Hawkeye and Disability Representation in the Media
The character Hawkeye, also known as Clint Barton, is a Marvel superhero that emerged in the midst of the Marvel Age. Created by writer Stan Lee and penciler Don Heck, he bears no actual superpowers, but Hawkeye has excellent reflexes and very keen eyesight. He uses his heightened reflexes and superb eyesight to excel in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship, making him a vital member of the Avengers. While these traits remain constant throughout the comic books, another is not so consistent. At various points throughout the comics Hawkeye loses his hearing, but it does not seem to stick. Because of the trauma that Hawkeye experiences, he should be a character that deals with the disability of deafness; however, it is up to the writer whether they choose to make him deaf or not.
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/hawkeye/4005-1475/
Superhero comics have the tendency to fail to properly acknowledge disability, particularly non-visible disabilities. For example, in Hawkeye #4, Hawkeye loses 80% of his hearing by putting a hyper-sonic arrowhead in his mouth to escape brainwashing, however three issues later in The Avengers #242, Hawkeye engages in normal conversation and there is no mention of his hearing loss for another fifteen years of comics.
In the course reading, chapter 48 talks about the problems of the lack of representation of Native Americans in the media. These include issues to do with young individuals struggling to understand their image because what they do see are negative stereotypes and people unlike them. This problem has the same affect on disabled youth. Hawkeye could provide a positive example of a superhero with a disability, but writers choose to erase his deafness. He also acts as a negative example for young deaf readers as he tells fellow Avenger, Mockingbird in The Avengers #239 that he will not wear hearing aids and that his deafness makes him weak.
Deaf American actor and activist Nyle DiMarco has called out Marvel for making Hawkeye a hearing character in the MCU . DiMarco also stated in an interview explaining the importance of disability visibility in the media, “so many times people forget the disability conversation in diversity…We are part of diversity as people with disabilities, and the danger is that we get excluded”.
Concept Reference:
Leavitt, P. A., Covarrubias, R., Perez, Y. A., & Fryberg, S. A. (2015). “ ‘Frozen in time’: The impact of native american media representations on identity and self-understanding.” In M. L. Andersen & P. H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class, & gender: Intersections and inequalities (pp. 448-456). Boston, MA: Cengage.
Superhero comics have the tendency to fail to properly acknowledge disability, particularly non-visible disabilities. For example, in Hawkeye #4, Hawkeye loses 80% of his hearing by putting a hyper-sonic arrowhead in his mouth to escape brainwashing, however three issues later in The Avengers #242, Hawkeye engages in normal conversation and there is no mention of his hearing loss for another fifteen years of comics.
In the course reading, chapter 48 talks about the problems of the lack of representation of Native Americans in the media. These include issues to do with young individuals struggling to understand their image because what they do see are negative stereotypes and people unlike them. This problem has the same affect on disabled youth. Hawkeye could provide a positive example of a superhero with a disability, but writers choose to erase his deafness. He also acts as a negative example for young deaf readers as he tells fellow Avenger, Mockingbird in The Avengers #239 that he will not wear hearing aids and that his deafness makes him weak.
Deaf American actor and activist Nyle DiMarco has called out Marvel for making Hawkeye a hearing character in the MCU . DiMarco also stated in an interview explaining the importance of disability visibility in the media, “so many times people forget the disability conversation in diversity…We are part of diversity as people with disabilities, and the danger is that we get excluded”.
Concept Reference:
Leavitt, P. A., Covarrubias, R., Perez, Y. A., & Fryberg, S. A. (2015). “ ‘Frozen in time’: The impact of native american media representations on identity and self-understanding.” In M. L. Andersen & P. H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class, & gender: Intersections and inequalities (pp. 448-456). Boston, MA: Cengage.
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