How The Who’s “Tommy” Takes on the Disability Narrative

Introduction

From the start of human civilization, societies as a whole have viewed disability as a liability and treated people with disabilities as an afterthought. The first mention of someone with mental disabilities comes from an obscure Egyptian text from 1552 B.C., and for the next 3000 years, disabled people were relegated to the margins ¹Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, “Parallels in Time: The Ancient Era,” https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/one/1.html. Cultural views toward people with disabilities largely did not change until the past few decades, when disability activism and awareness grew, as people with disabilities were and still are considered outcasts by many.

Disability has also long held a fascination in the art world—one of the earliest pieces that depicts disability is The Old Market Woman created sometime between 14 and 68 A.D. in Greece²The Met, “Marble Statue of an Old Woman,” https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/248132. Music and opera are no exceptions to this trend, as physically disabled characters like Teiresias the blind prophet in the 429 B.C. play Oedipus Rex and Rigoletto the deformed jester in the 1851 opera by the same name commonly appear in narratives to serve a specific function. For example: in Oedipus Rex, Teiresias has a unique prophetic ability that other characters do not listen to, metaphorically representing how the other characters are blind to his predictions³Sophocles, “Oedipus the King,” http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html. A disabled character’s arc usually follows a stereotypical path that scholars David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder describe as the narrative prosthesis, mainly that a disabled character’s affliction is a narrative device to move the plot forward⁴Howe, Blake, “Disabilities Studies for Musicians: An Introduction,” https://musicdisabilitystudies.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/disability-studies-for-musicians-an-introduction/. However, as American cultural attitudes toward the disabled continually evolve to become more accepting, many disabled characters are portrayed in modern art through a different lens that emphasized a person with disability’s individuality. One such work is Tommy, the 1969 rock opera by British rock band The Who, which follows the journey of disabled Tommy from a “deaf, dumb, and blind” boy to a messiah-like figure revered for his pinball skills and magical cure from his disabilities. As this article will discuss, Tommy’s fantastical—yet realistic—portrayal of disability plays into common themes of the disability narrative while also challenging the narrative’s most limiting aspects in a way that humanizes disabled characters, which almost all prior narrative art forms did not.

Synopsis of Tommy and Its Importance to the Rock Opera Subgenre

For the audience who is not familiar with the album Tommy, the first album to receive the “rock opera” designation, I will first provide a brief synopsis and describe the album’s significance to the rock opera subgenre and rock and roll overall.

Tommy is widely regarded as the first “rock opera,” a rock album with a cohesive narrative plot that is not intended to be acted out⁵Mervis, Scott, “The Who Resurrects its ‘Other’ Rock Opera ‘Quadrophenia’,” in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2012/11/08/The-Who-resurrects-its-other-rock-opera-Quadrophenia/stories/201211080382. Tommy’s success was not limited to the stage, as it was turned into a movie in 1975 and a Broadway play in 1992, and it’s legacy continues to endure as it will return to Broadway in 2021⁶Gwee, Karen, “The Who’s Rock Opera ‘Tommy’ Will Return to Broadway in 2021,” in NME, https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-who-rock-opera-musical-tommy-return-broadway-2021-2559507. The rock opera format popularized by Tommy inspired countless other albums, notably Pink Floyd’s The Wall and American Idiot by Green Day⁷Discogs, “The Biggest Rock Operas Ever, in Light of the Who’s Tommy Orchestral,” in Discogs Blog, https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2012/11/08/The-Who-resurrects-its-other-rock-opera-Quadrophenia/stories/201211080382.

Tommy is a twenty-four-song album that follows Tommy Walker, a boy born around the time his father goes M.I.A. while serving in World War I (Overture; It’s a Boy). Tommy’s father returns from war and kills Mrs. Walker’s lover as Tommy looks on in the mirror, leading the Walkers to aggressively convince him he did not see anything (1921). The intense suggestion leads Tommy to develop a psychosomatic disorder similar to synesthesia that renders him effectively “deaf, dumb, and blind” in the eyes of other people (Amazing Journey; Sparks). Tommy’s parents are desperate to fix their son and bring him to a pimp who passes Tommy off to a prostitute to cure him with illegal drugs to no avail (Eyesight to the Blind [The Hawker]). Christmas time arrives and Tommy’s parents are frustrated by the state of their son because he cannot understand the religious significance of the holiday (Christmas). The song Christmas is also the first time Tommy sings a motif that reappears multiple times in the opera.

Watch from 1:00 to 2:15

Tommy’s deplorable Cousin Kevin soon enters the scene, where he ties up and beats Tommy because Tommy cannot respond (Cousin Kevin). The play then cuts back to Tommy with the prostitute, where she gives him a dose of LSD that enhances the vibrations he feels but does not cure him (The Acid Queen; Underture). In an even worse turn of events, Tommy’s parents reluctantly leave the boy with his creepy Uncle Ernie who molests him, an act Tommy has no idea happens (Do You Think It’s Alright?; Fiddle About). Tommy then unknowingly discovers he has a secret talent for playing pinball, which leads to him becoming locally famous for his unique persona (Pinball Wizard). Tommy’s parents have not given up on curing him and call in a real doctor to try to fix him, which ends with Tommy’s mother smashing the mirror he witnessed the murder in and returning Tommy back into his body (The Doctor; Go to the Mirror!; Tommy Can You Hear Me?; Smash the Mirror).

