"The f**k does it look like? It's a fat-guy wheelchair". (Im)politeness at the Intersection of Disability and Queerness in "The Whale"

The present study examines the linguistic phenomenon of (im)politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987; Culpeper 1996; 2011) in Darren Aronofsky’s "The Whale" (2022), with regards to the intersection of disability and queerness. The study underscores the pivotal function of social categories in setting conversational parameters, potentially leading to specific strategies of (im)politeness (Bousfield 2008). Additionally, it tests the extent to which these interactions are reinforced through the representation of diversity (Manno 2024). The film’s protagonist, Charlie, is a reclusive, obese and queer English professor with troubled relationships and serious health issues. The plot of the film unfolding around this character shows how marginalised and overlapping identities can ignite (im)polite dialogues. This study draws on the main frameworks of (im)politeness and selected literature on the representation of disability and queerness to examine how verbal and non-verbal cues contribute to the construction of (im)politeness in conversations involving Charlie and the people around him. A key focus of this analysis is how (im)politeness functions as both a defensive mechanism and an assertion of power according to the hearer’s identity and agency. Furthermore, this chapter explores the contextual impact of visual elements (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006), including gaze, gestures, and spatial dynamics, on the perception of (im)politeness. In "The Whale", the confined setting (Charlie’s house mostly), close-up shots, and physical contrasts between characters serve to amplify and negotiate Goffman’s concepts of stigma (1963) and Face-Threatening Acts (1967).