Film Review: Murderball

          Murderball is a documentary film starring Mark Zupan, chronicling the lives of quad rugby players vying for the gold medal in the 2004 Paralympic Games.  Additionally, Murderball documents the lives of individuals recently injured and facing the prospect of life as a quadriplegic.  The film addresses common misconceptions about life as a quadriplegic, and highlights the physicality, sexuality, and ability of a group commonly perceived as asexual and useless.  The film shatters misconceptions about the “disabled” community, and effectively destroys what Smith and blogger annaham of Bitch Media call “disability archetypes” (Bitch Media).  The film argues that disabled persons are not limited to and do not operate within socially constructed ideals of disability.  Rather, as illustrated by members of the United States Quad Rugby team, disabled individuals exist with all the complexity and much of the ability of “able-bodied” individuals, in spite of the wide-spread stereotype of being helpless. 

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            According to Bitch Media, society tends to view disabled individuals within two or more archetypes.  Of particular note or what Smith refers to as , "The Good Cripple"and what blogger annaham refers to as "Supercrip" .  Smith touches on the dissemination of one-dimensional disabled characters saying there is an abundance of “characters who are wholly characterized by their disability.  As oppose to say characters who happen to be disabled, characters who can be disabled without letting it consume them” (The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Disability Archetypes: The Good Cripple).  Smith goes on to state, “The Good Cripple is the safe, comfortable depiction of disability” (The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Disability Archetypes: The Good Cripple).  Along similar lines falls the positive stereotype of the “Supercrip” (annaham, TDC: Disability Archetypes: Supercrip).  The Supercrip as described by Bitch Media is the representation of disabled persons as a whole as inspirational, while still being seen as the other.  Bitch Media quotes an excerpt from Lorenzo Milam’s CripZen: A Manual For Survival, as Milam states, “Less obvious, but more hurtful, is what we call the Roosevelt Syndrome-scaling great heights, smiling…becoming SuperCrip, convincing everyone that there is nothing going on…” (TDC: Disability Archetypes: Supercrip).  This statement highlights the inherent problems of positive stereotypes, that by ignoring a person’s disability, or treating disabled persons as if they are innately inspirational, you detract from the individual agency of the person. 

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          Murderball effectively destroys the notions of “Supercrip” and of “The Good Cripple” by presenting an unblinking look into the reality of quadriplegic individual’s lives.  The film argues that society has an unrealistic construction of the label "disabled", by showing that the individuals presented have athletic prowess, sexual desire and ability, and are able to accomplish many if not all of the tasks that able-bodied individuals can accomplish.  All of these aspects of the characters lives are displayed on screen creating an effective argument against current societal perceptions of able-bodied.  The archetypes are rejected in evidence by the athletes in Murderball, though they are not the only athletes labeled deviant who reject the notions of “Supercrip” and “The Good Cripple”. 

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            Rohan Murphy is a champion college wrestler, and according to his coach Teri Jordan, rejects the label of disabled.  In an article for Sports Illustrated, Mandell quotes Jordan as saying, “Rohan may not have legs, but he is in no way disabled” (Mandell, Standing Tall: No legs, no problem for Penn State’s Rohan Murphy).  Murphy was apprehensive about competing in Paralympic Games, as his coach Teri Jordan states, “He didn’t want to compete in something where everyone gets a medal” (Mandell, 2).  This effectively illustrates the stigma that surrounds athletic competitions involving those that are considered disabled.  Despite Murphy being a wrestler at Penn State University, a division I program, he is expected to participate in consolation competition, a direct result of the societal construction of weak and strong, able bodied and disabled. 

            Murderball relates to our course in a number of ways, primarily how the label “disabled” adversely affects otherwise able-bodied individuals.  This is common in other groups seen as weak, such as the elderly.  Society constructs views of these populations depicting them as a homogenous group of gentle, yet useless creatures.  The power of the disabled label, illustrated by Becker’s labeling theory, automatically creates the image of weakness.  It is this societal perception that causes adversity in the lives of those receiving the label, by subjecting them to an often hopeless existence where nothing is expected, and their true identity is clouded by their new master status.

            Murderball’s strongest argument in support of its thesis is the intimate portrayal of the lives of the athletes.  The film shows the physicality, abrasiveness, sexuality, and passion of the quadriplegic athletes, and flatly rejects popular notions of the passive soul, yearning to walk again.  These athletes are as gritty and raw as their metallic chairs, and execute their movements with the precision and accuracy of any Olympic-caliber athlete. Contrary to popular character depictions in Glee and Malcolm in the Middle, the characters and athletes in Murderball represent not simply what it is to be disabled but what it is to be human, that is their disability is in no way their master status.  

                Athletes such as Mark Zupan, and the quad rugby players, as well as Rohan Murphy cause me to question the binary systems of the United States in particular.  Similar to our classification of male and female, and the exclusion of those known as transgender and intersex, the classification of able-bodied or disabled excludes some from participation in sporting events with others outside of their class.  This hierarchy fosters inequality and perpetuates notions of the weaker class, especially in sporting events.  For further research I would propose to open all sporting events in a given sample city, a large metropolitan area for example, to all persons regardless of disability classification in order to see how the revocation of labels affects athlete performance.  The same argument can be made to allow women, intersex, and transgender persons men’s sporting events in order to see how the elimination of sex and gender bias can elevate the perceptions of female, transgender and intersex athletes.  I feel by destroying the socially constructed barriers of able-bodied and disabled and integrating sport; athletes such as Rohan Murphy and Mark Zupan will become more common place, possibly diminishing the stigma of being labeled disabled.  This diminished stigma will have far reaching implications in the social and psychological lives of all “disabled” individuals by illustrating the true ability of all people.  

- Steve

Works Cited:

Smith.  "The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Disability Archetypes: The Good Cripple."
         Bitch Media.  bitchmagazine.org

annaham.  "The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Disability Archetypes: Supercrip."
          Bitch Media.  bitchmagazine.org