Supercrip in Motion

The article engages in a critical visual analysis (Schroeder) of promotional materials (animation and photography) for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It determines the extent to which promotional materials for the Paralympics drew on the “supercrip” stereotype, defined as a narrative wherein athletes “overcome” the “tragedy” of their impairments through personal courage (Berger; Howe “From Inside”; Silva and Howe). While animations of the Paralympics mascot “Someity” suggest that the supercrip remains a dominant narrative of disabled athletes in audio-visual and photographic media, they also begin to disconnect this stereotype from its individualized and medicalized connotations. Consequently, the animations shift focus to how the built environment can promote the social inclusion of disabled people. The article also analyses photographs of Japanese Paralympians in GO Journal, an online and bilingual magazine created by Mika Ninagawa and the Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Center. Photographs of Satoshi Fujimoto show the supercrip narrative intersecting with discourses of nationalism and militarism. Comparing photographs of Fujimoto and Mei Ichinose reveal how the latter’s presentation observes conventional beauty standards. Rather than replicating supercrip stereotypes, early promotional materials associated with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games appeared to push for more diverse representations of disabled athletes.