PITY CAPITALISM: BRANDING DISABILITY THROUGH INSPIRATION IN PALACIO’S WONDER

Abstract

This paper explores that how disability is turned into an emotional commodity, packaged in heart-warming ads, viral videos, and charity campaigns that make audiences feel inspired but leave real change untouched. It shows how disabled people are often portrayed as symbols rather than active participants, with their stories used to boost brands, collect donations, and create feel-good moments for the public. While disability has never been more visible, this visibility often masks the absence of power, accessibility, and genuine inclusion. The piece traces this pattern from old charity telethons to modern social media trends, revealing how the cycle of emotion leading to engagement and then to profit sustains ableist systems under the appearance of compassion. Through different examples, it challenges audiences to move beyond applause and pity, and toward justice. Real inclusion, it argues, comes from centring disabled voices, making them decision-makers, and linking every story to concrete action such as policy reform, accessible infrastructure, and equal opportunity. Only then can representation become more than a performance and start to transform lives. This article also examines R. J. Palacio’s novel Wonder (2012) as a literary case study, showing how the narrative reinforces pity and inspiration rather than systemic change. Drawing on Lennard J. Davis’s theory of ableism, it connects the cultural idea of “normalcy” to the ways pity capitalism continues to operate in media and literature today.