Crip Face in Pakistani Entertainment Industry
Recently, the Pakistani film Neelofar was released, in which a non-blind actress was cast to play a blind, disabled woman. This raises important ethical questions, and it’s part of a much longer pattern in global cinema, where non-disabled actors are routinely chosen to portray disabled characters. Many such performances have even won major awards, including Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and Jamie Foxx in Ray, among others. There have also been more questionable portrayals over the years; from Shahrukh Khan playing a dwarf, to Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor in roles involving exaggerated or stereotyped depictions of disability. This practice has a name: “Crip Face,” derived from “Blackface” and “Yellowface,” and it refers to non-disabled actors performing disability in a way that often reduces real experiences into caricature, stereotype, or inspiration porn. In recent years, however, global cinema has seen a push for change. Movements such as Crip Camp and broader disability-rights advo...