity initiative he said: “If you’re going to discuss diversity, it has to be completely inclusive of the groups that really define diversity, not just a select group that is popular. It’s popular to say LGBT groups, women, people of color define diversity. It’s not so popular to say people with disability define diversity. But the reality is that disability puts the ‘D’ in diversity.”

Disabled people’s lives are far more dynamic than Hollywood films typically portray them to be, and there is great potential for a broader spectrum of articulating disabled lives away from outdated ableist tropes like the “blind-but-sees-the-world-better-than-anyone else” idea, for example. “I want to see screen time devoted to disabled characters played by disabled actors. I want to see them falling in love, navigating the benefits system, incarcerated, going through adoption, divorce, career changes, homelessness, teen angst. I don’t want to see disabled mascots. I want to see disabled life.” explains Cathy Reay as she reflects on Hollywood using disabled people as “mascots.” The acceptance of an ableist mindset in Hollywood film culture results in the increased marginalization of people with disabilities. Consequently, this gives the impression that their condition is their only value when in reality their stories should be told through a more abstract lens.

In 2012, a Census Bureau study found that the amount of people in America with a disability was 18.7% but only 2.4% of characters with disabilities were represented on screen. In 2017, The Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at USC found that in the 100 most popular films, characters with disabilities face a deficit on screen as only 2.5% of speaking characters were depicted with a disability; 61.6% of them being physical disabilities, 26.8% mental and 30.4% communicative. Not only is there a clear gap between the reality of those living with disabilities and the number of disabled characters, there is also a lack of authenticity when it comes to the stories being told about them.

It was no surprise to me that “The Peanut Butter Falcon” was a heartfelt, emotional drama but the portrayal of allowing a disabled main character the independent freedom of expression was surprising to see in a Hollywood feature film. Going into this film I was prepared to see a disabled character struggle with stereotypical disadvantages such as bullying and being an outcast of society, but this film was crafted in a way that Megan Nurcombe states (and I agree) challenges the socio-political significance and dominant worldviews centered around people with disabilities.

“The Peanut Butter Falcon” tells the story of Zak, a young man with Down Syndrome who escapes his residential nursing home in hopes to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Hollywood studios were initially opposed to casting Zack Gottsagen for the role of Zak due to the scarcity of starring someone with a disability, particularly one as prominent as Down Syndrome. In contrast to the more common on-screen disabilities such as autism, blindness, or a wheelchair user that depict disabilities as a characteristic, Zack was a representation of disabilities being shown as more than just a characteristic; but a part of his identity.

“The Peanut Butter Falcon” represented a shift toward more humanizing disability depiction in movies, without supporting Hollywood’s conventional ableist approaches. A disability and mad studies scholar’s review of the film supports my appreciation for the film’s ability to represent a disabled character in a fresh new way when she describes how “the film has a set up that could so easily have fallen into old and harmful tropes. Yet it subverts all those stereotypes while maintaining a light and positive tone.”

Filmmakers should aim to represent disabilities in all its forms, authentically, and in a humanizing way especially considering that Hollywood is easing toward more diversity in their films. “The Peanut Butter Falcon” is an example of how to do that properly, future Hollywood filmmakers could benefit from moving in the same direction as movies like this instead of repeating and reinforcing ableist tropes.

-Maya Ezibe

(Citations available upon Request).