‘Laughing with/at the disabled’: the cultural politics of disability in Australian universities

Abstract

In 2007 the film-maker Michael Noonan embarked on a project initially entitled ‘Laughing at the Disabled’ (a title then changed to ‘Laughing with the Disabled’), a collaboration between himself and three people with intellectual disabilities. A doctoral candidate in the Creative Industries at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Noonan's film was the subject of a furious attack by two QUT academics – and then became a cause celébrè not only in Australia but around the world. The ‘Laughing at/with the Disabled’ project became a touchstone for the futility and contempt inherent in much contemporary academic research and teaching – but especially was viewed by many as proof of the troubling status of disability in Australian universities. While it has been widely discussed in the press, and with the furore continued online via blogs, YouTube, and email lists, there has been an absence of critical discussion of the case. Accordingly, in this paper, I analyze the public record covering the criticisms of this research project, disciplinary action by QUT, and responses by those involved in the research. Rather than making judgments on the project, I explore this case for the light it sheds on the place of disability in Australian culture, the role of power, questions of ethics – and, perhaps most importantly, the cultural politics of disability in education.

Keywords:

• disability
• film
• Australia
• Queensland University of Technology
• universities
• disability policy
• disability studies

Acknowledgements

This paper had its beginnings in conversations with the late Christopher Newell about the ‘Laughing at/with the Disabled’ controversy, that found their way into a paper given at the 2007 Cultural Studies of Australasia Conference in Adelaide. I am grateful to participants in that session for comments, and to two anonymous reviewers of this paper for their helpful suggestions. I also wish to thank Michael Noonan and John Hart for the opportunity to participate in a forum on Down Under Mystery Tour, and to Malcolm Bebb, Darren Magee, and James Bradley for the opportunity to discuss their experiences and perspectives on the film.

Notes

1. My thanks to an anonymous reviewer of this paper for this important point.