Professor Charles XavierFrom ‘X-Men’ (1992)

What is his Disability?He is paralyzed fro the waist down

(and so is paraplegic). As described in the comic book version, he became

disabled in a rock fall battling an Alien called Lucifer. This meant that he was then forever confined to a wheelchair.

How does he benefit from this disability?

He is able to represent the mutants without people knowing for sure if he is himself one, because people would not look at a disabled person and say they

are a mutant; this contradicts the stereotypes of him being unable to

participate in daily life..

What disadvantages does he have to face?

The ability to move freely, like a abled person, is not something

that he can do when facing enemies. Because he is limited to his movement, he is not able to

escape his death in the third film by the Phoenix.

Does it make him seem a villain or a hero?Because he is helping people and making sure that mutants have their rights, he is doing good in the world and therefore is considered a hero in the films. He also

helps child mutants to control and accept their powers; which is making him a hero to

those around him and the audience.

What does this show to the audience?This ultimately shows that just because he is

disabled, he doesn’t necessarily make him weaker than a average or ‘normal’ person and contradicts

the stereotypes of a disabled person being ‘pathetic or pitiful’ as well as ‘sinister or evil’

because his manipulative mind controlling powers are used for good not evil and he probably is as

strong as a normal person.

Is the Disability shown accurately to the audience?

His disability is shown accurately to the audience because although he is strong mentally (by his

mind control of others), he still is physically weak. This shows to the audience that not everyone is

perfect, even though they consider themselves to be ‘normal’.

Matthew Dalby

‘The Joker’From the Batman Comics

and Films

What is his Disability?Unlike Prof. Charles Xavier on the

other page who has a physical disability, The Joker has a mental disorder and is portrayed to the audience of having a personality disorder and therefore being a

psychopath.

How does he benefit from this disability?He is intelligent as well as being mentally disabled and uses this to his advantage in

order to intimidate his victims and the Batman because he seems more frightening

and unpredictable if he is acting all psychopathic. He likes to see everyone else

endure pain (therefore being sadistic).

What disadvantages does he have to face?

Because he acts as a villain and does not keep quiet about his actions, he is constantly being

challenged by the Batman and has been defeated on a couple of

occasions.

Does it make him seem a villain or a hero?He is a villain in the Batman series because

he uses his intelligence in order to trick people into doing what he wants and then

turning each other against one another afterwards (shown in the Dark Knight Film

when they are robbing a bank).

What does this show to the audience?Just like Prof. X, the audience sees that just

because the joker has a disability it doesn't mean that he cannot be as scheming and evil as a

‘normal’ human or criminal. In fact, I think that because he has a mental disability he is even

more scary to the audience because they are not quite sure on what he will do next...

Is the Disability shown accurately to the audience?

His disability is shown accurately to the audience because his mental disability

shows that many villains portrayed in films and TV shows maybe do have a mental

disability and also supports the stereotypes of disabled people being ‘laughable’, ‘his

own worst enemy’ and ‘an object of violence’

Matthew Dalby