By Emma Almanza
Staff Writer

On October 22, 2020 the Warner Bros Production Company was slammed with criticism upon the release of their live action adaptation of Roald Dahl’s famous children’s book “The Witches.” The movie is centered around a young boy staying at a hotel with his grandmother, who then inadvertently ends up spying on a convention of witches. In the original book, the witches are identified by their bald heads and their cat-like claws; in the film adaptation, however, these claws were ignorantly replaced with missing fingers.

The creators were immediately condemned by critics and advocates of the disabled community, who pointed out how the witches’ hands resemble that of those with ectrodactyly, a condition commonly referred to as split hands.         

Advocates like Amy Marren, a former Paralympics athlete, and former actress Melissa Johns called attention to the creators’ ignorance when designing the witches. They argue that associating disabilities with abnormality, fear, and disgust is not only offensive, but also dangerous to society. Others argue that because the film was not depicting disabled humans, but fully-able witches in their natural state, it had nothing to do with portraying villains with physical disabilities.

Although this may seem like an insignificant detail, the impacts of oblivious mistakes threaten to set back the progress advocates have made in normalizing and embracing these differences. The portrayal of villains with physical defects, such as in “The Witches,” can further perpetuate the negative stigma that surrounds those with disabilities. This is especially true among children, who with their developing minds might begin to associate limb differences with something they should be afraid of.

It is also incredibly damaging to children with limb differences themselves, as they are seeing people who look like them being portrayed as scary and abnormal. Representation like this can be detrimental to their self-esteems, especially at such a young age. Differences should not be feared or abnormalized, but accepted and embraced for their uniqueness.

After the copious amount of criticism received, both The Warner Brothers production company and lead actress Anne Hathaway took it upon themselves to apologize for their ignorance whilst creating the movie. 

“We the filmmakers and Warner Bros. Pictures are deeply saddened to learn that our depiction of the fictional characters in THE WITCHES could upset people with disabilities, and regret any offense caused. In adapting the original story, we worked with designers and artists to come up with a new interpretation of the cat-like claws that are described in the book. It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them. This film is about the power of kindness and friendship. It is our hope that families and children can enjoy the film and embrace this empowering, love-filled theme,” a spokesperson for Warner Bros said in a statement to US Weekly.  

The apology was met with mixed reactions, with many commending the apology. Though it was much needed, the movie tapped into a long running societal misconception: a quick tweet or Instagram post can mitigate any harm that has been done. It seems that every time an ignorant mistake is made by a large corporation, a simple apology is released promising change that is never seen after the controversy dies down.  

It is not difficult to understand the outrage amongst advocates for the disabled community as this negative representation is not new. The media in particular is responsible for a great deal of these false stereotypes that many have fought hard to change over the years. It is important to make sure these stigmas are no longer spread and that we hold others accountable to ensure that people feel safe and accepted rather than fearful or as if they are abnormal.