Watch from 0:40 to 2:00

Once rid of the psychosomatic disorder, Tommy sings a hymn to himself (I’m a Sensation) as news spreads about his “miracle cure” (Miracle Cure). Tommy quickly transitions his pinball following into an actual cult where he gives rowdy sermons, eventually building a holiday camp where his followers can learn his ways (Sally Simpson; I’m Free; Welcome; Tommy’s Holiday Camp). However, his followers rebel after Tommy imposes strict rules that are supposed to emulate his life before his “miracle cure,” mainly depriving them of their senses and making them play pinball, leaving Tommy alone to repeat the “feel me, touch me” motif for the third and final time (We’re Not Gonna Take It).

Watch from 2:15 to 2:45

Tommy’s Conformity to the Disability Narrative

Before analyzing how Tommy challenges the disability narrative that Dr. Fillerup’s class read about in “Disability Studies for Musicians: An Introduction” by Blake Howe, it is important to fully explain the main ideas of the narrative, as well as highlight how Tommy fits into the disability models mentioned in the article. Blake Howe explains in his essay that disabled people are traditionally viewed through three lenses: the religious model of disability, the medical model of disability, and the social model of disability. In short, the religious model explains how disabled people were viewed as a deviation from a religious ideal, the medical model outlines how disability is a disorder to be cured or removed, and the social model of disability argues that disability arises from a society that refuses to accommodate unique bodies that do not conform to traditional expectations of the human body⁸Howe, Blake, “Disabilities Studies for Musicians: An Introduction,” https://musicdisabilitystudies.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/disability-studies-for-musicians-an-introduction/. As the above videos show, the three instances where the “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” motif appears to depict Tommy through a different model of disability. On Christmas Day, Tommy “doesn’t know what day it is, he doesn’t know who Jesus Christ was or what praying is,” a clear violation of the religious model because any salvageable being would be able to comprehend religion by Christianity’s standards. Tommy is mostly viewed through the medical lens throughout the rock opera as his parents continually try to cure him, but the most pronounced instance is at the doctor where Tommy is strapped to a gurney and internally crying out to be seen as more than a diagnosis. Lastly, Tommy’s followers’ rebellion after having to endure what it is like to live with his former disability shows how members of “normal” society reject the experience of the disabled because it does not conform to their expectations of how a member of society should live, an event that subscribes to the social model of disability.

The three models of disability inform how disabled characters are usually depicted in performing arts. As Howe explains, disabled characters are usually either cured of their disability or killed, outcomes that satisfy the medical model, or “overcome” their disability which satisfies the social model of disability because society makes an effort to accommodate disabled people who are perceived to have value to society⁹Howe, Blake, “Disabilities Studies for Musicians: An Introduction,” https://musicdisabilitystudies.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/disability-studies-for-musicians-an-introduction/. The disabled characters depicted in one of those ways are almost always minor characters or characters that serve a specific purpose that drives the plot forward. Conversely, Tommy is the protagonist of the rock opera and the audience is able to view his experience through his eyes which gives Tommy the ability to show a different, more accepting portrayal of disability.

How Tommy Challenges the Disability Narrative

Though Tommy conforms to important aspects of the disability models and the disability narrative, the rock opera also portrays disability in a respectful manner that shows the reality of what it is like living with disabilities. The most explicit examples of Tommy challenging the disability narrative are, ironically enough, through the “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” motifs. While the circumstances surrounding the appearance of the motif fall under the disability models mentioned earlier, Tommy’s response to the situations shows how even the most disabled people are individuals with emotions and unique experiences. From the early 1900s to the late 1950s, eugenic-based views on disability were popular in America, and treatments like electroshock therapy were used as punishments on mental patients, which highlights the dehumanizing treatment disabled people received because they were viewed as less than human¹⁰Sadowsky, Jonathan, “Electroconvulsive Therapy: A History of Controversy, but Also of Help,” in Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electroconvulsive-therapy-a-history-of-controversy-but-also-of-help/. In the rock opera, the motif appears to show how all Tommy wants is to be heard and viewed as a real person instead of a diagnosis, most directly when he sings the motif while undergoing treatment from the doctor. This experience of rejection is likely common for disabled people but was not portrayed in popular culture at the time of the album’s release. Tommy is a fresh take on what it is like to be disabled in a society that does not accept you.

Another aspect of disability that was largely glossed over in popular culture is the horrid treatment disabled people receive because of their condition. In the rock opera, Tommy is both violently beaten by Cousin Kevin when he had no way to defend himself and raped by Uncle Ernie when he could not even realize what was happening. The poor treatment of people with disabilities is far too common and still continues to this day, as even famous disabled people like Steven Hawking are not exempt from abuse in silence¹¹Bachrach, Judy, “A Beautiful Mind, An Ugly Possibility,” in Vanity Fair, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/06/hawking200406. By accurately portraying the lived experiences of people with disabilities, Tommy validates said experiences and shines a spotlight on the harsh treatment that most able-bodied people chose to not think about at the time of the album’s release.

Conclusion

While not without its limitations, the rock opera Tommy accurately portrays the experience of people with disabilities and challenges the models of disability and common disability narratives that characterize a person by their disability. Tommy portrays the three models commonly used to describe disability and then directly confronts them by highlighting the desires of a disabled person that all people can relate to—the desire to be seen as a whole person. Tommy cuts no corners in displaying the horrors that disabled people frequently encounter for no other reason than that they have a disorder, inspiring empathy from the audience in a manner that few if any narrative artworks had by 1969. After 3000 years of being outcast, negatively stereotyped, and mistreated, Tommy puts people with disabilities at the center of the narrative.