Stuttering in popular culture
Hi, my name is Carson McIllwain and I am a graduate student studying speech-language pathology at Stephen F. Austin State University. I am curious to know the opinion from a person who stutters on various pop culture topics like:
Porky pig: apparently Mel Blanc did not have a natural stutter, but he created Porky Pig’s stutter for comedic effect after the original voice actor, who was a person who stuttered, was fired. To me, it is not surprising that something offensive came out of the 30s, but the character continued on for decades. Should it have? Is the character offensive per se, or is it just the decision behind making him stutter? I would imagine that this character is the reference bullies might make if they are trying to make fun of someone who stutters.
famous people who stutter (who is your favorite/ one you name in a conversation about famous PWS and why?)
are there any pieces of media that involve stuttering that most people probably haven’t seen but should?
Hi Carson!
I have never really been a fan of Looney Tunes, but creating a character with a stutter with the purpose of it being for comedic effect is an issue. Today’s times are much different, but the issue with this is it reinforces the fact that stuttering is something that is funny and is ok to be mocked and laughed at, when it isn’t.
One of my favourite stutterers who is considered to be famous is George Springer. He is a baseball player currently playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. I am a big sports fan so it is awesome to see him out there and has created a very successful baseball career for himself. He has also done a lot of work in the stuttering community which is awesome to see.
The King’s Speech is a great movie that is based on a true story and does a great job of showcasing the stuttering iceberg. I would highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already!
Matt
Thank you for these interesting questions, Carson!
Regarding Porky Pig, oh how I HATED him as a little boy with severe stuttering. To me, he was presenting stuttering as something funny, something to laugh at. That really deeply offended me as a young boy. I was really afraid that other kids would laugh at Porky Pig, and that this would give them the impression that stuttering was something humorous. I also was afraid that other kids would compare me with Porky Pig.
In actuality, none of that happened, I’m happy to say. But still, I just hated Porky Pig stuttering for laughs.
Regarding the many celebrities who claim they stutter, or that they somehow managed to cure their stuttering: Almost everyone who makes that claim speaks very fluently in public. To me they are not good role models for people who stutter – they send the subtle message: “You too could be successful, if you could somehow stop stuttering.”
I am very skeptical about celebrity claims of stuttering, when they seem to always speak very fluently.
Perhaps they had a different speech/language disorder other than chronic developmental stuttering, and are confused in their minds about what exactly their speech/language problem was.
Perhaps they used to stutter very mildly (although nearly every celebrity who claims they used to stutter states they stuttered severely).
Or perhaps they still stutter outside the public eye, in situations they don’t mention, or perhaps they avoid certain situations they regard as especially difficult.
But it is really true that with rare exceptions, famous people who say they stutter (or more often, say they used to stutter) nearly always speak fluently in the public eye.
Frankly, I have trouble believing them. And that is why I don’t have a favorite famous person who stutters.
I know this is not the kind of answer you may be looking for, Carson. But for me, this is the most honest way to answer this question.
Thank you for asking it, anyways!
Hi Carson
What a cool question. 🙂
To be honest, I always loved, and still do, cartoons. I never really reacted to Porky Pig, as he talked and was a character that was doing his thing. He was teased for himself, not for his stutter. And most of the other cartoon characters also had something, often some kind of speech variety, in my eyes not portrayed as lesser, just having a typical character. I only heard later in life the reason of his stutter, as you just mentioned. But I know other people were hurt, often because society “used” it to mock PWS.
In Sweden a famous comedian portrayed a PWS in a series of “comedy”, playing a character who’s being bullied by a person who is diagnosed with aggression. He used words like “noone wants to listen to a woodpecker” and used violence through f ex putting a soccer horn in the character’s mouth, until foam came out of his ears, saying “I’ll make sure you won’t stutter anymore”. I contacted the actor and even contacted the media, so the series were stopped. Some viewers found me a, but others were just as offended, while at the same time a child was pulled into the shower, with a shower head put in his mouth, while hearing the same words the actor used.
‘A fish called Wanda’ was another example of mixed emotions. Some loved it, and there were some parts that made me laugh and admire the character who stutters for his braveness, but in the end his anger made him fluent???
‘The King’s Speech’ is a movie I love. The words “Because I have a voice” still gives me goose bumps. But again, the media missused it be saying that the King became fluent. He didn’t. He just learned to make a presentation in a way that had less blocks.
The teacher in Harry Potter that was portrayed as a shy PWS, was a villian, who fakes his stutter. That’s not helping in any way, and the stuttering community and our allies wrote letters to the author.
So it’s not always the the movie or the character itself, it’s how it’s used in society (as well), turning a stuttering character into a laughing stock.
I also have a some thoughts about PWS who are being made VIPs who stutter, although you can’t hear one single stutter. Now I know covert stuttering is also really tough, if not tougher, but my role models are PWS who openly stutter and still follow their dreams and become succesful. F ex my dear friend Scatman John Larkin (see Gina Waggott’s paper in this conference), who used his stutter to talk and sing about stuttering, and who was a fantastic support to all who stutter.
I’d also like to refer you to the website where stuttering in movies is being documented.
https://www.stamily.org/post/project-stuttering-in-movies
Keep them talking
Anita