In our ASTU class today, we analyzed the different rhetorics in disability memoirs that have been outlined by Couser, and highlighted Cockeyed’s agency through its usage of gothic and emancipatory rhetoric. After I did a bit of research online, I found an article that talked about the potential of Cockeyed becoming a screenplay. What caught my eye was the title of the article, entitled, “A Hollywood Moment: Blind Author Ryan Knighton.”

That got me thinking: what kind of rhetoric is used when disability memoirs are represented/marketed by mainstream institutions? To me, the title of this article is reminiscent of the rhetoric of triumph, whereby disability is seen as a problem that needs to be solved or overcome. The word, “Hollywood,” often has connotations of fame and wealth, and defining Knighton not just as any author, but as a blind author, suggests that perhaps Knighton had overcome some sort of adversity (e.g., his blindness?) by possibly achieving a greater degree of success (the Hollywood “Moment”). Furthermore, look at the article description, which says:

“Ryan Knighton never intended his memoir “Cockeyed” to become a screenplay. But chance, and Jodie Foster, may yet give him his Hollywood ending.”

In the second sentence, we see that Knighton is framed in a way where he is reliant on others in order to triumph, or achieve Hollywood success. This reduces the agency of Cockeyed, because it is not Knighton’s rejection of conventional attitudes regarding disability that will lead him to mainstream success, but rather, it is fortune, and the help from privileged individuals that will allow Knighton to expand his book.

While the article I analyzed is one out of the many media representations of Cockeyed, it illustrates the problems that could arise when minority narratives are taken up by social institutions. The language that is used to portray such narratives can overshadow the agency they possess, especially if they use some of the rhetorics that have been discussed by Couser. Knighton also describes how his adapted script of Cockeyed was ruthlessly edited by Jodie Foster, “who was like…an architect…kept 20, 25 percent of the original stuff.” Evidently, the processes of film making came into play: material was kept if it served a purpose (i.e., if it was marketable), and discarded if it didn’t. Ultimately, the mass media can impose constraints on marginalized narratives, which could potentially alter their meaning and agency that they possess.