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Serena Gonzalez

Professor Granillo

English 103

20 November 2019

Understanding Disability

Have you ever wondered about how an ordinary movie can leave such a strong

impression? The reason for this is because movies are often based on a philosophical foundation.

A philosophical foundation can create an effect on your subconscious mind that could only be

detected through a lense. For instance, looking through a psychoanalysis lens is a method that

has been used to investigate and treat personality disorders while looking through their childhood

experiences that may have contributed to the way they function as adults .Therefore,With the

involvement of the critical disability theory we will be able to explain how having a disability

can contribute to certain state in which they function their lives based on their experiences . In

the movie The Fault In Our Stars by John Green suggest that it is a poor interpretation of real

cancer patients, however, it enforces the true reality of cancer and to live life to your fullest. The

movie relies on the concepts of critical disability theory and a Psychoanalysis lense; therefore

making society recognize the unintentional negative perceptions they implement onto people

with disabilities.

The Movie The Fault In Our Stars is about a sixteen-year-old cancer patient who goes by

the name Hazel Grace Lancaster. Hazel falls in love with a similarly afflicted teen from her

cancer support group who goes by the name Augustus Waters . Augustus is a very charming and
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witty man who has recently been cancer free from Osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.

Hazel and Augustus share the same acerbic wit and a love for book mmm. Throughout the time

they spend together they embark on a roller coaster ride of emotions such as love, sadness, and

romance while trying to get their questions answered by their favorite author Peter Van Houten

of an Imperial affliction. On they're trip to Amsterdam, Augustus has some heartbreaking news

to embark on Hazel and both of their worlds fall apart. After their trip to Amsterdam they try to

make the most of the time they have left with one another.

Fault In Our Stars involves a poor understanding of cancer patients. John Green includes

characters that react to cancer in the same way in which creates a stereotype that all cancer

patients share the same opinion of life and cancer. Also the characters are shown to have nothing

going in their life other than their illness and Agustus and Hazel book choices are an example of

their reaction to cancer. The typical audience that this movie is portrayed for is mainly for

teenagers because teenagers are more into the idea of a perfect love story. Also, the producer

draws in the audience by including a handsome character,Augustus Waters, whose characters

portrays characteristics of an ideal boyfriend.

It is sometimes hard for a person disability to get around in the world without appropriate

accommodations that will tend to their needs .According to the article, Integrating Disbaility,

The Feminist Theory by Rose Marie Garland Thomson states “Although this comparison of

bodies is ideological rather than biologi- cal, it nevertheless penetrates the formation of culture,

legitimat- ing an unequal distribution of resources, status, and power within a biased social and

architectural environment”(Thomson 5).” The world often isolates the diffenated bodies based on

an unequal distribution of resources that only accommodates the needs of a healthy body. The
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limited resources indicate an environment built on a foundation of a bias towards the unhealthy

bodies. During Hazels and Agustus trip to Amsterdam littevy, the assistant of Peter Van Hough

takes them to go see the Anne Frank house. Littevy tells Hazel and Augustus,” I’m afraid there is

no elevator”(1:15:10). The Anne Frank house is only equipped with stairs which is only

accessible for abled bodies. As you can see in the film the stairs make it especially difficult for

Hazel to get up to the top floor. Hazel isn't suited for this type of architectural environment and

has to make various stops which will allow her to catch her breath because of her non-working

lungs. The inequality in resources make it difficult for unhealthy people to be able to experience

the same environment as a healthy person.

The inequality perceived through architecture disallows people with disabilities to enjoy

certain environments. This creates inequality because without an easy way for the person with a

disability to gain access in a certain environment can often lead to trauma. In the book Critical

Theory Today by Louis Tyson informs that “The unconscious is the storehouse of those painful

experiences and emotions, those wounds, fears, guilty desires, and unresolved conflicts we do

not want to know about because we feel we will be overwhelmed by them”(Tyson 12). Wounds

and fears that are very overwhelming are often hidden in the unconscious part of the mind

because of the inability to handle that certain emotion. The inability to gain access to a certain

environment can create an emotion of hatred towards abled people or even too themselves

because society is not acknowledging certain needs that a disabled person might typically need.

Hazel can be seen taking large deep breath and apologizing to people about having to make

frequent stops because of the inability to make it up the stairs. This can often be perceived as

feeling sorry for herself because she is blocking the way of others and she also cannot go up the
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stairs as easily as an abled body would. It is important to create equality within the architecture

environment for it will accommodate to all bodies. This will help alleviate the biases that are

being seen throughout many architectures today.

Disability can often be perceived as an illness that could cause sympathy from others.

Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace have just met and are trying to get to know one another. Their

conversation takes place in Augustus's car and Hazel realizes that Augustus is a bad driver. Hazel

then mentions this to Agustus about his inability to drive and that where the story of how

Agustus obtain his driver's license sparks up. During their conversation, Augustus tells Hazel

that his driving instructor let him pass even though she knew he was an unsafe driver. Hazel and

Augustus laugh and Hazel responds with “Cancer perk” and Agustus response back saying

“Total cancer perk”(0:13:14). Augustus and Hazel's joke is based on the fact that they can get

away with things because of their illness. Their illness makes people have sympathy for them

which then creates an environment where they are perceived differently from society. In the

Article, Common Portrayal Of People With Disabilities by MediaSmarts explains that” Perhaps

the most common stereotype of persons with disabilities is the victim, a character who is

presented as a helpless object of pity or sympathy.” A disabled person is often stereotyped into

the idea that they are helpless and weak. This stereotype often leads to an interaction between the

abled and the disabled to be based on sympathy. In the movie, Augustus explains to Hazel that he

basically passed his driving test because his driving instructor sympathized with him. The idea

that they can joke about the cancer card goes to say that they have encountered sympathy all

their lives and are used to it.

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People can feel a certain way towards certain words and actions based off of experiences

that they have encountered. According to Frued “When we look at the world through a

psychoanalytic lens, we see that it is com- prised of individual human beings, each with a

psychological history that begins in childhood experiences in the family and each with patterns

of adolescent and adult behavior that are the direct result of that early experience”(Freud 12). A

psychoanalytic lense revolves around experiences that may contribute to the way you interact

with the world.For instance, Hazel and Augustus being able to joke around about the cancer card

because they know that cancer kids are often categorized into a category of sympathy. This is

based on repeated experiences that they both share through their many encounters with healthy

individuals. The sympathy that is given to Hazel and Augustus has been given to them

throughout their whole childhood life, primarily from close family because of their illness. This

has allowed them to get used to the fact that people will often portray them with sympathy.

Which therefore should be acknowledged by the society that rather than labeling someone

because of a flaw that they identify with others, everyone should be treated based on their

individuality.

Relationships can be tough to figure out when having a disability. For instance, Hazel and

Augutus have a talk on what they call a sad swing set. Their talk involves Augustus expressing

his love for Hazel but Hazel says,”Look uh… I like you and I like hanging out with you but I

can't let this go on further because I don't want to hurt you”(0:46:02). Hazel admits that she like

Augutus but doesn't want to be more than friends. Hazels based this off based on her disability

because Hazel could go any second. Augutus being cancer free also plays a role into Hazel

decisions because she doesn’t want Augustus to get hurt when or if she goes. According to
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Rosemarie Garland-Thomson states that,``Feminist disability theory suggests that appearance

and health norms often have similar disciplinary goals” (Thomson 10). This initially is stating

that females who aren't disbaled go under the knife for cosmetology while people with disability

go under the knife for medical reasons. Either way both of these try to achieve normalized

bodies. For example, Hazel suggests to Agustus that if she could get reconstructive surgery that

would make her healthy then she would date Agustus. Her sickness keeps her from being happy.

People with disabilities could often have the fear of intimacy when involved with

self-image issues and a disability. For example, Hazel's illness is still ongoing and her lungs

could give out any second so when Augustus admits his feelings to her she denies him. Hazel

denied him because she doesn't want to hurt him when the time comes for her to die. In the

article Tyson informs that “Fear of death is thus often responsible—along with other reasons, as

we saw earlier—for fear of intimacy”(Tyson23). Fear of intimacy is a defense mechanism which

is an overpowering emotional feeling that will potentially cause hurt if it doesn't remain at a safe

distance. Fear of intimacy is used by Hazel to protect her and Agustus from being hurt when

death comes. Hazel safe distance is portrayed through the denial of being boyfriend and

girlfriend.Fear of intimacy should stop a person with a disability from enjoying the life they were

given because it does not allow them to enjoy the life they have. Instead, they will resent the life

they were given because they don't want to experience what life has to offer based on their

disability

At the beginning of the scene, Hazel's grace is shown in the doctor's room with her

oxygen cart that's attached to a nose tube, she is in a patient gown with her hair cut short which

points to obvious signs that she is sick. The movie wants to point out to their audience the idea
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that Hazel is sick. According to Common Portrayal Of People With Disabilities by Media Smarts

” The wheelchair allows the character to be obviously disabled, whilst still looking ‘normal’, and

does not, therefore, present any major challenges for audience identification”. Wheelchairs are

used to show an obvious form of a person who has a disability. In the scene the movie does this

obvious action with Hazel as she is continually being seen struggling to carry her life support

with her every day and everywhere. This allows sympathy to surface from the audience and will

also evoke certain feelings that will allow the audience to pitty Hazel.

