The Undateables Social Model
“Love is blind, disfigured, autistic…” with such a provocative and controversial title Channel 4 aired a brand new show The Undateables. The series (2012-2016) “follows the journeys of several extraordinary singletons as they enter the dating circuit in pursuit of love” and trades on sensational entertainment though the exploitative spectacularization of disability from a perspective of fully functioning people rather than disabled people experience. Thus, analyzing several scenes of the 1st episode series 4 of The Undateables with the focus on the story of Matthew, this essay will argue that this show doesn’t help in building a mutual understanding and ingrain the false perception which persist because of their constant reproduction in print
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and visual media (Scarlet 2012) that implies the representation of those people who depart from the dominant and social norm as the notion of Otherness brought through the process of Othering by portraying models of disability and concepts of othering.
The story of the series’ profiles Matthew (4:44 – 8:00; 14:20 – 16:17; 24:03 – 31:52; 40:48 -42:30 ) illustrates the discourse of the Othering of people with disabilities. The Matthew’s story begins with one characteristic of current media representation of the male body, which is argued by Gill as, a “young, muscular, slim, and clean-shaven” (Gill 98). In line with this description, Matthew is introduced to the viewers; he is in his 30ies, muscular and without any visible physical disability. The use of soft focus allows Matthew’s skin and body to appear flawless. This erotic objectification of the male body is supported by numerous scenes when Matthew is shown disrobing (6:53) jogging (5:25; 5:41) A further idea that physical attractiveness is a source of empowerment and confidence (Gill 90), which is represented in Matthew’s body language when he poses for the artists, smiling and looking directly in the camera, and by his comment such as “im working out [..] look at my size [..]” or “it’s all about the butt, it’s hard work to get it”, and comments of dating agency flame introductions “your body is looking good” (15:23). As the scene develops (5:05-5:19), the voiceover comment and sound-editing (the full stop of cheerful music with a dramatic final sound of a drum implemented to raise the intention) concentrate all the attention on his impairment - severe stammer, that was showed to a viewer only at the end of the opening scene. This dramatic shift from a man of a ‘hegemonic masculinity’ to an ‘other’ which is supported by the voiceover comparison ’At work he is happy to let his body do the talking – but when it comes to the language of love it’s a different story’ (5:12) is seen as othering initially the subject was normalized by all means of editing, mis en scene, him from a normalized object, as he was depicted at the beginning of the scene. This shift from . ‘This belief in normality and use of disability as the basis for otherness is further supported by his childhood story, which is a stereotypical portrayal of a disabled person as victim (Jack Nelson 2000 p 184), when Matthew shares an emotional story from his past, telling that he ‘was bullied a lot’ (5:28) at school and the fact that he said that sentence ‘pepperoni pizza’ to the camera stressing his serious facial expression implies that he overcame the past time, though further talk is prominent in his insight (?) that his body doesn’t compensate for his personal problems during creation of the relationship.
Along with promoting the “hegemonic” ideal of Matthew’s body, the show reflects another model in media portrayal of the othering of the disabled, namely the social model, the opportunity to communicate – impart to another person […], ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotion – plays a central part in social life and the defining of a “social being” (Jordan and Kaiser 1996; Rae 1993).
Embodied norms of communication are oppressive to people with speech impairment (Robillard 1994; Lenney and Sercombe 2002). The social model implies an understanding of disabled people though issues of communication remain underdeveloped from a social model perspective. Matthew’s stammer implicitly lillustrate the disability involves participation restriction of social relationships as Matthew is discriminated in his strive to be heard, listened to and acknowledged., as in the past he had girlfriends but caused by his ‘struggle to communicate’ (5:46) he was otherned by his previous relashionships due to his inability ‘to finish up sentences’ this didn’t lead to strong commitment, as a result he wants to find true love with “someone who has the patience to let him speak” (6:07) , as a result the social model seeks to redress this disempowerment by focusing upon the relationship between disable people and a discriminatory society. "Disability is defined as an outcome of disabling barriers imposed by environmental or policy interventions." (4) This model is designed to prevent barriers acting as obstacles, and to engage in a process of education designed to remove prejudice - with the goal of ultimate inclusion.( "Exploring the Divide: Illness and Disability" edited by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer, 1996. Chapter 6, 'Disability, Identity and Difference' by Tom Shakespeare, pages 95 to 97). The voiceover underscores Matthew’s Otherness to Jessica in ability to lead a constructive dialogue “although Matthew wants to show he has a voice, finding a gap in which to speak isn’t pretty easy” this is
supported by Jessica’s ironic comment “he probably knows more about me than I know about him right know” (27:59).The ability to engage in ‘conversation’ is perceived as a key to defining ‘social competence’ (Jordan and Kaiser 1996), this dichotomy others him from Jessica, as she fully perform this ‘social competence’ function, this is supported by her profession as she “talks for living” (26:54). Despite her awareness about issues relating to “communication disablement”, the fundamental aspect of the social model which concerns equality was not fulfilled as Matthew is in struggle to have his voice acknowledged. Ironically social model is omitted it implies equality with acnkowlidgness of diversity. Thus, in last scene it is noticeable that Jessica changed her attitude, and both subjects becomes normalized, however, ironically despite his dissatisfaction with her ignorance of him speaking, the fact that she meets his appearance requirement highlights the overwhelming importance of the look overall In conclusion, Media discourse and Othering are very important because of a last aspect, too: media’s role in the formation of identities, especially when it comes to group relations like “we the others” and the knowledge (often indirect) of the Other and his perception towards us. But this is also a two-way process and reflects heavily on the Other and his own feelings, attitudes, identity, and especially the experience of being accepted or rejected. The shows movement in focus from disabled ‘other’ to a general public can be helpful in changing perception, the format of the show using striking contrast may lead to exploitative agenda, reflected in slogan and manner of presenting information discussed above.
and visual media (Scarlet 2012) that implies the representation of those people who depart from the dominant and social norm as the notion of Otherness brought through the process of Othering by portraying models of disability and concepts of othering.
