Full transcript
0:17Hello and welcome to this course titled
0:20Introduction to Medical Humanities. This
0:22is lecture 23 of week four that we are
0:24in. In this particular unit, we are
0:27going to take up the intersection of
0:30disability with sports. Now, in a
0:32country like India or even otherwise, uh
0:35sports is supposedly the most
0:38iconic thing that can happen. In this
0:41particular lecture, we are going to look
0:42at the media representation of
0:45disability in sports, and I pick up two
0:47films for analysis. One is Iqbal and the
0:51other one is Ghoomar. Before I go ahead,
0:53a quick overview of what I'm going to do
0:55in this particular lecture, I take up
0:58the introduction, follow it up with the
1:00theoretical framework that I will be
1:02dealing with,
1:03uh talk about the major trope of how
1:06sports become synonymous with nation's
1:09identity and nation's pride, uh
1:12take up Iqbal and uh
1:15follow it up with the discussion on how
1:18disability is represented in Iqbal,
1:21then uh take up the second film in
1:23analysis, which is Ghoomar, talk about
1:26how disability is represented in
1:28Ghoomar, and then take up an analysis, a
1:31comparative analysis of both the films,
1:36employ the super script critique, which
1:39I have
1:40used as a major theoretical framework to
1:42analyze both these films,
1:44also touch upon the gender aspects of
1:46sports cinema and the broader
1:48implications in medical humanities,
1:50follow it up with conclusion. When you
1:52talk about sports, Allen Guttmann, a
1:55major theorist from ritual to record
1:58says, "Modern sport reflects modern
2:02society."
2:03Now, modern sport here, in the case of
2:08our presentation, is cricket.
2:11And in India, it has a godly like
2:14status. When you think of sport
2:17measures, ranks, and its standardized
2:20bodies, you realize that a certain kind
2:23of physical strength and mental grit is
2:26required for playing any kind of sport,
2:30not just cricket. And therefore, when
2:32you think of an athletic body being
2:35produced, you imagine a body which is
2:39fit on all these parameters, because
2:41ultimately it has to play. Therefore,
2:44any deviation from that ideal body
2:48becomes a problem, and that is what we
2:51are going to deal with here. Quickly, I
2:53will take up disability. That is what I
2:55have been discussing all this while.
2:57It's a It's an umbrella term used for
2:59impairments, activity limitations, and
3:02participatory restrictions, according to
3:05WHO. But in our slides earlier, in our
3:09lectures earlier, we have tried to
3:11theorize how disability, in fact, cannot
3:14be just placed with impairments. It has
3:18a different connotation, and there is a
3:20medical model of disability, there is a
3:22social model of disability. All this
3:25working together. Therefore,
3:27disability, in the context of these
3:29slides, as well in the context of this
3:33representation, as well, is not medical,
3:36but relational. Two case studies I pick
3:40up, like I said earlier, when I was
3:41introducing the title of the
3:44lecture, Iqbal, which came out in 2005,
3:48and Ghoomar, that came out in 2023.
3:51Now,
3:52like I said earlier,
3:54sports have always defined the physical
3:58mental strength. They have been
3:59synonymous with people who are
4:02able-bodied. And therefore, when anybody
4:06who has the desire to play the sport
4:10but
4:11does not have that set canon of physical
4:15ability, what happens
4:17to those bodies where there is desire
4:20but the alignment with the social
4:24norm of having an able-body to play that
4:26sport is missing.
4:29The theoretical framework, before we go
4:31ahead with the analysis, let us discuss
4:34the theoretical framework. Two
4:35frameworks you're already familiar with,
4:37but there is another framework that I
4:39introduce in this particular slide. Let
4:41me just kind of brush up with the
4:43medical model of disability. On your
4:45screen, you see that medical model of
4:48disability is usually understood as an
4:51individual defect,
4:53which means that there is certain kind
4:56of
4:58problem
4:59in the body. This is
5:02to be diagnosed clinically, and that is
5:03why it's said that it's the medical
5:06model of disability.
