History Main / InspirationallyDisadvantaged

* ''The Other Sister'' attempts to avoid this trope, but much like ''Film/ShallowHal'''s utter failure at being "fat positive", the movie falls short of showing a developmentally disabled girl's moving out of her parents house and falling in love as anything other than a {{Narm}}y "triumph of the human spirit."

* 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 "Extra Large Medium", in which 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.

** Another episode deals with Bill being told his legs will fail due to diabetes. Bill prepares by getting a wheelchair in advance, and joins a handicapped basketball team/club. When Bill drunkenly stands up and begins to walk to the bathroom, he discovers that not only have his legs not failed, but his diabetes has reversed. Being branded as a fraud and no longer being praised as an inspiration, he begins to scoop sugar into his mouth to regain his diabetes to become handicapped again until Hand and one of his basketball friends stop him and talk him out of it.

* ''Film/TheRinger'' is a film about a guy who fakes being mentally challenged in order to join and rig the Special Olympics. Surprisingly, it manages to avoid being as disparaging to the disabled as one would expect from the premise, but it's also been praised for not going in the other direction, either. The Olympians are treated more like actual people ([[EnforcedMethodActing it helps that people with actual mental disabilities were hired to play them]]) crowd-favorite Jimmy Washington [[SmallNameBigEgo has a massive ego]] and is hated by the other Olympians, and uses their disabilities for one or two jokes (like when main character Steve has to break out a whiteboard and provide visual aids to explain his plan once he's caught) while the Olympians also get to crack a few jokes of their own.

-->-- '''MariaBamford''' (with Irish accent reminiscent of [[Series/TouchedByAnAngel Roma Downey]])

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

* ''Mask'' avoids most of the pitfalls associated with this trope, given that Rocky doesn't suffer from his condition even though it is killing him. In fact, it is rather spectacularly lampshaded in an early scene, when an idiot schoolmaster doesn't exactly realise that Rocky is ''not'' "special needs"

* The title character of ''{{Pumpkin}}''.

* Invoked in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. Peggy starts making sculptures out of discarded propane tanks, which draws the eye of an art dealer. However, at her first exhibition she learns that the guy has been portraying her as an idiot savant hillbilly[[note]]The exhibition is even titled "I Ain't Got No Book-Learnin'"[[/note]]. Needless to say, she's not happy, and even less so is Hank, but her spirits get lifted at the end of the episode when a few people express honest love of her "pro-bots".

* Since one of the {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s of [[MemeticBystander Derpy Hooves]] of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is that she's severely mentally retarded[[note]]which was eventually declared non-canon; she's merely TheDitz[[/note]], she becomes this a ''lot''. Dialed UpToEleven [[MamaBear whenever her daughter is involved]].

* The Literature/BrotherCadfael novel "The Pilgrim of Hate" features a type-C example. Rhun is a teenager who has had a crippling disability since he was a young child, but his serene acceptance and uncomplaining nature ultimately make him deserving of [[spoiler:a miracle cure from the local saint]]. In contrast, the titular pilgrim Ciaran has chosen to walk barefoot across the country with a heavy cross around his neck, and his wallowing in his "chosen disability" is depicted as self-serving and arrogant.

* The {{Cadfael}} novel "The Pilgrim of Hate" features a type-C example. Rhun is a teenager who has had a crippling disability since he was a young child, but his serene acceptance and uncomplaining nature ultimately make him deserving of [[spoiler:a miracle cure from the local saint]]. In contrast, the titular pilgrim Ciaran has chosen to walk barefoot across the country with a heavy cross around his neck, and his wallowing in his "chosen disability" is depicted as self-serving and arrogant.

A lot of the time, especially in the SitCom, the Inspirationally Disadvantaged person's reserves of strength are applied to doing some perfectly ordinary task such as competing in the school talent show, graduating, or going on a date. It's only elevated to the heights of heroism because the person doing it is "differently abled", hence why disability rights advocates tend to derisively call the genre "inspiration porn". In some cases, the character turns out to have a special talent or skill that no other character can beat, sometimes implicitly [[CursedWithAwesome "making up" for the disability]], sometimes bordering on DisabilitySuperpower.

A lot of the time, especially in the SitCom, the Inspirationally Disadvantaged person's reserves of strength are applied to doing some perfectly ordinary task such as competing in the school talent show, graduating, or going on a date. It's only elevated to the heights of heroism because the person doing it is "differently abled". In some cases, the character turns out to have a special talent or skill that no other character can beat, sometimes implicitly [[CursedWithAwesome "making up" for the disability]], sometimes bordering on DisabilitySuperpower.

* ''Film/TheRinger'' is a film about a guy who fakes being mentally challenged in order to join and rig the Special Olympics. Surprisingly, it manages to avoid being as disparaging to the disabled as one would expect from the premise, but it's also been praised for not going in the other direction, either. The Olympians are treated more like actual people ([[EnforcedMethodActing it helps that people with actual mental disabilities were hired to play them]]) crowd-favorite Jimmy Washington [[SmallNameBigEgo has a massive ego]] and is hated by the other Olympians, and any jokes made about their disabilities are fairly light (like when main character Steve has to break out a whiteboard and provide visual aids to explain his plan once he's caught) and are balanced out by Steve being [[ButtMonkey the butt of about 90% of the humor in the movie.]]

