Representation of Disability

Representation of Disability

The opening of this clip shows a women standing beside a man, the woman is speaking about someone called ‘Billy’. The clip then switches to a very dark, low-lighted scene of an unusual looking boy walking through a dark area that looks like a forest. He is being tracked walking through this forest at night; this suggests that something is wrong because he then begins to dust himself off. The sound being played in this scene is also very mysterious and suggests that something is out of the ordinary.

Next there is a clip of typical police dogs pulling at their leads though a forest, the fact that they are pulling suggests that they have either found something or maybe looking for something, maybe ‘Billy’.  The music throughout this is very eerie and mysterious which suggests wrong doing. We then see a few police officers that are looking very closely at the ground.

We then see Billy, again the use of the tracking shot lets us see that he is moving, the shot of Billy also allows the audience to see that Billy appears very naïve and also quite innocent and oblivious to the fact there are police officers following him. There is then a close-up shot of Billy’s face, from this we can see that he has a small cut on his cheek which also links to the previous idea of wrong doing. Within this shot, disability is being represented because Billy seems to be easily frightened and also maybe very vulnerable.

Billy then turns and runs and as he does so we hear a voice in the distance shout ‘oi’, this suggests that Billy is in trouble. There is then a shot showing the police officers running after Billy and shouting for him to stop. One of the officers catches up to Billy and tackles him to the ground. This would represent disability because Billy began running long before the Police officer did yet he caught up with him and also manages to push him to the ground.

A low-level shot is then used to show the police officer and Billy on the ground, they seem to be having a struggle, this allows the audience to see that Billy is overpowered by the police officer. Disability is represented here because Billy is weaker and also it appears that Billy needs to be taken control of. Once Billy has calmed down and another police officer has caught up to them Billy is pulled up and he says ‘I have done nothing wrong’, from this we can hear in his voice that he has a disability as he struggles to pronounce words. Disability is represented here because he is pitiful and being overpowered. The use of a low level shot for this clip also shows disability.

We then see a pan of a group of people, we assume neighbours gathered outside a house which we can also assume is Billy’s due to the police officer guarding the door, this represents disability because he is a ‘threat’ to the community and this is why there is a police officer standing outside his house.

We then enter the house and there is an older man talking to another man, he says ‘I shall have to have someone with me when I talk to him, its just routine’ The reason someone would have to be present would be if the person was a child or is they have a disability so disability is also represented here. Detective Frost also asks the man, whom we assume is Billy’s father if Billy would be considered mentally abnormal. Frost is correct and Billy’s father then explains that Billy is handicapped. Frost then mentions that he will have to have ‘have someone with me in case I break the rules’, this represents disability because he is saying that when around people with a disability he must be extra-careful.

Billy’s mother then enters the shot, she is carrying a bowl of water and asks the inspector if she can ‘clean him up’ before they speak to him because ‘he will feel better’. This represents disability because she wants to clean him before they speak to him and this has connotations of being treated like a baby.

Frost then enters a room and within the room there is a police officer and Billy, the police officer appears to be guarding Billy. Billy’s father then kneels down beside Billy and this is shown using a high angled shot, this further reinforces the idea of disability being represented as child like. The way the father also speaks to Billy when saying ‘no one said you have son’ also represents disability because he is speaking to Billy like a child. The father introduces ‘Mr Frost’ and again uses a very soft tone, similar to the tone you would use when talking to a child.

Frost sits down and again the use of a high-angled shots shows vulnerability. We then see a close up of Billy’s facial expression; he looks very confused and also a little worried.  His facial expression may also suggest that he was suspicious, maybe of those with authority. The fact that within this shot his head is tilted to the side adds to the idea that those with a disability are easily confused. We then see a high angled shot from Billy’s point of view, this combined with him saying ‘I was frightened’ could reinforce the representation that frost would be in control and more powerful.  

There is a long conversation between Billy and Frost and throughout the conversation Frost is speaking in a very calm tone and he is also using very simplistic words and phrases. During this conversation Billy is not speaking very often however when he does he is very defensive and this would suggests that he is feeling threatened or maybe even guilty.

When Frost asks Billy if he say Tricia this evening the shot of Billy is slightly different to the ones of when they were having a conversation, in this shot it is more zoomed out and we can see his father sitting behind him and when Billy is asked a question, the father also nods in response to the question, this would show disability because the father feels the need to answer the question as well, maybe implying that Billy may either lie or not be able to answer the question himself. Billy also says he saw Tricia earlier that day in a ‘playground’, within this clip, Billy saying he saw her in the playground represents disability because again it is very childlike and a playground is also somewhere innocent that he could go.

When Billy says what sort of time of the day he last saw Tricia his dad speaks over the top of Billy’s head to answer the question more precisely, again the father feels that he needs to answer the questions for his son which would suggests that he is innocent and vulnerable. Frost then asks if Billy saw Tricia again after tea, Billy replies to this by looking down slightly and shaking his head in response, this makes Billy look very innocent and also may make him look slightly confused.

When Frost is speaking about Tricia, Billy appears to be looking down, this may show that he is either feeling guilty or maybe a little worried. When Frost asks Billy is he can help them to find Tricia, Billy shakes his head again, this is a very child-like action and this represents disability because we associate disability with being quite immature and child-like.

Frost uses a very patient tone when talking to Billy and this combined with Billy being very abrupt when correcting his father shows that Billy may be feeling a little threatened and maybe scared.  Billy appears to become very agitated and defensive when Frost says that someone saw Billy speaking to Tricia in the woods, he may be feeling this way because he is guilty and doesn’t want to admit to seeing her. This would represent disability because Billy is feeling under threat so he is beginning to lie and he is also lying because he doesn’t want to get in trouble so this also links to him being very immature.