A Fouch of Frost: Disability Essay

In the episode of ‘ A touch of frost’ we are introduced to a character named ‘Billy’, who suffers from down syndrome. In media disability is often seen as an awkward matter and the person seen to be vulnerable. We feel this at the moment when Billy is being chased and also interrogated by Mr. Frost, who we get the idea of being some sort of detective. In the scene it seems as if the detective thinks Billy knows something about where Trisha is as he was with her earlier in the day. The beginning shot is dark and gloomy which often in media is foreshadowing a negative event to come. The use of make up on Billy such as the cut on his face suggests hes been in an incident and has ended up in some sort of danger.  When we have a close up shot of Billy we feel sorry for him and the audience may begin to build up a relationship with Billy in this clip. The audience are made to feel sorry for Billy as he is being interrogated for as he puts it, doing ‘nothing wrong’. The setting of the scene is in a woods and then inside of a house. He is on his own outside which is significant because the fact something such as this has happened could represent him being unable to be on his own, whereas in the house we see Billy’s parents still caring for him when there is a guest in the house making sure Billy is ‘cleaned up’ before being questioned.

              In the beginning scene in the woods Billy is in complete darkness but his face is completely lit up Asif he was under some sort of spotlight, which, turns out to be the policemen’s spotlights, and Billys surrounded which could symbolise the fact that people with disabilities may always be surrounded by people and are sometimes presented as dependant or ‘trapped’ in their disability. In the house there is use of low key lighting which could represent Billys fear as it seems completely abnormal for him and his family to be going through a process such as this. The audience still sympathise for Billy as he is still cut and bruised whilst being questioned, with the effective use of fake blood and make-up.

When the father and Mr. Frost are having a conversation it seems quite private which could make the audience feel as if they are involved and shouldn’t be listening to the conversation with the use of a high angle shot the audience may feel as if they are sneaking in. The way in which the men are discussing Billy could represent how Billy may be less able to communicate and speak about the situation. The father wants to make clear what is appropriate to discuss, correcting Mr. Frost on his addressing of Billy as ‘mentally subnormal’, which could link well to the common awkwardness of disabilities in media where people may think they cannot openly discuss.

                  As mentioned before the mother wants to ‘clean Billy up’. This also represents Billy as a dependant person and presents him to be child-like, which is common in media to see the disabled as vulnerable, and the audience seem to grow a strong relationship with Billy’s innocent and naïve personality. Along with this the dialogue of Mr. Frost seems as if he is speaking to Billy in a simple or childlike manner which could be offensively interrogating as it is presenting Billy as less knowledgeable and less able to communicate simply because he has a disability.

                 As Mr.Frost is interrogating and questioning Billy we see numerous shots for example over shoulder shots were Billy’s father is present in the background. This makes it seem to the audience that Billy is incapable of having an independent conversation and the father may be needed to answer some questions for Billy or may be there for support expressing how disabilities may make someone less independent. Through the scene there is lots of examples of shot reverse shot which causes tension in the questioning scene and produces sympathy from the audience towards Billy.

             
                 Diegetic sound is mostly present in this extract which adds to the realism and severity of the situation. As it is a secretive what seems murder case it connects the audience thinking they know ‘everything’ about the scene and there is nothing that the characters know that we don’t know, unless its about the disappearance of Trisha. What I thought was significant is how Billy seems to be lower down than all the other characters in his armchair. This could be symbolic for disabled people seeming less capable or dependant.