Marxism and Disability in Miracle in Cell No.7 and Barfi!

Abstract

The paper tries to examine the connection between Marxism and Disability by decoding the power structure and the burdened societal norms between in the two movies: the Korean drama Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013) and the Indian comedy-drama Barfi! (2012). The paper tries to interpret how the basic concepts of base structure the disabled individuals) and the superstructure (those holding ultimate power) to illustrate the demoralizing effects of the power relations in the lives of the disabled ones. The paper uses the World Health Organization's interpretation of disability as an "umbrella term" covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions, reflecting an interaction between a person's body and their society. Karl Marx's critique of the capitalist system is utilized to show how wealth accumulation at one pole corresponds with the accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance, brutality, and mental degradation, at the opposite pole, encompassing the struggles of the working class and, by extension, the disabled. In Barfi!, the deaf and mute Barfi and the autistic Jhilmil are initially subjugated by society's norms (the bourgeois community, represented by the Inspector and Shruti's adherence to societal expectations), but ultimately defy the power structure to create a world defined by their love, rejecting the rules imposed by the elite. In Miracle in Cell No. 7, the mentally impaired Lee Yong-gu is wrongfully convicted and threatened by the Commissioner (the power structure) into falsely confessing to a crime. Though he is executed, his daughter and fellow prisoners later fight the authority to prove his innocence, ultimately delivering justice and exposing the heinous crime of the officials. Both movies, despite their differences in language and genre, convey the same message: the power structure consistently attempts to dethrone the individuals who just tried to live their lives. The disabled are presented as part of the proletariat the unheard ones-whose struggle for identity and happy life is constantly suppressed by the elite. The films demonstrate how love and resilience, rather than power, enable these protagonists to create their own fulfilling worlds, highlighting the connection between Marxism and disability.