User:Kyleighkimbrell/Game of thrones

Media Access Award
In 2013, George R. R. Martin accepted the Visionary Award from the Writers With Disabilities committee at the Writers Guild of America. The show has been applauded for their efforts in inclusion and visibility in the media, most namely with Tyrion Lannister, Bran Stark, Hodor, Jaime Lannister, and Arya Stark. The show challenges the common narrative of what it means to be disabled in film where stereotypically people with disabilities are shown as weak, asexual, dependent and cheerful.

Tyrion Lannister is one of the show's most significant characters with a disability and his character is anything but typical. Usually where people with dwarfism in Hollywood are shown as childlike or weak, Tyrion Lannister is an intelligent, cunning, and sexual character. Tyrion Lannister recounts being emotionally exiled by his family and we see the exclusion through his siblings Jaime and Cersei Lannister. This does not stop him from becoming one of the most prominent people within Westeros and we see that his character develop into a softer personality that is essential for taking down the family that exiled him. The show even gives a taste of life with a physical disability in medieval times as one of the Stark’s is paralyzed after being pushed from a tower by secret lovers, Jaime and Cersei Lannister. Without the invention of the wheelchair, he has to be carried around by a brawn man named Hodor. Hodor, who is intellectually disabled from a seizure he had at a young age (coincidently caused by Bran himself) is employed by the Stark family as a stable man. After Hodor’s death protecting the rest of the group, Bran is seen sporting a medieval wheelchair. We even see Jaime Lannister’s character change after losing his hand in battle. Although he states that death would be better than the disability, he becomes a more likable character and continues to fight. While Jaime Lannister badgers about being emasculated, no longer being able to fight, Arya Stark’s temporary blindness gave her the ability to become a better fighter. The amount of disabilities shown in Game of Thrones is not typical let alone their portrayal of them. George R. R. Martin and the people behind the adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire rewrote how the film industry shows disability. While not all positive, still playing into stereotypes of not being fit to be king (Jaime, Bran, and Tyrion), being isolated for being different (Tyrion and Shireen Baratheon), and Bran’s superpower he gets after seasons of being disabled. However, it is a step in the right direction and is instrumental in setting a path for future shows to replicate and continue to better for the accurate representation of disability. The Media Access Award promotes the accurate representation of people with disabilities and it is an award that is not just significant but something that will change the way people look at disabilities for generations to come.