The story of the series’ profiles Matthew (4:44 – 8:00; 14:20 – 16:17; 24:03 – 31:52; 40:48 -42:30 ) illustrates the discourse of the Othering of people with disabilities. The Matthew’s story begins with one characteristic of current media representation of the male body, which is argued by Gill as, a “young, muscular, slim, and clean-shaven” (Gill 98). In line with this description, Matthew is introduced to the viewers; he is in his 30ies, muscular and without any visible physical disability. The use of soft focus allows Matthew’s skin and body to appear flawless. This erotic objectification of the male body is supported by numerous scenes when Matthew is shown disrobing (6:53) jogging (5:25; 5:41) A further idea that physical attractiveness is a source of empowerment and confidence (Gill 90), which is represented in Matthew’s body language when he poses for the artists, smiling and looking directly in the camera, and by his comment such as “im working out [..] look at my size [..]” or “it’s all about the butt, it’s hard work to get it”, and comments of dating agency flame introductions “your body is looking good” (15:23). As the scene develops (5:05-5:19), the voiceover comment and sound-editing (the full stop of cheerful music with a dramatic final sound of a drum implemented to raise the intention) concentrate all the attention on his impairment - severe stammer, that was showed to a viewer only at the end of the opening scene. This dramatic shift from a man of a ‘hegemonic masculinity’ to an ‘other’ which is supported by the voiceover comparison ’At work he is happy to let his body do the talking – but when it comes to the language of love it’s a different story’ (5:12) is seen as othering initially the subject was normalized by all means of editing, mis en scene, him from a normalized object, as he was depicted at the beginning of the scene. This shift from . ‘This belief in normality and use of disability as the basis for otherness is further supported by his childhood story, which is a stereotypical portrayal of a disabled person as victim (Jack Nelson 2000 p 184), when Matthew shares an emotional story from his past, telling that he ‘was bullied a lot’ (5:28) at school and the fact that he said that sentence ‘pepperoni pizza’ to the camera stressing his serious facial expression implies that he overcame the past time, though further talk is prominent in his insight (?) that his body doesn’t compensate for his personal problems during creation of the relationship.
Along with promoting the “hegemonic” ideal of Matthew’s body, the show reflects another model in media portrayal of the othering of the disabled, namely the social model, the opportunity to communicate – impart to another person […], ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotion – plays a central part in social life and the defining of a “social being” (Jordan and Kaiser 1996; Rae 1993).
Embodied norms of communication are oppressive to people with speech impairment (Robillard 1994; Lenney and Sercombe 2002). The social model implies an understanding of disabled people though issues of communication remain underdeveloped from a social model perspective. Matthew’s stammer implicitly lillustrate the disability involves participation restriction of social relationships as Matthew is discriminated in his strive to be heard, listened to and acknowledged., as in the past he had girlfriends but caused by his ‘struggle to communicate’ (5:46) he was otherned by his previous relashionships due to his inability ‘to finish up sentences’ this didn’t lead to strong commitment, as a result he wants to find true love with “someone who has the patience to let him speak” (6:07) , as a result the social model seeks to redress this disempowerment by focusing upon the relationship between disable people and a discriminatory society. "Disability is defined as an outcome of disabling barriers imposed by environmental or policy interventions." (4) This model is designed to prevent barriers acting as obstacles, and to engage in a process of education designed to remove prejudice - with the goal of ultimate inclusion.( "Exploring the Divide: Illness and Disability" edited by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer, 1996. Chapter 6, 'Disability, Identity and Difference' by Tom Shakespeare, pages 95 to 97). The voiceover underscores Matthew’s Otherness to Jessica in ability to lead a constructive dialogue “although Matthew wants to show he has a voice, finding a gap in which to speak isn’t pretty easy” this is
supported by Jessica’s ironic comment “he probably knows more about me than I know about him right know” (27:59).The ability to engage in ‘conversation’ is perceived as a key to defining ‘social competence’ (Jordan and Kaiser 1996), this dichotomy others him from Jessica, as she fully perform this ‘social competence’ function, this is supported by her profession as she “talks for living” (26:54). Despite her awareness about issues relating to “communication disablement”, the fundamental aspect of the social model which concerns equality was not fulfilled as Matthew is in struggle to have his voice acknowledged. Ironically social model is omitted it implies equality with acnkowlidgness of diversity. Thus, in last scene it is noticeable that Jessica changed her attitude, and both subjects becomes normalized, however, ironically despite his dissatisfaction with her ignorance of him speaking, the fact that she meets his appearance requirement highlights the overwhelming importance of the look overall In conclusion, Media discourse and Othering are very important because of a last aspect, too: media’s role in the formation of identities, especially when it comes to group relations like “we the others” and the knowledge (often indirect) of the Other and his perception towards us. But this is also a two-way process and reflects heavily on the Other and his own feelings, attitudes, identity, and especially the experience of being accepted or rejected. The shows movement in focus from disabled ‘other’ to a general public can be helpful in changing perception, the format of the show using striking contrast may lead to exploitative agenda, reflected in slogan and manner of presenting information discussed above.