The Trope of the Disabled Imposter Child in The Brood, Orphan, and the works of Ari Aster

Описание: When is a child not a child? Unfortunately, the answer to that question in a fair amount of horror media seems to be "when that child is disabled." In this video, I explore the trope of the disabled imposter child in The Brood and Orphan, along with horror auteur Ari Aster's troubling fixation on facial difference. This is a continuation of my series about the monsters of childhood innocence, so I take a look at how our cultural storytelling uses disability to symbolize a loss or lack of this innocence -- and how that idea has real repercussions on actual kids with disabilities.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
06:29 - Evil Origins: The Brood
20:17 - Who's in the Body? Orphan and Hereditary
45:35 - Conclusion: Ugh, It's RFK Jr. Again

Part 1 of the childhood, disability, and monstrosity discussion:    • The Monsters of Childhood Innocence: Eugen...  

Transcript: https://kathleenwriting.com/2025/09/1...

Media discussed:
The Brood, dir. David Cronenberg (1979)
Orphan, dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2009)
Hereditary, dir. Ari Aster (2018)
Midsommar, dir. Ari Aster (2019)
The Black Stork, dir. Theodore and Leopold Wharton (1917)

References:
Cheyne, R. (2019). Disability, Literature, Genre: Representation and Affect in Contemporary Fiction. Liverpool University Press.
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Gorski, D. (2025, Apr. 7). Measles, MAHA, and "soft eugenics." Science-Based Medicine. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/meas...
Livingston, K. (2004). Viewing Popular Films about Mental Illness through a Sociological Lens. Teaching Sociology, 32(1), 119-128.
Mellgren, D. (2008, Jan. 10). Woman, 33, Was Disguised as Teen Boy. CBS News. https://tinyurl.com/4a8736fx
Papps, F.A. (2019). Introduction: “And Then the Monsters Come Out.” In F.A. Papps (Ed.), “And Then the Monsters Come Out”: Madness, Language and Power. BRILL.
Paré, A. (1573, 1982). On Monsters and Marvels (J.L. Pallister, Ed. and Trans.). The University of Chicago Press.
Rare Stories. (2023). The Story of Barbora Skrlova: The Woman Who Pretended to Be a Child. Vocal Media. https://vocal.media/criminal/the-stor...
Renner, K.J. (2011). Evil Children in the Popular Imagination. Palgrave Macmillan.
Rickey, C. (2015, Oct. 3). The Brood: Separation Trials. The Criterion Collection. https://archive.ph/20190713110020/htt...
Waxman, O.B. (2025, Apr. 30). The Complicated True Story Behind "Good American Family." TIME. https://time.com/7268980/good-america...
Yang, M. (2025, Aug. 29). RFK Jr peddles dubious health claims as CDC roils under his leadership. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...