Photo by Holly Mindrup from Unsplash
The character of Jake Sully fits the disability standard wheelchair-bound person stereotype.
The film takes place in the future when there’s an operation people can undergo to reverse paralysis. However, Jake cannot afford it.
Because the premise involves controlling an Avatar with your mind, Jake is rarely seen in his wheelchair.
He is ecstatic when he experiences being an Avatar for the first time.
He runs as fast as he can away from the researchers who want to do simple tests with him first.
“Disability hierarchy also incorporates moral judgments about attitude and behavior with those perceived as
hard-working, positive, and inspiring valued over those considered lazy, self-pitying, or faking.” (Schalk, 408)
Presenting Jake as having the attitude of “once a marine always a marine” and with no sign of mental disabilities makes it easier for the audience to accept him into society.
Mental disabilities carry a much greater stigma and encourage more stereotypes. Avatar comforts its audience by keeping the disability barely noticeable.
In real life, I want people to view my disability as a small part of me. But the “plot” of my life still involves it.
Jake being in a fully able body through the entire film doesn’t serve as a good disability representation.
The film focuses more on “quelling anxiety” around disability than representation.
Jake is an ideal disabled veteran.
“The film is only able to maintain this unsullied perspective by demonstrating Jake’s able-mindedness;
through his persistence, reliability, intelligence, and creativity throughout Jake’s mission, thereby banishing anxieties about PTSD and TBIs.
Their role as physically disabled soldier-heroes is foundational to the disability hierarchy.” (Schalk, 410)
“Able-mindedness” is what ableism is, or at least what it can lead to. Comparing and striving for an “able-body” is a recipe for internalized ableism.
It can lead to being ashamed of mobility aids or thinking disabled is a dirty word. This can result in not connecting with the disabled community because you’re fighting against it.
Films like Avatar that feature a disability cure miss the point of representation.
Having no disabled people in the future reinforces disabilities as a weakness that a more advanced society can eliminate.
Source
Schalk, S. (2020). Wounded Warriors of the Future Disability Hierarchy in Avatar and Source Code. Journal of Literature & Disability Studies, 14(4), 403-419. https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2020.27