5:08Now,
5:09those
5:11issues find
5:13a social construct
5:15woven around it, and that becomes the
5:18social model of disability. This is a
5:21theory theorized by Mike Oliver, and I
5:24discussed it in the last lecture in
5:27detail. It says that it is socially
5:29produced, and the problem lies with the
5:33inaccessible institutions. So, say for
5:36example, if somebody doesn't have a leg,
5:38and one can't walk, the problem is not
5:41with the person, it's rather with the
5:44infrastructure that doesn't support. If
5:46someone has dyslexia, it doesn't mean
5:49that person can't study, but the that
5:51means that the institution is not
5:54equipped to provide that person that
5:56kind of an education required for
5:59dyslexia. So, you know, that is how
6:01medical model and social model
6:03differentiate slightly. Though at at no
6:06point of time very strict watertight
6:08compartmentalization you can do. The
6:11third theoretical framework that I
6:12identify for this particular uh analysis
6:16of these two films is the glorified
6:19supercrip narrative.
6:21So, uh when you talk about supercrip
6:24narrative, this is primarily given by
6:26Sami Schalk in Re-evaluating the
6:29Supercrip book. And in this particular
6:32book, you will find how people with
6:34disabilities
6:36they
6:37are projected as heroic. They are
6:40projected as inspirational. And if you
6:43remember when I was dealing with
6:45disability theory and its reflection, I
6:48did mention that while inspirational as
6:51a word may be very positive, it looks
6:53very positive in its approach, but when
6:56you
6:57assign this kind of an inspirational
6:59role,
7:00what happens is that it
7:03it proves negative because there is
7:05nothing inspirational about it. They are
7:08living their normal life just like
7:10everybody else. So, celebrating it as
7:13heroic and exceptional is a deviation
7:16from normalcy, and that is
7:19uh problematic is what uh has been
7:21pointed out in this supercrip narrative.
7:25So, it also celebrates resilience. The
7:28supercrip narrative celebrates uh
7:30resilience of people who are disabled,
7:33but it comes at the risk of
7:35individualizing structural problems,
7:37which means that the structure the
7:39social model is never put in question,
7:43the onus then lies with the individual,
7:46which is in the larger scheme of
7:49disability narrative and implication of
7:52disability problematic and that is what
7:55disability scholars have been trying to
7:58make a shift from the traditional models
8:01and that is what they advocate.
8:05Uh quickly I will also touch upon how
8:08enable body
8:10a sport like cricket or any other sport
8:13for that matter becomes
8:16aligned with the interest of the nation,
8:20pride of the nation.
8:22So sports
8:24because it is played for the nation
8:26creates an ideal body, not just
8:29individually, but
8:32what is what you can say as ideal
8:35citizen body.
8:37On your screen.
8:39What does this mean? That everybody is
8:41important, but somebody who is making
8:43the country proud
8:45naturally is an ideal. So the sporting
8:50body is always imagined as efficient,
8:53controlled, productive and competitive.
8:57If you remember when I was taking up the
9:00lecture on masculinity, I did mention
9:03all these characteristics,
9:06which are seminal to the understanding
9:09of how masculinity is constructed and
9:12projected to be. So sporting sporty body
9:17or sporting body is also imagined like
9:20that. It is very controlled, I mean not
9:24only in terms of physical, but
9:25emotionally also controlled.
9:28They deliver, which is productive, very
9:30competitive because it is driven around
9:32ambition, you're playing for the nation
9:34and extremely efficient in my mind, body
9:37and soul if I can call it.
9:39And if you look at cricket just I spoke
9:41about cricket, it is a site of national
9:43imagination. You are not playing for
9:46yourself. This is not your personal
9:48ambition. It's the ambition of the
9:50nation. It's the nation nation's
9:53imagination of pride. So everyone
9:57who is watching that cricket is actually
10:00you are playing out on that ambition as
10:03well. So it's it's a national
10:05imagination. Therefore, athlete's body
10:08is also symbolizing the nation.
10:13It's not
10:15a anyone's body. It's somebody who on
10:19whom everybody is pointing faith on.
10:22It's like that. Therefore,
10:24that body has to be efficient.
