So I literally just heard about Sightless today... having some mixed feelings because I don't really love that Mads is playing a blind character. I know that even if she didn't play it, the casting director still would've cast a not blind person, but likeee

I feel like the problem is with casting directors looking for wards to avoid casting disabled people. There's always some reason that they "can't" hire them, when you know there has to be someone who's blind who could way more accurately represent that experience

And I think it's so easy to try and excuse it because its Mads and we all love her, but this is something that has got to change. It's just as important as characters of color actually being played by poc, or trans characters actually being played by trans actors

And I mean, I love and support so many cishet actresses who have played queer characters, but I find that I enjoy watching queer characters so much more when they're played by queer actors. I know that that person is getting to represent something they can relate to

It makes that character more relatable to me, and makes me feel more proud of the work put into the character and movie/show. It sucks that shows and movies can so easily ignore queer actors and disabled actors and chalk it up to "well it wouldn't work because"....

Like, obviously a blind actor can't play a non-blind character... but that means that the movie was written to be played by a non-blind actor, otherwise the writer would have taken that into consideration, right? I can think of a few ways they could have included a blind actor

I'm glad that Mads is getting more acting experience, and I don't believe she's taken this role with any bad intentions. I don't really blame anyone for wanting to watch it. I just think this is a problem that should at least be pointed out, bc this happens a lot in tv/movies

And I know that a lot of people reading this thread are probably abled, as am I, but I think that it's super important for abled people to notice and point out these problems. I've been trying to get better about this myself and just wanted to share my thoughts