Masters Thesis

A Critical Film Analysis of Representation of People with Disabilities in M. Night Shyamalan Films

The purpose of this study was to examine the entire directorial catalogue of the director M. Night Shyamalan and provide a content analysis incorporating anti-inclusion ideology and his themes, as well as perspectives involving people with disabilities. The films examined in this study were all written and directorial works by Shyamalan that had a national cinematic release. The researcher examined each of these films and used content analysis to examine the behaviors and actions of the characters as well as the overall narrative of each story. The films were examined using the different analytical themes of (a) anti-inclusion, (b) danger presented by a person with disabilities to others, and (c) danger presented by a person with disabilities toward society. The current study found that over half of Shyamalan’s films had characters with disabilities portrayed as dangerous to others or society. There also was a significant number, half of his films, that had an anti-inclusion theme. These themes can be observed in other films and throughout the horror genre, using the parameters in the study, in order to create more critical content analysis and foster meaningful conversations regarding representation of people with disability in film.

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