Visual Pathetic Appeal

Disability on Prezi

My visual pathetic appeal addresses the negative effects that result from discrimination against the disabled. The main claim in the piece as that disabled persons are a minority group that should not be discriminated against, but should receive the same civil rights as all others.

The presentation begins with an image of a quote, “Attitudes are the real disability,” which introduces the viewer to the setting of this presentation: it will discuss disability and our attitudinal response to it. This claim is provocative and leads the viewer into the argument they are about to observe.

The first three images are of disabled persons, each looking very happy, innocent, and content. These images are meant to invoke some sense of pity and empathy in the viewer. After seeing these images, the viewer should be left seeing these individuals as representative of a group of needy people with whom it is only natural to sympathize and desire to defend.

After the last image of disabled persons, the scene shifts to a picture of a sign that appears to prohibit handicapped persons along with animals and objects. While it may have meant to simply disallow wheelchairs, by crossing the symbol of a person in a wheelchair out, along side inhuman objects, the viewer is led to see the way in which disabled persons are objectified and discriminated against. The impersonal nature of the image, since it is only symbols, further dehumanizes the people that were just seen in the preceding images. Resultantly, the viewer would be led to begin experiencing feelings of indignation.

These feelings progress as the next image appears, right next to it. This image is more graphic and shows a disabled individual being escorted by police officers. He clearly looks misunderstood, and given the context of the presentation, the viewer is led to feel further pity for the man and the other innocent disabled individuals pictured at the beginning whom he represents. Consequently, the viewer’s indignation would be caused to mount at the sight of this image and would likely feel anger and frustration.

These actions of discrimination are then identified with a commonly hated group, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), as shown in the next image. When seeing this image, the viewer’s indignation about the treatment of individuals would turn to passionate hate since the actions of discrimination against disabled individuals are shown to be akin to the actions of a widely despised group. Also, this image would link the experience of the disabled to that of other minorities who suffer and have suffered discrimination.

At this point, the viewer is left desperate, seeking some form a solution so as not to allow a repetition of the travesties committed by groups like the KKK. After a progressive decline, the presentation shoots upward and the image of Martin Luther King Jr. appears. He is clearly actively involved in some form of advocacy and the viewer feels inspiration, excitement, and joy at the thought of such a hero rectifying the wrongs being committed against disabled individuals. The need is apparent: we need to fight for the civil rights of these individuals just as men like Martin Luther King fought for those of other minorities.

The presentation then lifts even higher, arriving at a picture of the statue of liberty, the symbol of national values such as liberty and equality. The viewer is left seeing the significance of providing these values for disabled individuals as they are enjoyed by other Americans. This image also affirms the sense of indignation that was previously felt since the treatment of disabled individuals is, as of yet, not fully aligned with American values.

The statement that follows sums up this dynamic by describing that the values and rights we hold dear and that many have fought to obtain should truly be for all citizens—including the disabled. The viewer is left with the thought that this statement is a fully American belief, invoking pride and dignity, but yet not fully realized by all Americans. Individuals such as Martin Luther King have fought to make this notion a reality and that fight must continue until it truly reaches all within our borders. Herein lies the key interpretation: the indignation and frustration regarding the mistreatment of disabled individuals, resulting from a pity for them, is linked to a change of attitude that these individuals are worthy of defense and advocacy in that it would be un-American to allow them to endure anything different.

After the viewer experiences this shift in attitude, the presentation moves to one final picture. That of a joyous boy with down-syndrome at a Special Olympics event. This image offers a reassuring sense of fulfillment to the viewer that if change is indeed possible in the way we view and treat the disabled, the benefits are inestimable.

Photo credits (all images accessed March 31, 2011):

Opening title image: http://india.targetgenx.com/files/2008/05/attitudes.gif

First down-syndrome boy: http://www.filteredsoundtraining.net/media/Boy%20WIth%20Downs%20Syndrome%20in%20FST.jpg

Blind children: http://www.scsdb.k12.sc.us/academic/blindSing-s.gif

Boy in wheelchair: http://pediatricwheelchair.org/wp-content/uploads/wheelchair_kids.jpg

Signs: http://www.huminteractive.com/files/e50f6cd29a4c0759a604fdadbfc56166.jpg

Man in wheelchair with police: http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/images/DisabilityRightsDemo.jpg

Klu Klux Klan: http://www.old-picture.com/united-states-history-1900s---1930s/pictures/Ku-Klux-Klan.jpg

Martin Luther King Jr.: http://cdn.babble.com/famecrawler/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/martin-luther-king2.jpg

Statue of Liberty: http://wirednewyork.com/images/city-guide/liberty/liberty.jpg

Second down-syndrome boy: http://www.agd.org/files/specialolympics.jpg