One form of stuttering representation in film

‘Society—especially the media—presents stories of stuttering where someone conquers their stutter and frames it so that conquering it in and of itself is success.’ – Nina. G

As stated in my piece about The Kings Speech, which can be found here;  A review of Tom Hooper’s The Kings Speech (2010), mainstream film and TV have tended to embrace the ‘narrative of overcoming’ in relation to characters who stutter. Many films and television shows with characters who stutter demonstrate that overcoming the stutter is necessary in order to be accepted into society. Consequently, this demonstrates that fluency is key to living a full and happy life and you should always strive for fluency; because how else is the rest of society going to understand you? And that if you cannot overcome your stutter, you are often seen as weak, lazy and as a victim of your situation.

I want to analyse a short scene that is in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (which can be found on Netflix and is directed by Susan Johnson and stars Lana Condor).
(Trailer for movie.) 

Disclaimer; This scene did not detract from my enjoyment or admiration for the film series. However, this particular scene caught my attention because of how stuttering is portrayed within it. I also want to note that in no way am I commenting on how the film is made, but on how Peter’s character treats people who stutter.

Shutterstock

In this scene, Lara Jean, who is played by Lana Condor, is seated between two boys: her boyfriend Peter, who is played by Noah Centineo, and John, a boy she used to like, who is played by Jordan Fisher. Peter is intimidated by John because he is concerned that Lara Jean still has feelings for him. During this scene, Peter brings up the fact that John used to stutter. He makes no discriminatory or offensive remarks, but the fact that he brings it up at all is striking. Peter claims that John used to stutter and that he has recently noticed that he no longer does. The group they're with are clearly surprised that Peter would bring this up, implying that Peter was only doing it to retaliate against John for making him feel inadequate because he's envious of John and Lara Jean's previous relationship. John becomes visibly agitated but thanks Peter for pointing it out, saying that his speech therapist would be pleased to know that her methods worked.

This scene exemplifies how stuttering is frequently depicted as a character flaw, a sign of weakness, and how someone who stutters must work to overcome their stutter in order to be accepted into society. Peter evidently felt he had the right to pick on the vulnerability of John's stutter as a means of retaliation. John, on the other hand appears to be uncomfortable with his stutter being brought up in such a public setting (could he still be embarrassed for having a stutter in the first place, despite his efforts to overcome it?). During this scene, my heart ached for John; not only has he had to prove himself to the rest of his social group that he can overcome his stutter, but he must also stand firm when his stutter is misunderstood as a character flaw, when it is simply a part of who he is.

John Ambrose 

This scene is just one example of how stuttering is depicted in the film, and it's one I find disturbing. As I stated previously, I don’t think this film intends to portray John as a weak character because of his stutter, given his calm and collected reaction to Peter’s comment. In this scene, I believe the filmmakers were attempting to portray Peter as the bad guy by having Peter address the stutter in such a distasteful fashion. However, in doing so they confirm the notion that people who stutter want to overcome their 'affliction', consequently putting forward the idea that fluency is 'in and of itself a success.'