Representation of Disability

The extract opens straight away with some diegetic dialogue from a woman who is stating that she 'didn't think there was anything strange about Billy'.  This immediately allows the audience to infer that 'Billy' has done something that would warrant being called strange. A cut is then made, showing a different location and a tracking shot of a man walking down a road, dusting himself off. It can be assumed by the audience that this is Billy, due to the previous dialogue. With this cut comes some non diegetic music, which could be described as suspicious or eerie, suggesting that Billy has done something wrong. His body language and the action of dusting himself off also portrays this theory. The makeup used on Billy's face and his costume are quite dirty and scratched, showing a contrast with the clean police uniform shown later.

Soon after, another tracking shot of Billy is shown, apparently oblivious to the police that were shown nearby in previous low angle shots. Those with a disability are being represented in this clip as somewhat ignorant to their surroundings, until Billy notices the police in a low angle reaction shot, and runs off frame. A high angle of the police restraining Billy is shown, forcing the audience to look down on him. This shot is used to represent disabled people as significantly weaker than people without a disability. This is further represented in the clip through the dialogue by Billy: 'I haven't done anything wrong' in a pleading tone, showing him submitting to the police.

After the opening titles, a tracking shot showing a group of people outside a house guarded by police is shown, portraying the concern of people without a disability for those with a disability. A cut is then made to the inside of the house, showing a high angle of Billy's father and Detective Frost talking quietly. Frost asks the father if Billy could be considered mentally subnormal, and after being corrected as to what is the correct form of address, he apologises. This piece of dialogue represents abled bodied people as wary or even scared to come across as mistreating disabled people. During another tracking shot Billy's mother approaches, informing Frost that Billy would feel better if she could clean him up. This part of the extract represents disabled people as needing help from abled bodied people to complete basic tasks such as cleaning themselves.

When Frost and Billy's father enter the room, yet another tracking shot is made, following Billy's father who is approaching Billy. Billy immediately looks up and tells his father that he hasn't done anything, to which his father replies in a gentle manner to calm him down. As Frost sits down, a close up shot of Billy is made, showing his reaction. His head is tilted and he looks quite curious and we notice that Billy is sat lower than the others. This gives the impression that he is vulnerable or perhaps representing him as a lower status than the other two men in the room. Frost starts talking to Billy in a condescending and patronising way implying that Billy needs to be treated like he is a child. It can be seen that Frost is becoming increasingly frustrated that Billy isn’t listening to him and is not participating with any of the questions through his body language, (repositioning himself, leaning in closer).

To conclude, mise-en-scene, sound, editing and camera work have all been used throughout this extract to portray disabled people in certain ways. The ways in which the audience react to disability in dramas generally varies, with reactions such as discomfort, indifference or sorrow, depending on how they are perceived in the show.