Better Dead than Disabled

Analysis of Me Before You

Abstract

Hollywood portrays disabled people as vulnerable, a “drain” on society’s resources, and (for men) as less masculine. In this sense, disabled men become alienated both on and off screen. Therefore, the manifest function of the film Me Before You is showing the disabled as sensitive, vulnerable with special needs, and in a romance, but the latent function reveals what Hollywood really thinks of disabled community as “better dead than disabled.” In this examination of the film Me Before You I use a sociological analysis with the sub-components of deviance, manifest function, latent function, and alienation. I will also focus on hegemonic and subordinate masculinities and disability and how they are portrayed in Hollywood movies. This paper makes use of the work of prominent scholars who focus on masculine heterosexual masculine men, as well as euthanasia and disability.