The portrayal of stuttering in the film industry

This study was conducted to determine how people who stutter (PWS) are portrayed in the film industry. Ten movies that were released over a wide span of decades were analyzed, and characteristics of the characters who stuttered were documented. Data were recorded on general film information (rating, year released, box office totals), traits of the PWS (age, gender, race), characteristics of the PWS (nervous, comedic, heroic, villainous), and characteristics of the stuttering (words per minute, percent dysfluency). A few discrepancies were found between the portrayal of PWS in the film industry, and the average PWS in real life. It was also found that many negative stereotypes surrounding dysfluent speech were perpetuated in these films. Film representations have a ways to go before accurately portraying this communication disorder