Blog: Caution - Inkheart on Netflix

This mockery, which is seen in a couple of other scenes too, was picked up by Guardian movie reviewer Philip French, who had this message for parents at the time:

"This is a lovely story, postmodernist family fun: witty, exciting, and imbued with a love of literature... The film does, however, have a small but distinctive blemish. There is a running gag about the villain's resident storyteller, a joke figure in an ill-fitting bowler. He has a marked speech impediment which his brutal comrades make fun of. Their attitude is evidently shared by the film-makers as nothing is done to mitigate their mockery. This will be hurtful to stammering children or children with stammering parents."

You can't help but wonder if other children might see this and feel encouraged to emulate the mockery – something many of us have had to endure in our formative years and even as adults. It might be argued that the mocking is carried out by the villains and as such highlights their immorality; these are baddies we're not supposed to side with. And he's only really a joke to the other villains. Furthermore, Darius does get his brief moment to shine at the end in a triumphant scene where his stammer comes to the fore.

Messaging

A perhaps more insidious aspect, however, is the message the film gives out about stammering. Darius is seen as worthless to the baddies because he stammers; to them he's faulty and useless just because of how he speaks. In one scene, one of Capricorn's henchman spits out: "We're delighted. Now we've got someone who can really read". He's also ultimately to blame for other characters' faults – (spoiler alert…) it's the reason the mute character is unable to call out for help when she needs it most.

I obviously can't speak for everyone who stammers. But I can't help thinking that if I was a ten-year-old watching Inkheart with my family or friends for the first time, and seeing Darius being discredited, dismissed and humiliated in such a callous and public manner, I might have felt embarrassed and ashamed, fearing that those around me would think that my stammer made me worthless in their eyes.

I should re-stress that Darius's character is only on screen for just a few minutes of the 1 hour 45 minute running time. But he is a pretty major plot device. These types of potentially damaging depictions in cinema where stammering is arguably used in a negative way are usually seen in more grown up films like A Fish Called Wanda and The Waterboy. But as Inkheart is aimed at children and families, I thought it might worth flagging up to any parents who might want to exercise caution before watching it.

What do you think? If you've seen Inkheart or are going to watch it and have a comment or opinion, email us at editor@stamma.org

Read about our recent campaign 'No Diversity Without Disfluency', which highlighted negative portrayals of stammering and called for more inclusion in the media.