10:28And anything other than
10:30extremely efficient body is a deviance
10:33and therefore disabled body is seen as
10:37disruption.
10:38You do not fit into the scheme of things
10:41is what is imagined.
10:43Cinema
10:44resolves this tension through spectacle.
10:47Now they create an image, an aura, a
10:51vision,
10:52a spectacle of
10:55a a game being played with disability in
10:58such a way where it recreates the space
11:03which is inclusive of people with
11:06disability, but with desire as well to
11:09play for the nation. The first film here
11:11I am taking up is Iqbal. It came out in
11:142005. It's a sports film drama directed
11:18by Nagesh Kukunoor. And in this film,
11:23the central character is Iqbal. Now
11:27on the physical level, the problem with
11:30uh Iqbal is that he's deaf.
11:32And and cricket is not a game where a
11:36deaf person can play. How does that work
11:38then? So, uh he's deaf, he's mute, and
11:43still uh
11:45dreaming of playing for India.
11:49Naturally,
11:50something that is not possible
11:54in a regular context. So, whenever he
11:56approaches any of these institutions,
11:58whether it is school or a coach, he just
12:01gets rejected until one day he finds a
12:05coach
12:07who decides to train him.
12:10And this is the turning point in the
12:12film. He not only trains him to play the
12:15game, but also
12:18play a seminal role in winning Ranji
12:22Trophy for his state where he comes
12:24from, which is the
12:26state of Andhra Pradesh. Now, if you
12:29look at the film,
12:31apart from what is
12:34visible to the eye, which is
12:38that he's deaf, he's mute, is also
12:41another fact that where he comes from.
12:44Now, the institutional
12:47exclusion that he faces is also because
12:50of the fact that there are very limited
12:53resources, and therefore someone who is
12:57not promising enough cannot be provided
13:00that kind of a resource. And when there
13:03is something related to national
13:04recognition, how can something very
13:07remote
13:08fall into the
13:11category of
13:13being recognized on a national level?
13:16So,
13:17another interpretation that you can do
13:19is that in this particular film or
13:23through this particular film,
13:25Kukunoor makes a point not only about
13:28deaf and mute boy, but also about a
13:32small place contributing to the national
13:36imagination. Clearly, when you talk
13:39about intersections
13:41intersectionality as a theory I have
13:42discussed earlier. Uh this came uh from
13:45Kimberlé Crenshaw and talks about it
13:48different intersections in society,
13:50which means that you just cannot
13:52homogenize certain kind of uh
13:54policy. You just cannot homogenize
13:57certain kind of power or practice. There
14:00has to be intersectional
14:02element attached to the resources
14:06accession. And here also, if we imagine
14:10playing cricket to be a resource, we
14:12also find that that resource is
14:15accessible primarily to people
14:19who have power
14:21power of all kinds. And in this case,
14:24even the binary between rural and urban
14:27plays a role. So, that is what Iqbal
14:29talks about. Let us go ahead and discuss
14:32disability in Iqbal. So, the first thing
14:34that you come across Iqbal is his
14:37deafness. He can't hear.
14:40Now, if he can't hear, how will he play
14:42is the basic question. But
14:46you must have
14:47seen in some of the other films as well
14:50that when there is no sound, silence
14:54works as metaphor.
14:56And it
14:57symbolizes
14:59both exclusion and depth. So, if there
15:02is no noise, you actually start
15:05internalizing
15:07all the more what you are feeling. In
15:10this case, Iqbal internalizes the
15:13ambition that he has to play cricket.
15:16Additionally, if you also see that
15:18silence, the very idea that Kukunoor
15:21takes up the disability of deafness is
15:25also to
15:27use silence as a mode of exclusion for
15:32Iqbal. Now, in the reflection of this
15:36marginalization,
15:37you see how society comes into picture,
15:42whereby clearly indicating that social
15:45model of disability is a prominent
15:47discourse and cannot be taken away.
