Wanted: A Gorgeous Wheelchair Woman
At West Coast Dance, we occasionally get some interesting emails. The most recent gave 5 days notice for a gorgeous topless woman in a wheelchair. Low budget. Some (but not enough money), travel, and per diem -- pretty standard stuff, overall. It would be for a television show with an intended disability friendly message. Uh oh.
In case there was any doubt, however, you will not be seeing my breasts on television any time soon. I can be persuaded to go topless or even naked for a very good artistic reason. I was never part of the Anicca Project, but would have loved to have been. This doesn't sound like it is in the same league. Indeed, as I see it, the dialogue and narrative set up both exploit feminine sexuality; the main actors say these weird creepy things in the name of equal rights for all. (This from the little dialogue that accompanies the call). Even the episode has a useless pun that associates wheelchair use with not being able to "stand up" for one's rights as well as being "confined" to a seated position.
On top of that, wheelchair woman doesn't sound like she's anything other than an extra. So, I can imagine where it is the kind of thing where you go and you basically have to do whatever they say -- as an extra, you can't exactly be a diva and be sure that your nudity is displayed in ways that are comfortable/reassuring. Will disabled sexuality be portrayed in a positive way? Without these kinds of understandings, I am not about to take my clothes off.
Although I find it interesting that they would look for an actual wheelchair user, I am worried about the specification that she must be gorgeous. Disabled bodies are beautiful in all their shapes, configurations, scars, and sizes. I think that "gorgeous" here is a code word for "normal-looking, please!" And that I cannot sign onto.
So, there it is. I am a little saddened, strangely, because I have reached a point in my life where I feel happy enough with my body to consider its artistic worth. But this is not the project for me. And, as Wizard will tell you, I am by no means LOW budget. Grin.
2 comments:
I've noticed that there are a lot of code words for "normal-looking, please" and a lot of code words for "not normal-looking."
Do people ever refer to you as "articulate"? That Barack Obama thing the other week gave me a nasty shock of recognition.
Oh yes. People are ALWAYS amazed at the way I speak. I am black with a noticeably British tending towards Received Pronunciation accent.
Once, at a friend's baby's baptism in a large church in Austin TX, I did a reading. A man stopped me afterwards and asked if where I had learned to speak and if I could give him voice coaching lessons because I must, surely, have had elocution training. Wasn't I a voice coach? Add my educational background to the mix, and yes, people do get a little surprised at my articulateness (she says inarticulately, grin!)
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