Warner Bros. is receiving backlash for ‘using disability as a costume’ in its much-anticipated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The film has come under fire and scrutiny from Paralympians and other prominent members of the disability community for showing physical deformities in a negative light. The issue has come up as Anne Hathaway’s character the Grand Witch appears to have Ectrodactyly, a limb abnormality that’s commonly referred to as ‘split hand’. Advocates fear that portraying villains with physical deformities will lead to stereotypes making disabilities abnormal or scary.
Retired Paralympic bronze medallist Amy Marren accused The Witches’ filmmakers of representing limb differences as something to be scared of. She said she was ‘disappointed’ in Warner Bros. and questioned if there “was there much thought given as to how this representation of limb differences would effect the limb difference community.” In an Instagram post she wrote, “Yes I am fully aware that this is a film and these are Witches. But Witches are essentially monsters. My fear is that children will watch this film, unaware that it massively exaggerates the Roald Dahl original and that limb differences are to be feared.”
Meanwhile other disability advocates have been quick to point out the limb differences used in the Warner Bros. film are in no way similar to Quentin Blake’s illustrations of The Witches in Roald Dahl’s book. Disability advocate Shannon Crossland shared a picture of her own disability and in a scathing post wrote, “Thanks to @witchesmovie , a 2020 film adaptation of @roald_dahl book The Witches, my hands are now associated with a witch. Used to frighten children and spark fear. Used to demonise a fictional character and make her appearance more grotesque. @wbpictures and @witchesmovie either haven’t done much research or they simply disregarded the harmful impact that giving this character a real life limb difference would have. The limb difference which has been added to the witch’s evil image is called Ectrodactyly - a disability I was born with. This is by no way a reflection of the original novel written by Roald Dahl.”
She further added, “This is a PG rated film - they have a young audience. Is this the kind of message we want the next generation to receive? That having 3 fingers is a witch’s attribute?It is an extremely damaging portrayal. Disability should NOT be associated with evil, abnormality, disgust, fear or monsters.”
Warner Bros. has responded to the criticism saying the organisation was ‘deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in The Witches could upset people with disabilities. In adapting the original story, we worked with designers and artists to come up with a new interpretation of the cat-like claws that are described in the book. It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them.”
However, the statement had not gone down well with either Shannon or the official Twitter handle of Paralympic Games that retweeted Marren’s tweet and wrote, “Limb difference is not scary. Differences should be celebrated and disability has to be normalised. #NotAWitch calls out ‘#TheWitches’ movie for portrayal of disability.”
Limb difference is not scary. Differences should be celebrated and disability has to be normalised. #NotAWitch calls out ‘#TheWitches’ movie for portrayal of disability https://t.co/aSY1U6TymE pic.twitter.com/UCU87bUeV8
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) November 3, 2020
The Witches stars Anne, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, Kristin Chenoweth, and the voice of Chris Rock as the film’s narrator. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis.
(Source: Instagram/Twitter/Deadline)
