The award-winning AMC drama Breaking Bad is renowned for its brave performances, shocking twists and pitch-black humor. The show has also made advances in how the media portrays people with cerebral palsy.
The show centers around Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), a high school chemistry teacher who turns to methamphetamine production as a last-ditch effort to raise money for his cancer treatment. White’s slow descent into the drug world slowly alienates and terrifies his wife Skyler and his child Walter Jr., who has cerebral palsy. Walter Jr. is played by RJ Mitte, who has cerebral palsy in real life.
Mitte said that the show’s attitude towards Walter Jr. – treating him like a regular teenager – was refreshing.
“When a person with a disability is featured, it’s usually a stereotype – the angry person, the victim or the helpless person who becomes a hero,” Mitte said in an interview with the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. “My character has a disability, but that’s not his crutch. He has a life like everyone else, and he’s just trying to get through it.”
Mitte is spokesman for I AM PWD, an organization that promotes stronger representation of disabled people in the media.
“About 20 percent of people have disabilities, but only about one percent of speaking parts in television portray disability,” Mitte said.
Mitte, whose own cerebral palsy is milder than his character’s, has created a human character that is flawed, emotional and real. Many people with cerebral palsy can likely identify with Mitte’s portrayal of a person whose disability is just a single aspect of his life.
The first half of the final season of Breaking Bad premieres July 15 on AMC.
Cerebral palsy results from neurological complications before or during childbirth. If you believe that medical negligence led to your child’s disability, call us today for a free consultation.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – cerebral palsy attorneys