15:50And you find that community support and
15:53institutional exclusion are prominent
15:56theme. They are addressed in great
16:00detail in Iqbal,
16:02clearly indicating that able-body
16:06is
16:07the body that is required for sports,
16:10and someone with any kind of disability
16:12doesn't have a place. So, there is no
16:14provision for a person who's deaf to
16:18play cricket. That is highlighted, but
16:22there is also a trope that is mentioned
16:24here, which is a problematic trope
16:26discussing
16:29in representation, that there is always
16:31an able-bodied mentor. So, in this case
16:33also, you will find an able-bodied
16:36mentor on your screen, Naseeruddin Shah,
16:39who validates his talent. So, it always
16:42takes an able-body to recognize the
16:44potential of somebody who's specially
16:47abled. That is how uh
16:49it is projected, and that is what is
16:52highlighted here as well. And uh
16:54finally, we see that inclusion is
16:56possible only through exceptional
16:58performance. That is something the
17:00mentor constantly emphasizes on, and
17:04that is what Iqbal goes ahead and
17:07delivers.
17:09The other film uh here is Ghoomar, which
17:13came out in 2025,
17:15and it's a sports drama by R. Balki.
17:19Now, if you see the poster of the film,
17:22you will see that Anima doesn't have a
17:25hand.
17:27Now, in an accident, she's lost it.
17:31And still wants to play cricket, doesn't
17:34know what to do.
17:35So,
17:36she was already on the verge of being
17:39selected when she loses this arm and uh
17:44a career which was very promising, right
17:46in front of her eyes, goes for a toss.
17:50Now, while the large part of her film
17:54reflects on what Anima is going through,
17:57the dilemma of leaving the sport
18:00because there is a physical disability
18:02now,
18:03or continuing with it,
18:06continuing with the desire to play the
18:08game, uh that dilemma is being reflected
18:11by R. Balki. Until one day, she meets
18:14Paddy
18:15and gets trained by that national
18:18cricketer. He is himself again a
18:19able-bodied man who comes as a savior to
18:23fuel the ambition Anina has regarding
18:25playing cricket, and you find that she
18:29cannot
18:31play cricket like a batsman any longer,
18:34but she develops a technique as a
18:37bowler, which is called Ghoomar, the
18:40Ghoomar technique, where uh it's an
18:42unconventional bowling technique where
18:45uh spirally, where the ball makes a
18:47spiral movement in terms of bowling. And
18:51that is how she makes a comeback to the
18:53national team. Three teams lost. It's a
18:56disability that has come from accident.
18:59It's not congenital, but it it happened.
19:03But she reinvents herself. Again, a
19:06spectacular return. So, if you look at
19:08both the films, the director portrays
19:12exceptional
19:14game for them to make their comeback or
19:17to make their performance stand out,
19:20clearly indicating that it doesn't
19:23always take an able-bodied person to
19:28live up to the national pride in a game
19:31like cricket. Reflecting upon
19:33uh a little detail in disability, if you
19:36look at the scene,
19:37uh Anima's disability, like I said
19:40earlier, is acquired because she meets
19:43an accident where she loses one hand.
19:45And
19:46she rejects the prosthetic restoration.
19:51She says, "No, I'm I'm I don't require
19:53that. In fact, if you want to play any
19:56kind of game, prosthetics is usually not
20:01possible. I mean, especially in cricket,
20:03prosthetics is not something that you
20:05can use
20:07uh and play the game."
20:09So,
20:10what does she do? She moves towards
20:12strengthening her body. She reinvents
20:15her body. There is a bodily restoration
20:17that is taking place.
20:19Now,
20:21there is the coach is a man, and
20:26therefore,
20:27there is a fine balance that you will
20:29see between what you can call feminine
20:32resilience and masculine mentoring. So,
20:35the
20:37traditional
20:38or conventional thinking of what can be
20:41a masculine mentoring and what can be
20:44the resilience of a female, that that
20:47balance is also shown by R. Balki, and
20:50the spectacle is created to make a
20:52comeback of an athlete.
20:55In this case, athlete is not just any
20:59person. She was playing the game
21:01earlier, and now she has reinvented
21:05herself not only in the form but also in
21:09the technique. So, she takes a bowling
21:12and she takes up a very different kind
21:14of bowling which becomes famous. And
21:16this finally leads to media attention
21:18and emotional dramatization and that you
21:22can see both the images on your screen
21:23if you can see, you will find that
21:26conversation happening in the first
21:28scene and in the second scene the way
21:30she bowls that is
21:32projected.
