History Main / InspirationallyDisadvantaged

* The Youtube comedy show ''MyGimpyLife'' called out Type A big time in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTnldzk9nc&list=PL8DFDC12B1B8CFC85&index=4 Episode 3: Inspirational]].

* Spoofed in ''{{The Michael J Fox Show}}'', where Mike, a newscaster with Parkinson's Disease, has to keep dealing with people who see him as the trope when he just wants to be seen as a regular guy.

** Generally averted in ''Community'' however with the character of Abed. He is given a stunningly accurate depiction of someone with Asperger's Syndrome.

-->'''Joey (through Kenny)''': Joshua Lyman, you have the cutest little butt in professional politics.
-->'''Josh''': Kenny, that really better have been her talking.

---> '''Earl''': "And as handi-capable as one-legged Didi was, her no-legged boyfriend was even handi-capabler."

--->''You are going to prove all the haters wrong, exceed your own limitations by miles, and accomplish more than you ever dreamed possible.''
--->''Yours is quite an inspiring story, actually. It's just a shame that all of your accomplishments will be so horrible.''

-->-- '''Maria Bamford''' (with Irish accent reminiscent of [[TouchedByAnAngel Roma Downey]])

* ''HighwayToHeaven'' has several:

** Silohuette of ''NewWarriors'' fame. She was partially paralyzed when she was younger, resulting in her having to walk with braces. Despite this, she is an agile martial artist that can not only [[CombatPragmatist use her braces in her fights]] but has them tricked out with [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys weapons]].

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', your pilot, Joker, has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteogenesis_imperfecta Osteogenesis Imperfecta]] a.k.a. brittle bone disease, but is a very good pilot. It's also subverted on two accounts: piloting a ship is something that doesn't require strong bones, and Joker is still the best pilot in the Alliance, and if you ask him about his background, he says, "If you're looking for an inspirational story about the crippled kid who overcame impossible odds, you're gonna be disappointed." Turns out that since his parents were spacers, he was going to join the Academy regardless of whether he had his disability. In ''Mass Effect 2'', [[spoiler: you even play as Joker for a brief period near the end and he manages to get around the ship just fine with a slight hunch and a limp.]] He does break bones semi-frequently, though. In the third game, however, his [[spoiler: love for EDI]] convinces him to get off the ship more and overcome his disease, something that nothing else was able to do.

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* Deconstructed in the Joseph Merrick biopic ''TheElephantMan''. The deformed title character, a former circus freak, is indeed an intelligent, sensitive, and very kind man, but the film takes a very dim view of any attempts at making him into a symbol.

* Taken to the point of absurdity in TomWaits' "Eyeball Kid". The narrator is a carnival barker trying to talk up a sideshow performer who seems to be just a disembodied eye. As the song progresses, the Eyeball Kid's tale moves from the gritty to the inspirational to the downright messianic, all to sell tickets.

* Averted in ''Film/SlingBlade''. Karl is mentally retarded and the film focuses predominantly on how difficult everyday life is for him, displaying no RainMan-esque abilities save for a knack for mechanics. He has just been released from an institution after murdering his mother and her lover when he was twelve and finds it almost impossible to adjust to life outside. Karl's early hardships are also deeply horrific (his younger brother was stillborn and his father forced him to bury the body), but never played for inspiration or a source of glurge.

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E09Debate109 Debate 109]], their debate opponent from City College is Jimmy "Soulpatch" Simmons who is rather aggressive about using his handicap status to win debate arguments.
** Generally averted in Community however with the character of Abed. He is given a stunningly accurate depiction of someone with Asperger's Syndrome.

* {{ER}}'s Kerry Weaver. Despite walking with a crutch throughout most of her time on the show (due to congenital hip dysplasia), she was consistently portrayed as an excellent physician. Even more remarkable, this was in a specialty like Emergency Medicine which requires considerable mobility. As well, her abrasive personality, rather than warm and fuzzy, might even subvert this example.

* Parodied in ''ChappellesShow'' which had a clip from a fictional movie "Little Foot, Big Foot", where the main character has one of his legs severely atrophied. He gets a standing ovation from accomplishing the monumental task of getting up on a bar stool without help.

