How is Disability Represented in The Inbetweeners

Why is the clip funny?

The clip is funny because Will is trying to impress a girl and trying to get her to join in by attempting to throw the Frisbee to her. However, he throws the Frisbee in the wrong direction and it hits a disabled girl. The girl that she is with then threatens Will in a different language, which the audience may find entertaining. Will then tries to retrieve his Frisbee from the disabled girls grasp, which makes it look as though he is trying to take her Frisbee. A group of boys then chase Will as they see what he is doing as wrong, which will also be seen as funny. Overall, the clip is funny because of Wills misfortune in trying to impress the group of girls and he in fact ends up being in deep trouble. We find the situation that Will has ended up in funny because he has achieved the exact opposite reaction than his intentions.

How is the disabled girl being represented?

The disabled girl is being represented in a way that makes her look helpless and that she is unable to stand up for herself. The other characters in the clip have to protect her and she is seen as weak. People are a lot more sympathetic towards disabled people which mean that the audience are more shocked at the Frisbee hitting the disabled girl than they would be if it had hit a person who is not in a wheelchair. The disabled girl is pitied and the audience are meant to feel sorry for her, especially in her misfortune in this scenario.

Are we meant to laugh at the disabled person?

I think that the audience are not meant to laugh at the disabled person but in fact the action of the Frisbee hitting the disabled person. The girl that is disabled is not meant to be funny because people know that it is wrong to laugh at people that are disabled. However, we laugh at Wills misfortune in trying to impress the group of girls. The disabled girls reaction is not funny as we automatically feel sorry for her as we can see that she is upset. 

Are they the ‘butt’ of the joke?

Overall, I would say that the disabled girl is the butt of the joke. This is because the clip may not have been viewed as funny if the girl was disabled. This is because they could have stood up for themselves but it is shown that this girl is not able to. The audience feels as though they are laughing at Will but I feel as though people may not have found it as funny if it was not a disabled girl that the Frisbee had hit. The whole situation is awkward as we can feel how Will must be feeling which is what we are laughing at. 

How do you think disabled people respond to this?

I do not think that disabled people will be happy with this clip as it is viewing them in a negative way. It is giving the impression that all disabled people would have to be defended by someone else and that they would not find it funny if a Frisbee hit them. It gives the impression that disabled people would not react in the same was as able-bodied people would and that they are different to people who are not disabled. 

Are we as a society cultivated to think we should pity the disabled?

Yes. As a society, we automatically feel as though we should pity the disabled. We feel as though we should feel sorry for these people and we view them as they are different to everybody else. This is not a conscience thing and we do not mean to do it. It is something that happens because this is how disabled people are shown to be.