7/31/26 - Friday Video Share: "The Odyssey Scandal No One is Talking About"

Andrew Pulrang

31 Jul 2026 • 3 min read

The Odyssey Scandal No One is Talking About ...
Molly Burke - July 28, 2026

Molly's rant here is on point – especially about the utter foolishness of once again gushing praise for a non-disabled actor for the hardships they endure to portray a disabled character, when so few disabled actors get cast in movies and TV shows. She's also on pretty solid ground in complaining about how non-disabled people misunderstand what the actual hardships are, and aren't, for real disabled people. What's so terribly difficult and alien for a non-disabled person to try out for a limited time is usually mostly fine and familiar for the actual disabled people who live that life. And if people are really renting wheelchairs just to get seating in theaters, that's pretty awful – though my instinct is that this is probably less of a trend and more of a social media inspired moral panic. Molly's arguments get slightly more shaky when she points out the irony of an Hispanic actor talking about lack of Hispanic representation in film, while portraying a disabled person and thereby helping reduce disability representation. I think it's a fair point. But something in me hates it when disabled people compare our social status, political power, or media representation to "other minority groups." It just feels icky to me. Still, overall this is a welcomed commentary.

Have a terrific weekend everyone!

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