MEDIA STUDIES
This upcoming Tuesday, I will be presenting at Truman’s Student Research Conference. In an analysis of the 2001 film, I Am Sam, I am explaining how the aesthetics of the film positively portray the social method of disability studies.
If you would like a sneak peak, feel free to take a look at the paper in which I am presenting.
MEDIA STUDIES
The following is a paper abstract that I submitted for Truman State University’s 23rd Annual Student Research Conference. Pending acceptance, the paper will be presented in April.
The 2001 film I Am Sam moves beyond the role of an entertaining flick and into the function of a social discourse on the cultural representation of disability. This paper identifies the medical and social models of disability studies, explains the cultural constructs leading up to these models, and gives examples of how the medical and social models portray disability in film. As a creative work, the aesthetic production elements and the constructed character interactions in the film communicate information that both add to and detract from the dignity of the depiction of disability. The film compares and contrasts the medical and the social models through Rita’s and Sam’s characterization with the aesthetic use of camera techniques, color palette, lighting, and musical schemes. An analysis of the film concludes that the film’s central conflict of the right to guardianship is resolved through the empowerment of the social model.
Click to view the submission on Truman’s Student Research Conference website.
