{"id":5709,"date":"2010-04-05T05:41:10","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T10:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=5709"},"modified":"2010-04-02T15:53:21","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T20:53:21","slug":"disability-studies-program-to-present-screening-of-freaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/04_05_2010\/disability-studies-program-to-present-screening-of-freaks","title":{"rendered":"Disability Studies Program to present screening of ‘Freaks’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"freaks\"<\/a>Those who may have been called \u201cfreaks\u201d in the 1930s Tod Browning called amazing and cast them in lead roles for his 1932 production of \u201cFreaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University of Toledo Disability Studies Program will screen Browning\u2019s film Tuesday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Field House Room 2100. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a landmark film that both confirmed and challenged stereotypes about disabled people in the 1930s,\u201d said Dr. Jim Ferris, Ability Center of Greater Toledo Endowed Chair in Disability Studies, director of the UT Disability Studies Program and associate professor of communication. \u201cIt\u2019s a wild movie, one that illustrates attitudes around disability that persist today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Mechlowitz, UT disability studies instructor, said the film will allow audiences to look at disabilities differently from what they had before. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem in this film isn\u2019t the \u2018freaks,\u2019 it\u2019s the \u2018normal\u2019 people. Browning doesn\u2019t exploit the freaks; he helps us realize that they are human beings, too,\u201d Mechlowitz said.<\/p>\n

Ferris added that the film\u2019s shocking portrayal of a range of people with disabilities is of enduring interest to students and scholars in disability studies. <\/p>\n

\u201cDisability studies examines the meaning of human difference, how society values some bodies and devalues others,\u201d Ferris said. \u201cThis film highlights some of those values. It\u2019s a little creepy, but it gives us a lot to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the free, public film or the Disability Studies Program, contact Ferris at 419.530.7245 e-mail jim.ferris@utoledo.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFreaks,\u201d a 1932 film that features persons with disabilities, will be shown Tuesday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Field House Room 2100.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}