Please keep in mind, this is all my opinion!
But there have been a lot, and I mean a lot, of horrible representations and depictions of disabled people in movies, tv shows, YouTube videos, you name it.
Some, however, are actually pretty accurate and kind representations.
I know I may get hate for this but, What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a genuine and thoughtful depiction of an autistic child. I'm not just saying this because I love Johnny Depp, but Leonardo DiCaprio's acting clearly had a lot of research, time, and effort put into his role of Arnie.
Is it a bit crude? Possibly, but as someone with a low functioning autistic sibling, it is extremely accurate. This is also the kindest representation of a disabled person I've seen in media, besides Temple Grandin who I wrote about in my previous post (shameless plug).
Arnie has temper tantrums and doesn't understand that his actions have consequences. This is a real struggle that people deal with when taking care of disabled children. But Arnie is full of compassion and he has the kindest heart, which is very true for a lot of young kids on the spectrum!
But with that being said, there are some extremely disheartening portrayals that almost make a mockery of people who are living with mental disabilities. The first thing that came to my mind was Flipped, where a man has a disabled brother who just talks and looks kind of funny. It's really painful to watch because clearly no thought or effort was put into that character, people just assume that they know what disabled people are "supposed" to act like. It's a disrespect that I'm glad has more or less dissipated.
But I'd like to hear some other opinions on the topic, maybe someone reading this really likes Flipped and wants to tell me how they interpreted it. Thanks for reading my midnight rant!