** In "Petarded", Peter finds out he's functionally retarded. He even gets a social worker who makes a big deal over ''everything'' he does, saying "Good job, Peter! High-five! Alright!" Eventually he uses his diagnosis to get away with all kinds of {{Jerkass}} behavior, and when that puts Lois in the hospital the state takes custody of his kids from him...

* The title character from ''Film/ForrestGump''.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'' has Clifford, T-Bone, and Cleo meeting K.C. a dog who's missing a leg, T-Bone and Cleo are afraid of him at first and fear that if they touch him they will lose a leg, and Clifford is worried that he can't play as well as they can, K.C. eventually tells them that they won't lose their legs and proves that he can play as well as a four legged dog.

** ade worse by the RealitySubtext of MichaelJFox 's battle with Parkinson's.

* A character on the show ''Series/GuidingLight'', Abby (and the actress playing her) had been deaf from birth, but could read lips so well that other characters often forgot that she couldn't hear them. Aside from this, the character was given typical SoapOpera storylines, all of which never made her disability an issue--aside from her AttemptedRape, where she was unable to her her attacker creeping up on her--and eventually, the actress' RealLife decision to have a cochlear implant was incorporated into the show.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', your pilot, Joker, has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteogenesis_imperfecta Osteogenesis Imperfecta]] a.k.a. brittle bone disease, but is a very good pilot. It's also subverted on two accounts: piloting a ship is something that doesn't require strong bones, and Joker is still one of the best pilots in the Alliance, and if you ask him about his background, he says, "If you're looking for an inspirational story about the crippled kid who overcame impossible odds, you're gonna be disappointed." Turns out that since his parents were spacers, he was going to join the Academy regardless of whether he had his disability. In ''Mass Effect 2'', [[spoiler: you even play as Joker for a brief period near the end and he manages to get around the ship just fine with a slight hunch and a limp.]]

** In "Petarded", Peter finds out he's functionally retarded and decides to milk it for all it's worth. He even gets a social worker who makes a big deal over ''everything'' he does, saying "Good job, Peter! High-five! Alright!" Eventually he uses his diagnosis to get away with all kinds of {{Jerkass}} behavior, and when that puts Lois in the hospital the state takes custody of his kids from him...

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** And there's also the "Conjoined Fetus Lady" episode, which features a school nurse who has had [[ExactlyWhatItSaysonTheTin her dead twin attached to the side of her head since birth]], and who only wants to do her job without being fawned over for her "courage." This does not stop the townsfolk from throwing her a parade, complete with ''dead fetus headbands''. She ends the episode by calling them out on their behavior and became a minor reoccurring character for a while.

** The trope is played straight in "Petarded", in which Peter finds out he's functionally retarded. He even gets a social worker who makes a big deal over ''everything'' he does, saying "Good job, Peter! High-five! Alright!" Eventually Peter uses his condition to get away with all kinds of {{Jerkass}} behavior, and when that puts Lois in the hospital the state takes custody of his kids from him...

* Joe from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' started as a straight example, before Flanderization made him as much of a jerk as everyone else. Averted in the infamous episode where Chris' infatuation with his Down Syndrome classmate rapidly dwindles as she spends the entire date being a rotten, demanding bitch. SarahPalin infamously criticized the portrayal, which provoked a response from the actress (who herself has the condition), expressing the opinion that Sarah was no less trying to invoke this trope by shilling Palin's relationship with her own child with a disability for political gain.
** The trope is played straight in the episode where Peter finds out he's functionally retarded - he gets a social worker who makes a big deal over ''everything'' he does (see RealLife for the effect that tends to have), saying "Good job, Peter! High-five! Alright!"

Advocacy groups have spoken out against the practice, since it's [[UnfortunateImplications more than a little patronizing]] to portray a handicapped person as heroic for doing something the rest of us do all the time - comparable to YouAreACreditToYourRace. That's one reason that this trope is a lot less common than it used to be, though a few shows that aren't afraid of a little {{Glurge}} still do it from time to time. It's also been noted that [[OscarBait people seem to like to shower actors who portray these kind of characters with awards]], thus prompting more than a little cynicism about the motives of actors who take on these roles.