Dyslexia in popular culture
This is a list of depictions of dyslexia in fiction. Films and other forms of visual media are arranged in chronological order.
Films (cinema and television)
- 1981 American television movie, The Princess and the Cabbie tells the story of a wealthy young woman, Joanna (Valerie Bertinelli), who is sheltered by her father until a cab driver realizes that she is dyslexic and tries to help her.
- 1984 American ABC Afterschool Special, Backwards: The Riddle Of Dyslexia tells the story of Brian (River Phoenix) who struggles in school until he is determined to be dyslexic.
- 1985 American television movie, Love, Mary is based on the true story of Mary (Kristy McNichol) who is determined to be dyslexic by a counselor in an institution and who eventually becomes a doctor.
- 1992 American television movie, The Secret tells the story of Mike (Kirk Douglas) who has hidden dyslexia his entire life until he realizes that his grandson Jesse faces the same difficulties.
- 1997 British film, Shooting Fish: Dylan (Dan Futterman) Is a conman who attributes his lifestyle to his unemployable nature which he puts down to his dyslexia.
- 1999 American television movie, Anya's Bell: Scott (Mason Gamble)
- 2001 American film, Pearl Harbor: Captain Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck)
- 2004 American independent film, Mean Creek tells the story of a group of boys who must contend with the school bully, a dyslexic boy named George (Josh Peck). Eventually, as George's mask disintegrates, he becomes the victim of the group.
- 2004 Canadian film, Wilby Wonderful: Duck MacDonald (Callum Keith Rennie) [1]
- 2005 French film, La Cérémonie: Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire)
- 2005 American film, In Her Shoes: Maggie (Cameron Diaz). It is based upon Jennifer Weiner's 2002 novel, In Her Shoes.
- 2006 British film, A Mind of Her Own tells the story of a dyslexic woman, Sophie, who is determined to become a doctor.
- 2007 American independent film, bAd tells the story of John who is failing the fifth grade until it is determined that he is dyslexic.
- 2007 Indian Hindi film, Taare Zameen Par tells the story of Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) who suffers greatly in school until an art teacher (Aamir Khan) determines that he is dyslexic. The Indian DVD was released in July 2008 and a three-disk international version DVD (with English subtitles), Like Stars on Earth, is slated to be released on September 22, 2009[1] by The Walt Disney Company. [2]
- 2009 Dislecksia: The Movie is a documentary film currently in post-production. It is being created by Captured Time Productions, LLC[3], a production company based in Litchfield, Connecticut. The company's seventh film, "Dislecksia" is being directed by Emmy Award winning director Harvey Hubbell V, who is a dyslexic himself[4].
Television series with dyslexic characters
- 1984 - 1992 American television series, The Cosby Show: Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable (Malcolm-Jamal Warner)
- 1994 - 1996 American television series, seaQuest DSV: Seaman Anthony Piccolo (Michael DeLuise)
- 1990 - 2000 American television series, Beverly Hills, 90210: Donna Martin (Tori Spelling)
- 1996 - present American television series, Arthur: George Lundgren
- 2000-2004 American animated television series Static Shock: Rubber Band Man (voiced by Kadeem Hardison)
- 2001 - present American television series, Degrassi: The Next Generation: The characters Joey Jeremiah and Anya MacPherson [2] [3]
- 2002 - 2007 American television series, George Lopez (TV series): Max. George Lopez (fictional character on the series) is portrayed as having dyslexia despite the fact that George himself doesn't.
- 2005 - present American television series, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Charlie Kelly
- 2006 - present American television series, Heroes: The telepathic character Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg)
- 2004 - present American television series, Grey's Anatomy: Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh)
- 2007 - present Australian television series, The Librarians: Lachie Davis (Josh Lawson)
Literature
- Jackie Flowers, a detective and lawyer in a series of detective novels by mystery writer, Stephanie Kane, is dyslexic. [5]
- Maggie in Jennifer Weiner's novel, In Her Shoes (2002) is dyslexic. The novel was adapted to film (In Her Shoes) in 2005.
- Hank Zipzer, the main character in the eponymous children's series by Henry Winkler, is dyslexic.
- In the book series Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Percy and many other characters are dyslexic.
- Moose Mason in Archie Comics is dyslexic.
- Taki Matsuya, a mutant character from Marvel Comics, (1988-present), is dyslexic.
Notes
- ^ "Like Stars on Earth 3-Disc DVD (2007)". Amazon. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
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- ^ The Dislecksia: The Movie page at the Captured Time Productions Website
- ^ The Captured Time Homepage
- ^ Stephanie Kane: Dyslexia
References
- Goodnow, Cecelia. "Author Winkler turned the tables on dyslexia". Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 17, 2007.
- Lakshmi, Rama. "The Pain of Dyslexia, As Told by Bollywood: Film on Disability Raises Awareness About Touchy Issue." Washington Post, June 4, 2008.
- Naithani, Ambika. "Taare Zameen Par inspires people, institutions into action." Economic Times. April 12, 2008.