The Waterboy Critique through Disability Studies

Emily Sims

Composition II

3/15/17

The Waterboy Critique through Disability Studies

      The movie The Waterboy tells the tale of a slightly mentally disabled middle aged man that is ridiculed by his peers for being different. The main character Bobby Boucher, played by Adam Sandler, serves as a volunteer water boy for a struggling college football team when a fit of rage reveals Bobby’s innate talent for tackling opponents. As inspiring as the general plot sounds, the film reinforces negative views and stereotypes on differently abled people. The portrayal of the character Bobby Boucher encourages the ideal that those who differ from the “normal” mind and body must have a disability in order to explain why they do not conform to the norm. While the treatment of Bobby by his peers and family illustrates the societal misconception that disabled people cannot make their own decisions and are incapable of participating in normal activities. The plot of The Waterboy embodies the underdog theory because of the unrealistic expectations by the audience for Bobby Boucher to use his newfound success in sports to help him recover and live a normal life in abled bodied terms.

           The way in which Bobby Boucher’s character is depicted represents the medical model views of disabilities. The medical model stresses the abnormalities of all bodies that diverge from the standard therefore Bobby being defined by his differences throughout the film enforces this. According to the article Contested Body Hierarchies, “The "problem" is entirely in the individual, whose condition as outside the norm is fixed and grounded in what can be measured, classified, and regulated. The segregation of superior bodies from inferior bodies in the interest of fairness… because segregation is based on scientific certainty” (Corrigan 303). Therefore, Bobby Boucher’s character is only seen as his disability to those without and the treatment he faces as a water boy, would be considered their way of segregating Bobby from the abled bodied.  The only way Bobby can break free of his abnormal stigma is when he is on the playing field because is disability is no longer defining him but enabling him to perform well. By channeling his rage into celebrated sports behavior, Bobby is finally viewed as a strong, dominating force instead of weak by bystanders.

           Boucher is always eager to please others so much so that he often overlooks and tolerates mistreatment he received. In the very first opening scene, the well-intentioned water boy is tormented endlessly by the football team that he is trying to help. After having the water, he tried carefully to make perfect for the team, poured all over him, Bobby states, “If you need to amuse yourself at my expense just… just rough me up or something”. The waterboy would rather be physically harmed then have his hard work go down the drain. While Boucher is getting beat up, the football coach exclaims, “What is this moron doing here?” and then goes on to fire Bobby for disrupting the team instead of punishing the football players for beating him up. The extreme intolerance of Bobby by the entire football team illustrates society’s struggle with properly treating those who differ from the norm. Even at home, Bobby is completely manipulated by his overbearing mother who refers anything she does not approve of as the devil. His mother refuses to let Bobby make his own life decisions and wishes he would just stay at home because that is where he belongs and fits in. By inferring that Bobby does not belong in the outside world among abled bodied people, his mother represents society’s view that disabled people cannot be responsible for themselves and need constant supervision. In the article Cyborg Anxiety, it states, “Once, people with severe impairments were openly deemed not human and even, in the case of severe mental impairment, labelled as ‘vegetables’” (Swartz 187). Society’s history with disabilities is complex and is often seems offensive in its views. The fact that those with disabilities were not regarded as humans shows that “normal” people have always struggled to recognize that those with disabilities are actually just differently abled. The assumption that differently abled people cannot care for themselves is untrue because many differently abled people can live independently and do not have to rely on others, which is the case for Bobby Boucher, because they can still handle everyday tasks by having a different approach than abled bodied people.

          The underdog theory in the context of disability studies is the concept of one being hindered by an injury or condition that is expected to hold them back but everyone desires that they miraculously overcome it and beat all odds. The plot of the movie The Waterboy exemplifies this theory because Bobby starts out as a weak, friendless “moron” when he is just a water boy but transforms into a strong, successful man with friends and a wife after Bobby’s success on the field. According to the article The Crash Reel and Disability Theory, “In the realm of sports, disability is briefly rehabilitated… If we can’t medically fix or cure a given disability, it is suggested that perhaps the person with a disability can win and in doing so overcome his or her personal limitations and all for the satisfaction of an able-bodied spectator” (Aldinger 87). Therefore, the movie The Waterboy exemplifies the narrative of overcoming because the plot includes an underdog that completely transforms his life from being different to conforming to the norm.

           Throughout the majority of the movie, The Waterboy, Bobby Boucher is ridiculed for being different and the only way he manages to escape it is by succeeding on the football field.  Adam Sandler’s portrayal of a mentally disabled man in The Waterboy reinforced antiquated views that if one is not considered to be the norm, they must have some sort of problem or disability. The treatment of Sandler’s character throughout the entirety of the film, suggests that those that have disabilities need to be cared for by the abled bodied because they cannot care for themselves. The plot of the movie shines a spotlight on the abled bodied persons’ impractical desires for differently abled people to make a full recovery and once again be considered fully able.

Works Cited

Aldinger, Joseph M. M. “Narrative Performance: The Crash Reel and Disability Theory”.

Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory vol. 15 no. 2 (Spring 2016): 85-97.

Corrigan, Thomas. Hardin, Marie. Paton, Jamie. and Hoit, Erin. “Discourses of the "Too                          

Abled": Contested Body Hierarchies and the Oscar Pistorius Case”. International Journal of Sport Communication, 2010, 3,288-307 © 2010 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Swartz, Leslie and Watermeyer, Brian. “Cyborg anxiety: Oscar Pistorius and the

boundaries of what it means to be human”. Disability & Society. Vol. 23, No. 2, March 2008, 187–190.