Just say it loud and proud: representation matters except when it comes to disabled people.

And realize that you’ve hit people like me with a triple exclusion whammy.

hE’s aN aCtOr hE’s suPpOsED tO aCT - HE IS DOING IT WRONG.

YOU ARE ALL PLAYING DISABLED PEOPLE WRONG AND IT IS DIRECTLY IMPACTING OIR LIVES FOR THE WORSE.

The way you portray us is incorrect.

That incorrect portrayal affects everything from whether we are

euthanized,
sterilized,
able to get public assurance,
get good health care,
find gainful employment,
get pain medicine or insulin.

It is NOT “raising awareness” when you’re made aware of LIES.

You are not “raising awareness” you are raising HARM.

wHAt’s tHe dIFfeREnCE?

WHY DOES IT MATTER WHEN IT IS YOUR LIFE BUT NOT WHEN IT IS MINE???

The difference between a person pretending to recover from trauma as an actor and a person pretending to recover from being disabled as an actor is simple.

Anyone can experience any level of trauma and know what it’s like because it’s a universal experience. Even if you’ve never been jumped, you know what pain is.

Or it would be evident from your performance and people would call you out LIKE WE HAVE BEEN DOING FOR DONKEY YEARS.

Yes. It’s not the brain fog I said donkey years.

No one can know the stigma, abuse, rejection, mistreatment by doctors, or anything else that often but not always goes with being disabled.

Y’all always play us the same handful of tired way AND IT DIES REAL HARM.

And even if we just wanted acting jobs, so we can become the Cranston’s if the world, guess what? That’s valid too!

THE ANSWER TO US NOT HAVING OSCAR WINNERS CAN NEVER BE DENYING US MIRE CHANCES TO SHOW WE CAN WIN OSCARS.

That’s like saying you shouldn’t be promoted at your job because you’ve never been promoted at your job! It is

RI
DIC
U
LOUS

Ridiculous.

The fact that you all don’t just listen to us instead of presenting these outlandish and asinine arguments as if you’ve never heard of truth?

I get why we have President Asterisk now.

I get it.

You don’t care about facts. You care about teams.

You hate disabled bodies and people SO MUCH that the idea of us being on the same team is unbearable.

So you tell us about “both sides” when THERE IS NO BOTH SUDES TO DOING THE RIGHT THING.

Either do what’s right or admit that you don’t care enough to listen to and respect our concerns.

If you took us seriously as people you wouldn’t do this.

You wouldn’t argue that we were wrong about our own lives.

You would say you don’t care what we want because you don’t care about us. At least that would be honest.

Go @ your pets. You care more about them being portrayed accurately than me.

I’m tired of having this “representation matters” conversation.

Had it as a woman.
As a Black person.
As a Black woman.
As a person of color.
As a Black American.
As a child of Africans.
As a disabled person.
As a disabled Black woman.
As a disabled Black person.

Exhausting.

Any role that requires the nuance of lived experience to be accurate should be played by people with that lived experience.

EVERY resource should be exhausted to make that happen.

Period. There’s no “both sides” to justice.

And the people who are arguing instead of listening?

You just don’t want to admit you don’t care or that disabled people repulse you.

Otherwise why are you arguing for the aide that says we don’t matter?

This is one of those cases that y’all are trying to complicate that’s actually simple.

You want to participate in justice or oppression. Simple.

I’m fresh out of benefit of the doubt.

Just say “we hate you” so I know whose art not to support and let me get in with my life.

@threadreaderapp unroll this thing my guy.

@ThreadUnroller