I agree, Lennard. It is especially imperative that we make the media
responsible for getting input from the disability community for those
accounts about disability that are not supposed to be 'fictional' such as
the polio doc. Documentaries are perceived by the public as the way
things actually happened. But we all know how they are no less open to
biased and stereotypical construction as other representational
endeavors. Saying this-- fiction based on 'real life' scenarios
(institutional and otherwise) such as E.R. should also be held highly
accountable. A watchdog organization definitely makes sense. I think we
have more of a chance of holding the media accountable in these areas
than in imaginative flights of fancy. Unfortunately, artistic license
shackles us in that realm. Bye for now,
Russell
Russell Shuttleworth, MA, MSW
Sexuality Research Dissertation Fellow of the
Social Science Research Council, 1998-1999
Doctoral Candidate in Medical Anthropology
University of California San Francisco and Berkeley
3333 California St., Suite 485
San Francisco, California 94143-0850
Home: 2448 Prospect St
Berkeley, California 94704
Phone: 510-848 9749
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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