Changing faces – Representation of people with a visible difference in popular culture

Charity calls on Bond producers to have a positive character with a disfigurement.

Three-quarters (74%) think popular culture is changing to be more inclusive, but people with visible differences are being left behind.
Only one in five (20%) have seen a character with a visible difference cast as the hero in a film or on TV.
Yet nearly double (39%) have seen someone with a visible difference cast as the villain or ‘baddie’.
People with visible differences report long term impacts from not seeing people who look like them represented across popular culture.
A third have low levels of confidence (34%), and 3 in 10 have struggled with body image (31%) and low self-esteem (29%).

Date Published: 28/09/2021

Categories: Public and communities | UK

Client: Changing Faces

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 1,081 people with a mark, scar or condition that makes them look different online between 15th and 26th July 2021. Data were weighted to be representative of those with a mark, scar or condition that makes them look different by age and gender. This weighting scheme was sourced from a nationally representative public omnibus survey run between 22nd and 24th March 2019. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.