* ''Film/TheRinger'' is a film about a guy who fakes being mentally challenged in order to join and rig the Special Olympics. Surprisingly, the film was praised for not only avoiding disparaging the mentally challenged (anyone in-universe who does so is clearly an unsympathetic {{Jerkass}}, and while the main character goes a little over-the-top with his disabled persona, [[ButtMonkey karma frequently makes sure he pays for it]]), but not treating them as InspirationallyDisadvantaged either (the Olympians the main character befriends are treated like normal people, while crowd-favorite Jimmy has a [[SmallNameBigEgo massive ego]] and is hated by the other Olympians.)

* ''Film/TheRinger'' is a film about a guy who fakes being mentally challenged in order to join and rig the Special Olympics. Surprisingly, the film was praised for not only not disparaging the mentally challenged (anyone in-universe who does so is clearly an unsympathetic {{Jerkass}}, and while the main character goes a little over-the-top with his disabled persona, [[ButtMonkey karma frequently makes sure he pays for it]]), but not treating them as InspirationallyDisadvantaged either (the Olympians the main character befriends are treated like normal people, while crowd-favorite Jimmy has a [[SmallNameBigEgo massive ego]] and is hated by the other Olympians.)

* ''Film/TheRinger'' is a film about a guy who fakes being mentally challenged in order to join and rig the Special Olympics. Surprisingly, the film was praised for not only not disparaging the mentally challenged (anyone in-universe who does so is clearly an unsympathetic {{Jerkass}}, and while the main character goes a little over-the-top with his disabled persona, [[ButtMonkey karma frequently makes sure he pays for it]]), but not treating them as InspirationallyDisadvantaged either (the Olympians the main character befriends are treated like normal people, while fan-favorite Jimmy has a [[SmallNameBigEgo massive ego]] and is hated by the other Olympians.)

See also IdiotSavant, TheRainman, WaifProphet, and WhoopiEpiphanySpeech. SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs is essentially the inversion of this trope. Also somewhat related to LittlestCancerPatient. Compare GracefulInTheirElement.

A.K.A. the Magical Differently Abled Person (to go with MagicalNegro, MagicalQueer, MagicalNativeAmerican and all their friends.)

* Parodied in ''ChappellesShow'' which had a clip from a fictional movie "Little Foot, Long 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.

All types are seen as exploitative, with disabled characters often being little more than gimmicks to tug the heartstrings of able-bodied and able-minded viewers and make them feel "inspired" without actually challenging them to ''do'' anything about the systems that make life so difficult for the disabled in the first place. In addition, the trope is so well known that many people slap ANY handicapped character with the
label regardless of how they're portrayed.

* Averted in ''Series/{{Glee}}'' with Becky Jackson, Cheerio, BadassAdorable administrator, mean girl in development, and TheDragon to [[CrazyAwesome Sue Sylvester]], who also just happens to have Down Syndrome. Unfortunately, also played painfully straight with Sean the quadriplegic football player, whose injury and subsequent development into a singer and maths genius is used to teach the series' heroine an {{Aesop}} about how there's more to her than singing after she ''temporarily loses her voice due to a bout of tonsillitis''. If this was intended to be satire, it monumentally failed to land.

A lot of the time, especially in the SitCom, the InspirationallyDisadvantaged person's reserves of strength are applied to doing some perfectly ordinary task such as competing in the school talent show, graduating, or going on a date. It's only elevated to the heights of heroism because the person doing it is "differently abled". In some cases, the character turns out to have a special talent or skill that no other character can beat, sometimes implicitly [[CursedWithAwesome "making up" for the disability]], sometimes bordering on DisabilitySuperpower.

This Inspirationally Disadvantaged person is of the Magical kind, with shades of IncorruptiblePurePureness. This flavor of InspirationallyDisadvantaged is there to be a good influence and teach the non-disabled lead, [[WhiteMaleLead who is often white and male]] (but with some exceptions), a Very Special Lesson. Quite often, the person who is Type C InspirationallyDisadvantaged is TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth.

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' featured a number of these. Laying the patronizing aspect on extra-thick, years later, in a ClipShow framed as Simon's art film, each of the characters appears in a montage. While other characters in the montage are identified with labels explaining their roles (Such as "fireman" or "teacher"), the InspirationallyDisadvantaged characters are each identified with the label "Angel". Y'know, because they're closer to God and all.

** ''The Golden Girls'' had several episodes where a disabled character appears, but none are never portrayed with this trope. In particular, Blanche dates two: a blind man, who she ends up pushing away after starting to fall for him, not because he's blind, but because she relies so heavily on her looks that she can't trust herself to keep the interest of a man who can't see her, and a man in a wheelchair, who ''appears'' InspirationallyDisadvantaged, until it's revealed he's cheating on his wife, and Blanche realizes that he's just as much a jerk as any guy, he just happens to be sitting down.