Bethany Hamilton Stereotypes

Imagine yourself floating on the sparkling, calm, blue water of Hawaii. The hot sun is shining on your face. You wave your arms in the warm water and suddenly feel a strong pull on your left arm. Shark! You start seeing the crystal blue water turn bright red and your vision blurs. For you, it’s all in your imagination, however, for teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton, it was reality. From that day forward, Bethany Hamilton became an amputee. The media shared her tragic story with the public. Sean McNamara, the director of the film Soul Surfer, while attempting to accurately illustrate the life of Bethany Hamilton, failed to provide an accurate portrayal for his audience, due to the simplistic undertone and glossing of a tragic experience in the film. Today, the media is a main influence in society’s way of thinking and acting. The fact that media glosses over the sadness and grief that can result from an amputation and its primary focus being the tangible achievements of an amputee, perpetuates damaging stereotypes. Such stereotypes, specifically the
According to the study “Psychological Response to Amputation as a Function of Age and Time Since Amputation,” “50 percent of all amputees require some sort of psychological intervention” and “40% of a sample of amputees had problems in social adjustment after amputation” (Frank), yet none of these possible obstacles for an amputee were represented in Soul Surfer. What effect will this have on amputees watching the film? The glossing over of the healing process of an amputee in Soul Surfer does not allow other amputees to relate to the film, therefore alienating them. Because the film misrepresents the healing process of an amputee, it minimizes the severity of an amputation. In addition, the extreme positivity stemming from a serious event leads films to carry a simplistic