Popular actress Lupita Nyong’o is a darling of many people across the world.
However, most recently the award winning daughter of Kisumu governor was criticised for what her critiques termed disrespect to the disabled in a movie released in the US.
The actress is already making a killing from the movie, but disability groups are not very impressed with the way the movie chose to portray the villain in the film.
For those who have already watched the film, the plot revolves around a family whose serenity was disrupted while on vacation by their exact doppelgangers who take them on a terror spree.
Now for Lupita, there was no denying the talents she exhibited in her acting especially because she had to take up two roles including her doppelganger who had quite the queer voice.
It was the manner in which Lupita’s doppelganger executed the voice that raised concern from the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association (NSDA).
Reports revealed the association did not appreciate the fact that the Kenyan born actor actually incorporated a disability in the execution of her villain character.
Lupita’s voice in the movie was an adaptation of patients suffering from spasmodic dysphonia – which sometimes impairs speech to some extent.
“One of the toughest parts of having a disability is that people make assumptions based on the way you walk, talk or act, sometimes with little understanding of what is causing it,” the organization stated.
“We understand that hearing the unique sound caused by symptoms of spasmodic dysphonia was the spark of inspiration for the voice of this character. What is difficult for us, and for the thousands of people living with spasmodic dysphonia, is this association to their voice with what might be considered haunting,” A statement from the NSDA said.
According to the organisation, associating disabilities with villains in movies only increased the stigma associated with the condition.
The outrage came after Lupita went on record to admit to actually taking some time to learn how to speak like a spasmodic dysphonia patient which from an acting point of view, is quite commendable as it shows commitment to the art.
Following public outcry, Lupita issued an apology.
“I met with people and learned how difficult it is to have that disorder so I’m aware of the misconceptions of the condition. I just thought speaking about it would rareness about the condition. It wasn’t my intention to offend them (marginalised groups). For all that I say sorry to anyone that I may have offended,” she said.
