Servizio pubblico televisivo e politiche culturali della disabilità. Modelli di un immaginario consolatorio

This article examines the editorial strategies of Italian public service broadcasting in addressing disability. Focusing on the latest generation of television series aired on public television, it highlights how the operational mechanisms typical of the American cultural industry—revealed by 20th-century critical theories—have been adopted by Italian public television. Through specific media products, RAI has implemented cultural policies designed to project a "consolatory" portrayal of disability, centered on the notion of the "good heart." These models offer audiences a distorted and oversimplified image of disability that fails to reflect the real, lived experiences. The article critiques RAI's cultural policy for promoting a conciliatory image intended to make disability familiar and acceptable. However, this approach ultimately neutralizes the complexity of a human condition marked by profound suffering, which is exacerbated by the relational difficulties arising from socially entrenched perceptions of disability.