How is disability represented in After Thomas?

By Jarrod Mee
The mise en scene shows that the colour of the bus in the opening scene is very important. We know this because the connotations of the colour red are danger, by showing the colour red it will make the audience assume that there is danger ahead and throughout the narrative. Also, in the opening scene the colours are dull to create a sense of depressing from the mother because this is just a normal day for her and it is a never ending circle of routine. A change of scene happens and the action moves to an office. The fire alarm is going off in the background; this could be foreshadowing events that are still yet to come in the Drama. Also, the office is full of props including things such as; pc's, pens, lamps etc. The props would have been used to create a sense of realism on the set to make the audience be able to easily acknowledge where the characters are. From the clothes that the mother and child are wearing, the audience would just assume that they are just an average, middle class family. The young boy is wearing outdoor clothing, to show that it is winter, as is the mother. They are represented as a normal family to create a sense of realism so the audience identify with the family values. The screen is white with black writing, having connotations of truth, allowing the audience to believe the events that will unfold during the narrative. All of this refers back to how disability is represented because the mother and child have to go on living there everyday life while they are constantly being judged by people who think she just has an ill-behaved child. This shows how disability is represented because most people were very ignorant towards their views of disability. By the camera angle being a long shot at the beginning, it gives the scene a purpose and gives some background information to the drama. This is because we already know it was based in the time of "1993" because of the editing that took place on the scene, so the extras in the shot are all wearing the fashion that is suited to that time period; this is used so the audience can relate to what normal everyday life was like back then. Also, an over the shoulder shot has been used whilst in the shoe shop. We see over the shoulder of the shop assistant to see that the child is still wearing a nappy. This camera angle is used to make the audience feel what the shop assistant is feeling and makes the viewers instantly blame the mother for the ill-behaved child. There is a close up of the mothers face when she is trying to pick her child off the floor. This is used to show the expression in her face and show that she is in distress. This refers back to how disability is represented because the mother and child at the till instantly blame the mother for her sons behaviour. This shows that people were very quick to judge people before they even knew the full story of the situation. A zoom shot is used when the boy falls to the floor in the middle of the road. This is used to shock the audience because they will want to know if he actually hits the floor or his mother catches him, leaving them in suspense. Also, it gives the audience a clearer view of the childs facials expressions as he is about to hit the floor. A pan shot is used when the mother and her son are walking from the street into the shoe shop. This has been used to contextualise the scene so the audience get a clear view of their surroundings and gives an overview of how the family get treated by bystanders looking at them funny because of her son. This relates back to how disability is represented because people were always quick to judge the scenario without having the mothers perspective. Editing has been used by creating slow motion at the start of the drama when the mother is struggling to pick her son up from the middle of the road. This creates subjective time because we can see the time experienced and felt by the mother because she is longing for her son to get out the middle of the road to safety. It also makes the audience want to get up and save the child, because they are sharing the mothers pain. The clip between where the mother finally gets her son off the floor and when it skips to the scene outside the shoe shop is an example of editing because it is an easier way of moving on in time. The words "This is a true story" make the whole TV drama more believable. This is because it creates a sense of realism by the audience acknowledging that this does actually

happen in everyday society. Also, before the family are about to enter the shoe store, editing has been used to add in the date of the scene. "1993" this is used to contextualise the time zone, so the audience can get an idea of when the story was based and get an idea of what peoples views were at that time. Fast pace editing is also used to create a sense of danger, tension and it makes the viewer and the actors share the same action. This relates back to how disability was represented because it shows the viewer that people had very negative views towards disabled people in the 1990s because they were too ignorant to care about what was actually happening. Sound occurs when the background music is used to create emotion to emphasise the helplessness the mother had when trying to get her son out the road. The sound has also been manipulated by slowing it down. This is to make the problem seem never ending; this is a contrast between the diegetic and the non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound is the noise from the cars passing the woman in the road, whereas the non-diegetic sound comes from the backing music added in in the final editing. This produces an enigma code because we do not know what is truly going on, till later in the narrative. The magnified sound from the cars is emphasising the danger that the mother and son are in because it is such a busy road. The sound just before the scene changes to the flashback of what actually happened for the child to be lying in the road has been sucked out. This is to make the viewer feel that the drama has gone from a dreamlike state back into reality. This relates back to the representation of disability in the drama because it shows that at the time, people felt like they were trapped and could never get any help with their children/family members problems. The TV drama challenges Todorov's theory. This is because he believed that every narrative had a start, a middle and an end, whereas this drama starts in the middle. Also, it challenges Todorov's theory because the drama does not have all the steps that he believed every narrative has e.g. a hero, a villain, the donor etc. The film also uses the theory of ideology. This is used to show effect the disability has through the perspective of the parent. Propp's theory shows that we are seeing the action from the mothers perspective. Also the drama relates to Levi Strauss' theory of "binary opposites". This is because the family at the checkout in the shoe shop are seen as the "normal" family, whereas the mother and her son are seen as "different" because her son has a disability. The main stereotyping that occurs in the drama is about disability. The child get looked at funny because he always throws tantrums but what people do not realise is that he has autism and that he cannot control his actions. The bystanders that were just watching the mother struggle to pick her son up from the middle of the road were all judging her because they thought she was a bad mother. This drama challenges Tessa Perkin's idea that all stereotypes are not always about minority groups. The drama challenges this idea because disabled people are usually classed as a minority group and in the drama they are being discriminated against because everyone is blaming the mother when it is not her fault.