Netflix is not alone in omitting disability (both in featuring disabled actors and storylines about disability). The inclusion report references similarly dismal disability representation rates in top-grossing films. At least Netflix is holding themselves accountable by publishing the numbers. And there are some bright spots in the streaming platform’s content (shout out to Special, one of the very few series written by and starring a disabled actor, and the upcoming adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, which features one of my favorite disabled characters of all time, in Netflix’s Grishaverse mashup Shadow and Bone. )
One glaring omission to the Netflix report: How many roles featuring disability were given to disabled actors? Like the rest of film and television, the answer is always very few. True representation features people who actually experience disability in front of and behind the camera. And how many of the speaking roles reduced disabled people to stereotype? (Tiny Tim is probably, depressingly, somewhere in that role count).
For more disability representation, here are some books for Netflix to adapt. While these books feature disabled people, a story doesn’t have to be about disability to have disabled characters and/or actors. Cast disabled actors in any literary adaptation. (Pride and Prejudice! Bridgerton! Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Personally, I’d love to see disabled actors in anything with petticoats.) Disability, or lack thereof, doesn’t define characters. Still, stories capturing the experience of disability are important. So, Netflix, here are some suggestions for books with disabled people in lead roles.