The idea of the actors pretending to be disabled can affect a real person who is diagnosed

with that particular disability because it can be offensive. The act of an abled person taking part

in the role of a disabled person can be seen in a movie as having a bias towards disability actors.

This can feel very jarring for a disabled person who has dealt with this disability all their lives to

have some non-disabled person trying to pretend like they know the struggle of being disabled.

Through this, a disabled person can develop a defensive feeling towards certain movies that

involve disabilities. According to Tyson he explains,” Avoidance (staying away from people or

situations that are liable to make us anxious by stirring up some unconscious—i.e.,

repressed—experience or emotion)” (Tyson 15). Avoidance is the process of avoiding knowing

what we cant handle. Avoiding a certain situation will keep you away from situations that will

eventually cause a stir in one's emotion. Just like for a disabled person seeing a movie of an

abled person playing a disabled person will most likely cause them to avoid watching a movie

that pertains to that certain theme. Disability shouldn’t be used to entertain but rather be

portrayed as an identity just like race, sex, etc. and shouldn't be excluded.
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In one of the scenes Augustus, Hazel, and their blind friend Issac are seeking revenge on

Isaac ex-girlfriend. Issac ex-girlfriend dumped him because she couldn't handle Issac disability.

In the article, Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory by Rosemarie

Garland-Thomson states “A feminist disability theory denaturalizes disability by unseating the

dominant assumption that disability is something that is wrong with someone”(Thomson 6).

Disability is often looked at as weak and inferior because of a person's differences. Issac

girlfriend was so in love with him in the beginning that they were very affectionate towards one

another. But once Issac lost his eyesight his girlfriend left him. Isaacs disability caused him to

lose someone who meant everything to him. This type of experience can create another form of

displacement .

After Issac's girlfriend dumped him, Agustus decided that it would be a good idea to pick

up Issac and Hazel to get revenge. They bought two, twelve dozen eggs and allowed their blind

friend Issac to throws them at his ex-girlfriend's car. The mother of the ex-girlfriend came out

and Agustus yells at her “Your daughter did and great injustice so we come here seeking revenge

we may not look as much between the three of us we have 5 legs four eyes and 2 and a half

working pair of lungs"(1:32:18). Agustus admits to the ex-girlfriends mother that they are there

for revenge and also uses the fact that they are cancer kids. This can be perceived as an act of

displacement. According to Tyson displacement is,” Displacement (“taking it out” on someone

or something less threatening than the person who caused our fear, hurt frustration, or

anger),”(Tyson 15). Displacement is an action that can be typically caused through hurt or anger

in which is taken out on someone that you feel is less inferior to you. Issac takes out his hurt on

the ex-girlfriends' car because he was hurt that she left him. Isaac's ex-girlfriend car can be seen
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as less inferior to him because it’s a thing, it can't do anything to him but do to various places.

Also, the mother can be seen as less inferior to Issac because she runs away back into the house.

Issac feeling of hurt from his break up allowed him to build up hate towards his ex-girlfriend

which lead to a destructive behavior through his unconscious mind. It is important to be

self-aware of your unconscious minds because it could lead you to do very destructive things.

In the movie” The Fault in Our Stars” displays a fantasy of a teen's ideal love romance

which create tear duct, however, disability is often overlooked. Through critical disability theory

and a psychoanalytic lens, we can analyze the biases that pertain to people with disabilities;

therefore, people must acknowledge that disability is associated with identity. The importance of

people with disabilities having the ability to be treated the same way as an abled person allows

them to feel as much as a priority in society as an abled person. A disabled person is often

stigmatized by society and are often portrayed as if something is wrong with them. Many

architectural environments don't include disability accessibility and encounter relationship

issues. looking through a psychoanalytic lens helped analyze the emotions that a disabled person

might convey every day knowing that they aren’t as much as a priority in a certain environment.

Also, it helped to analyze why people with disabilities can develop a resentment towards abled

people and act out from their conscious state. There is a need to create more spaces that will

allow the disabled to feel more comfortable in different environments socially and architecturally

rather than being worried about whether it will Accommodate to them or not.
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Works Cited

“Common Portrayals of Persons with Disabilities.” MediaSmarts, 22 Aug. 2014,

http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/persons-disabilities/common-portrayals-persons-di

sabilities.

Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. Www.english.upenn.edu. The Johns Hopkins University Press,

https://www.english.upenn.edu/sites/www.english.upenn.edu/files/Garland-Thomson_Ro

semarie_Disability-Feminist-Theory.pdf.

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.