21:35A quick analysis of both the film in
21:38both the films you will find the nature
21:41of disability different. In Iqbal, it is
21:44uh
21:45Iqbal is born with that kind of a
21:46disability and in Ghoomer it is
21:49acquired. It is because of an accident
21:51that happens.
21:53If you look at the positionality of both
21:56the sportsperson that I have chosen, one
22:00is from rural marginality, the other is
22:02from elite cricket culture. She's
22:04already on the verge of being chosen for
22:06the national cricket team is when the
22:08film opens. So, it's a celebration that
22:10is about to happen. You will find that
22:12there is a class difference also that is
22:14being projected in the film. So, when I
22:18was discussing about intersection, how
22:20does even positions like geographical
22:22positions uh in the case of
22:25you know, India rural urban, that also
22:28has role to play in deciding meaning for
22:31your disability. Here it's rural
22:34and that becomes a a reason for
22:36exclusion. Here she's already in
22:38practice. The gender.
22:42Now,
22:44in Iqbal,
22:45you
22:47come across masculine aspiration.
22:50He's determined, his fears despite the
22:53disability. But in
22:55Ghoomer, you will find double
22:57marginalization. And why do I say double
23:00marginalization? Because first Anina is
23:03trying to play a game which is basically
23:06a men's sport.
23:08It just a It just happened that we have
23:10won the
23:12female World Cup.
23:14So,
23:15the game is primarily meant for men. It
23:19was a men's game. Cricket was a men's
23:21game. So, one is that. And then, apart
23:24from that, she's also disabled. So, it's
23:27a double marginalization that is
23:29happening in Ghoomar. The resolution
23:32here is exceptional success. I mean, you
23:36see that he wins uh
23:39Ranji Trophy.
23:40And here,
23:42uh there is exceptional success in the
23:43sense that he contributes to his team
23:46winning the Ranji Trophy. And in
23:48Ghoomar, there is a spectacle that is
23:50being created when uh
23:53she uh balls. So, it's a spectacular
23:56comeback. It doesn't result into
23:58something, but yes. So, common thread is
24:00inclusion through extraordinary
24:02performance, but there is no structural
24:05reform that is shown. So, the onus the
24:08the problem with the film still, despite
24:11the projection, is that it does not talk
24:14much about the structural change. It is
24:16an exceptional
24:18exception that is being made for the
24:21individual. And therefore, at some
24:23level, both the directors try to project
24:26that as well. Quickly, I'll come to
24:28supercrip narrative, which I spoke about
24:30earlier. In both the narratives, you
24:32will find the supercrip narrative to be
24:34dominant trope. Even other films have
24:38used this particular trope, in which the
24:41figure is portrayed heroic,
24:43inspirational, and exceptional for
24:46overcoming bodily limitation through
24:49extraordinary determination. Whether it
24:51is Iqbal or Ghoomar, in both the films,
24:55the protagonist show
24:57this particular feature, but
25:00there is a problem in that. The problem
25:03is in their inspirational story, which
25:06is otherwise a regular trope.
25:09But let us take this for a little
25:12narrative. How do
25:14the super creep critique happens? Both
25:17films rely on
25:19this
25:20trope.
25:21Which means that
25:23they use a person
25:25with disability to create a
25:27larger-than-life kind of a spectacle
25:31making a
25:33narrative of extraordinary determination
25:37despite the bodily limitation.
25:40Institutional
25:44discussion. There is no follow-up on how
25:48the
25:49institution is going to support. That is
25:52also not projected in the film. It is
25:54just very, very individual-centric story
25:56that we come across. Acceptance is only
26:00there when you match up to the level of
26:03the able-bodied. So, excellence is a
26:06non-compromising
26:08category is something that is projected.
26:10Finally, we come across normate body
26:14remains standard. So, whether it is a
26:17disabled body or any other kind of
26:21limitation, it has to perform to the
26:24standards of what has conventionally
26:27been assigned as normal. So, that is
26:29what super creep critique talks about.
