'Popcorn Disabilities' author on disability in movies

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In her new book “Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies,” film critic and author Kristen Lopez says she wasn’t interested in writing “an academic book or one that felt like eating your vegetables.”

Even so, some publishers were skeptical.

“It’s not a sexy topic, which I’m aware of!” she says. “I wanted to write something that people can read where they’re not going to feel judged and can laugh a little. But also where I can talk about how movies have shaped a generation of disabled viewers — how these stereotypes leap off the screen and can hit the person watching them, and I use myself as the example. I talk about how these movies have affected me and how I see myself.”

A wheelchair user, Lopez tal