Chapter 7: Disability and Popular Culture

demonic cripple

a self-loathing, deformed disabled character who will stop at nothing to get what they want

• ex) Shakespeare’s Richard III, Victor Hugo’s Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

obsessive avenger

a demonic cripple character who will stop at nothing to enact revenge on the cause of their disability

• ex) Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, J.M. Barrie’s Captain Hook in Peter Pan

charity cripple/sweet innocent

a disabled character who is portrayed as almost entirely dependent on the good graces of others for their every need

• ex) Charles Dicken’s Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol

autistic savant

a person with exceptional skill or brilliance in a particular field

• ex) Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes

violent simpleton

an intellectually disabled character who is dangerous to themself and others because they do not know how to control their strength

• ex) John Steinbeck’s Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men

saintly sage

a disabled character who is depicted as wise, virtuous, and often elderly

• ex) blind hermit who befriends the Monster in Bride of Frankenstein

slasher films

horror films that feature psychotic serial killers who stalk and murder people

disabling humor

humor that denigrates disability (laughing at)

disability humor

humor that enlightens disability (laughing with)

disability impersonator

nondisabled character who impersonates disability, intending to make fun of disabled people

comic misadventurer

a disabled person who gets in trouble because of their impairment

wise simpleton

a naive disabled person who is thought to be wise by the other characters; mixture of the simpleton and the sweet innocent