About this Event
9 Blanchard Circle, South Hadley, MA
Disfigurement and disability is ever present in horror cinema, often as a physical manifestation of evil, inflicted punishment, or “otherness”.
Horror utilizes all aspects of disability for its storytelling purposes. This, to many of us, is not unknown. But where did this start? Is all disability in horror inherently exploitative? Where did these films draw their ideas from? How does it impact our subconscious perceptions of disability – and what can we do to combat our own inner biases?
We will start in the 1930s with Lon Chaney’s body of work. We will then move to Hays-Code dominated Hollywood, the 80s and 90s slasher genres, and finish with modern cinema. This lecture will delve into these questions, and focus on how film and sociocultural factors impact each other through the lens of disability. It will also shed light on current debates in the film industry, such as if non-disabled actors should play disabled characters.
There will be moments for participation and, if time permits, a Q&A to finish.
Speaker: Grace MacIntyre ’25
This event is being conducted over Zoom. As the host, Mount Holyoke College reserves the right to record this session and the event sponsors will give prior notification to event participants of any intention to do so. The recording feature for others is disabled so that no one else will be able to record this session through Zoom. At all times, no recording by any other means is permitted without prior written permission from the event sponsor or as an approved accommodation.
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