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Disability Myth Proposal
The disability myth I have chosen to focus on is disability as a sign of internal flaw. I am
examining this myth because I remember drawing evil characters as a child and often I would
give them a disability in order to make them more scary or evil seeming. The fact that children
are influenced by this myth shows just how pervasive it is in popular culture. In the paper I will
examine how the 2012 James Bond movie Skyfall perpetuates this myth in the portrayal of the
antagonist Raul Silva. Silva is the driving force of the plot in the movie, he kills many British
secret agents and steals an important document from MI6. When Silva is captured halfway
through the movie it is revealed he is an ex-MI6 agent seeking revenge for the disability he
accrued due the the MI6 director’s decision.
The chief goal of this project is to show how using this myth promotes harmful stereotypes
about disabled people. I will start the paper by discussing the bad things the villain, Raul Silva
does in the first half of the movie. I will explain how these things build up to the “big reveal” of
character motivation, a trope common in Bond films. I will then discuss how it is revealed
Silva’s motivation is his disability, he says he is both angered by having the disability, and set on
revenge for the people he feels are responsible for it happening. I will explain how this is the
embodiment of the disability as a sign of internal flaw myth. Silva is “mad at the world” for his
disability, which is why he is willing to kill those who weren’t involved with his accident. This
perpetuates the idea that people with disabilities are embittered by their fate, and resent the non-
disabled. Will also discuss how the movie changes Silva’s voice to sound deeper and more
menacing when his disability is visible. This reinforces the myth that physical deformities are an
emblem of evil. I will also discuss how the backstory of Silva reinforces the myth. Director M’s
defense of putting Silva in the situation that led to his disability is that he wasn’t following
orders. This plays into the trope that disabilities are punishments for evil actions. I will also
discuss how Silva appeals to James Bond and tries to turn him but Bond refuses. This is an
example of how a disabled character is meant to contrast with the protagonist to show how
virtuous the protagonist is. I will explain how these tropes hurt the disabled community by
reinforcing negative stereotypes.
Source 1: The Politics of Staring: Visual Rhetorics of Disability in Popular Photography.
This book discusses the ways in which disabled people are portrayed visually in media.
The author argues that the way media visualizes disabled people can be put into the categories of
the wondrous, the sentimental, the exotic, and the realistic. I think her discussion of the portrayal
of the exotic disabled person is relevant to my myth. By portraying Silva as exotic and less
human, the movie is making Silva more of a villain, and causing the audience to side against
him. By making Silva’s disability less realistic and more strange and unusual, the movie is
perpetuating the myth of disabilities as a sign of internal flaw.
Source 2: Victims and Victors: Representation of Physical Disability on the Silver Screen
This source is a study done by two researchers of University of Hawaii at Manoa. The
study examined disability myths in movies made from 1975-2004. One of the myths is the
disabled character as sinister, evil, and/or criminal. The study discusses how wide spread these
tropes are, and how they can negatively impact the perception of disabled people. One
particularly good quote that is useful for my understanding of the myth is “Additionally, by
giving disabilities to villainous characters, three common prejudices are reinforced: (a) disability
is a punishment for evil; (b) people with disabilities are embittered by their “fate,” and (c) people
with disabilities resent the nondisabled and would, if possible, destroy them.” (Black 68). This
source will help me explain how Skyfall fits into a larger pattern of tropes, and how these tropes
can be bad.
Working thesis: In the 2012 movie Skyfall, the villain Raul Silva is revealed to have perpetrated
his horrible acts because he is angry from having gotten a disability rather than death. His
disability is shown to be the cause of many of his worst character traits and actions, this is a trope
common in movies and Skyfall perpetuates this myth which is harmful to people in the disabled
community.
Works Cited
Thompson, Rosemarie Garland. The Politics of Staring: Visual Rhetorics of Disability in Popular Photography. Bedord/St. Martin, 2008.
Black, Rhonda S., and Lori Pretes. Victims and Victors: Representation of Physical Disability
on the Silver Screen. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, os, vol.
32, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2007, pp. 66-83.
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