New Mobility Magazine has named Artie Abrams of Glee as their Person of the Year. Okay so your reaction to reading that sentence is probably the same as mine was: Really?! I just read the article (written by Reeve Foundation Blog Squad contributor Allen Rucker,) and in the midst of all the controversy, I can't say I entirely disagree with this choice.

Okay so there is two main sides to this debate. One, the character of Artie is played by Kevin McHale who is not a wheelchair user. And, two, while this previous fact angers many, Artie has brought a shining light to the hit show watched by millions displaying a character living with a disability in such popularity.

This debate will be ongoing for a long, long time, and Allen does a great job in capturing this:

Artie is a long way from an American icon like Willy Loman, but it’s not hard to picture his effect on young people in the audience who are wheelchair users, or disabled in any way. Imagine being a 15-year-old kid in a chair in Edina, Minn., probably painfully self-conscious and confused, and flipping on the TV and seeing Artie cavort around. If it’s just a hundred disabled kids who feel this identification, Glee will have had more real cultural impact than a thousand episodes of Jersey Shore or Two and a Half Men. If 10,000 such kids get the message, there’s going to be a generation of adolescent wheelchair users rolling proud and dreaming big dreams.

Artie: Epitome of Discrimination?
Critics have generally praised Glee, and raved about the “Wheels” episode, spotting a deeper level of storytelling. But the disability community, especially the community of performers with disabilities in Hollywood, were not so, ah, gleeful. The reason: Kevin McHale, the actor who plays Artie, is not a wheelchair user. He just plays one on TV. For any struggling actor with a disability, to see the most prominent role of a character with a disability in TV history being played by a nondisabled person is like a shot through the heart. From the actors’ POV, it’s like asking whether the public would stand, in this day and age, for a black character to be played by a white person in blackface. The answer is, of course not. That would be blatantly discriminatory. And Artie isn’t?

Read the rest.

The able-bodied generation is surrounded by influences and role models on a daily basis. A Pop Warner football player might want to be like NFL star quarterback, Drew Brees. A young aspiring female broadcaster might strive to be the next Katie Couric. Dozens of singers, actors/actresses, and entertainers are plastered on the bedroom walls of adolescents because they want to be like those stars.

The point is, the able-bodied community is such an influence in American culture. So while McHale has received tons of criticism, the reality is, the producers of Glee are doing something right because Artie has brought great awareness to the disability community.

Janelle

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