26:31And in these two films, you find that
26:34narrative to be essentially dominant.
26:37Uh you must have
26:40also seen that in both the films, if you
26:43see independently, you will find that
26:45there is a gender disability also on a
26:48play out where cricket is a
26:50male-dominated space. So, Anum Anina
26:53faces double marginalization because
26:55she's woman and she's a disabled athlete
26:58in a game of cricket.
27:00And therefore, female if you look at
27:03some of the news narratives also
27:04earlier, many times female body is not
27:08just judged for only performance but
27:11also for beauty. Whereas in the case of
27:14Iqbal, that doesn't happen. I mean
27:16nobody questions
27:18his
27:19masculinity.
27:21In terms of uh
27:23how media has already portrayed,
27:25audience is carefully guided towards
27:28specific emotional responses. So,
27:31you as an audience, you know where you
27:35are going. You know that the cinematic
27:38trope of super creep will lead to the
27:42grand spectacle and therefore, you are
27:45encouraged to feel sympathy then
27:48admiration and finally inspiration. So,
27:51the course of the journey is
27:54you feel for them and then you start
27:56admiring them for putting their efforts
27:58and finally, on their win, it they
28:01inspire you. So, cinema uses, you know,
28:05different techniques as well. Slow
28:07motion, music, training montage.
28:11So, even cinematic narratives in their
28:15scheme
28:16and how they use the camera, how they
28:20use other techniques, the background,
28:23the background music, they also shape
28:26how the emotional journey will take
28:29place not just for the character but
28:32also for the audience who is responding
28:34to it.
28:35Disability becomes an emotional capital
28:37for both the films. Suffering in
28:40intensifies. Triumph is the last point I
28:42want to make
28:44which means that the more the struggle
28:48the more the effect of the spectacle
28:51created. Okay?
28:54Broader implications, uh disability is
28:57like I mentioned earlier,
28:59uh there is no space for uh disabled
29:02people in the in in national pride and
29:05therefore despite being disabled, both
29:08the characters when they're they are
29:10playing for the country they have this
29:13sentiment of nationalism fused within
29:17and they because they are playing for
29:19the nation, hence their disability is
29:22tied to nationalism. So, no matter what,
29:24it is country that comes first and
29:27therefore the spectacle has a lot to do
29:30with that sentiment that has been
29:33infused with them. Apart from that, we
29:35find that cricket is presented as a
29:37merit-based game and you come across
29:41class, gender, and bodily norms that
29:44shape what kind of resources you will
29:47access once you want to play the game.
29:49And uh
29:51there can always be a debate about
29:52inclusion versus versus tokenism,
29:55whether these changes that one is
29:57talking about is
29:59uh is in the largest scheme of inclusion
30:02or it is just tokenistic, but uh in
30:06if you see
30:07even if it is tokenistic, it's a measure
30:10that has been taken. It's a voice that
30:13is being raised. So, definitely media
30:16influences public imagination and these
30:18two films are good example of that.
30:21Finally, we conclude as media
30:23representations of disability are never
30:27neutral because they frame
30:30disruption which is resolved through
30:32excellence. Probably you will find its
30:34social implication in society. In films
30:37they show some uh resolution taking
30:40place usually through a big spectacle or
30:43a win. So, you know, visibility does not
30:47transfer to structural transformation is
30:50a point one has to make but at the same
30:53time
30:54because media has made a case in point,
30:57there is always a chance that
31:00there will be some policy reflections,
31:03policy changes that might happen or at
31:06least societal
31:08perception would change.
31:10In sports cinema, we find that
31:12disability is not merely a bodily
31:15condition but a narrative device through
31:17which the nation negotiates
31:20vulnerability and heroism. Which means
31:23that when you think about
31:26the interest of the nation or when you
31:29align a game with nation, that comes
31:32first and nothing else matters in that
31:36scheme of thing. On that note, I think
31:38I'll stop here and
31:41discuss
31:42more of the disability within other
31:45scope like aging and chronic illness in
31:48the next two lectures of this unit.
31:50Thank you so much.