What is it about?
This chapter explores how disability is represented and appropriated within heavy metal culture. Smialek and Bassler investigate three specific roles that disability plays in metal-related texts: as a public relations tool in social media memes, as a narrative and aesthetic device in music videos, and as a spectacle in lyrics from extreme subgenres. The analysis begins with the historical context of freak shows, linking them to modern instances of "inspiration porn"—a term used to critique portrayals that exploit disabled people’s achievements for the motivational benefit of able-bodied audiences. The authors critique how wheelchair-bound fans crowd surfing are framed as evidence of the metal scene's inclusivity, but argue that such depictions often serve more to promote metal’s image than to empower those with disabilities.
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Why is it important?
This work is significant for its interdisciplinary contribution to both metal music studies and disability studies. It challenges the surface-level celebration of inclusivity in metal culture and exposes the deeper, often exploitative frameworks that still dominate representations of disability. By analyzing how disability is commodified—as a symbol of the grotesque, a fear-inducing aesthetic, or a feel-good narrative—the authors advocate for a more critical and ethical engagement with disabled identities in cultural production. Their critique encourages reflection within metal communities and academia on how to foster more authentic inclusion and resist reinforcing harmful stereotypes. KEY TAKEAWAY: Metal culture often appropriates disability to enhance its own image, but true inclusivity requires moving beyond spectacle and sentimentality to recognize disabled individuals as active cultural participants.
Perspectives
The section on Disability as Prop has one of my favourite findings in it. I was stunned by how closely Lady Gaga's props in the music video for "Paparazzi" match with Marilyn Manson's. She uses a neck brace and stilts in almost the exact same way and we found images that capture that exactness. This part of the chapter moves away from metal a little but really drives home how symbols of disability get used as props to create a sense of the uncanny.
Dr Eric Smialek
University of Huddersfield
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dis-ruptions: Heavy Metal Appropriations of Disability in Media, April 2024, Intellect,
DOI: 10.1386/9781789389456_9.
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