Last post Mon, Jun 23 2008 3:01 AM by Becky. 28 replies.
We have a bunch of Trekies in chat and I bet there are more out there.
We can just talk about Trek to our hearts content of course.
But there is also a TON of good disability stuff.
Some off the top of my head
TOS
'Is There in Truth No Beauty" touches on blindness and whether hiding a disability is effective.
Next Gen
Georgi LaForge, of course. Anyone know he is based on a real Trekie with a disability?
The episode (forget the name) where Worf develops an SCI. Touches on euthanasia.
"Loud as a Whisper" has a Deaf guest star and features ASL masquarading as Gestural Langauge #something.
Reginald Barkley often strikes me as having some social disability
"The Loss" where Deanna Troi looses her empathy temporarily. Touches on adjustement to sudden disability.
DS9 -
Melora - episode name/character who is from a lower gravity planet. . She is non-disabled at home but disabled on DS9 gravity. Touches on disability culture, accepting help, the cure question
I am SURE there are others!
In the pilot of the original series..........Captain Christopher Pike is in an enclosed chair from the shoulders down. He only has two lites he can blink.....one for yes.....one for no. He was the original captain before Kirk.
There was a NG episode where it was a crime to be one sex or the other. Everyone was supposed to be "neutral". People who felt one or the other met in secret. Riker fell in love with one who wanted to be female. She was brainwashed by the powers that be before he could take her away.
DS9 had that episode where Dax met a former wife.......and in Trill society, you are not supposed to reconnect with former spouses, but when she came aboard DS9...they almost broke that rule.
I love Star Trek - as evidenced by may name "Miri". I hope I will never be a "grup". Star Trek episodes ofent have deeper meaning and I love the topics they approach. Even in the 1960's. I loved the original "The Enemy Within". I could totally relate to that psychologically.
Glad there are other Trekkies in here so I don't feel so alone in the world!!
Hey Nightengale........don't u think the Vulcans are the ulimate asexuals? Except for the Pon Farr every 7 years. And that seems to bascially be to perpetuate the species. I guess the Romulans would be me then............with perhaps waay too much passion!
I am a fan of Star Trek, but wasn't aware of so many disability stuff in the show. Of course, when I watched it I hadn't been disabled [grammar check - pardon my english] and obviously not paying attention to disability issues.
Anyway, Star Trek was/is a great show and I always enjoy watching it.
I remember Christopher Pike. One neat thing was if I remember correctly his Hoverchair was just THERE without being a plot point. There was a guest star in a Next Gen ep with a similar chair. Then they outfit Melora with a clunky exoskeleton if I recall correctly, DS9 was not wheelchair accessible.
ParaIvan, one of the strange things in my life is that I was interested in disability before I knew I was disabled myself. So I have always noticed these disability things in shows, in fact the way Star Trek dealt with Geordi was one of my favorite parts of the show.
In Loud as a Whisper, the Deaf mediator, Riva, asks Geordi what his VISOR was for, and if he resented either the VISOR or being blind. Geordi said one of the best statements about disability I've ever seen on TV
"No, because they are both a part of me and I really like who I am, so there is no reason to resent either one"
Your Geordi quote made me think..... mostly I resent being bi-polar because it has stolen so much from my life. On the other hand, the part of my personality that is gregarious and outgoing, friendly and open is something that people ususally like about me. I believe that came from my disorder. I do like that about myself.
I think I know what you're trying to say, Abled, but I don't view sexual orientation idenitification or sexuality-identity issues as a disability. So I'm not sure i would count those episodes as being ones about disability.
I thought the episode where Deana loses her empathic powers was a great episode. I think it tried very hard to be real to the greiving process one has to go through when they are dealt a sudden loss. But a comment about the Worf episode -- gee I wish I could have a new spinal cord grown for me! Well, not that would make much of a difference. My bones are so osteoporidic and my muscles so atrophied I don't think I would be able to walk again, even if I wanted to.
I kinda always viewed Data's lack of emotion a disability in a way. I know they were probably going more for the Pinnochio (sp?) syndrome - I want to be a real boy - but I think he has to learn to adapt to being different than others, and which one of us hasn't deal with those issues?
OK, jumping in here late...hope you don't mind.
I think the episodes about sexuality do resonate for many people with disabilities in that historically, those with disabilities were (and often times still are) expected or assumed to be asexual. Thousands of people with disabilities have been sterlized to control their reporductive and sexual lives. When you fight against those stereotypes you are claiming a sexual identity that many in society see as unnatural or inappropriate.
NG not to change the mood but I detest Star Trek even as a tiny kid to now, something about it too weird, too out there. I can honestly say though I've never sat down and watched a episode either, just the little I've seen through tv ads and flipping channels was enough to know I don't like it.... Don't hit me too hard lol.
I agree Mustang Sally, sexual orientation and identity issues can have a lot of parallels with disability issues even though sexual orientation is not a disability itself. But thirty years ago psychiatry would pathologize homosexuality and asexuality now is still considered a problem or an illness by many rather than a legitmate orientation/identity. My biggest non-disabled allies as a person with a disabiltiy are my friends in the queer community.
Shell - I was not into Star Trek at all and watched my first episode when I was 16 just because LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow was on it. Then I discovered the way they use history and anthropology and so on and only pretend the show is about the future. I think it's really about humanity. And the way they dealt with disability was always my favorite part. Watching them refer to ASL as "gestural language Number 37" and teaching an android to interpret just makes my day. But to each his or her own of course.
abled_friend:Captain Christopher Pike is in an enclosed chair from the shoulders down. He only has two lites he can blink.....one for yes.....one for no. He was the original captain before Kirk.
I remember that episode!
Joe
Night hey I think thats cool, I just never sat down to watch any of it. All the beam me up scotty stuff was just too weird. I know people though who know all the characters, watched every episode and so on, they could write a book on it. I think it's great when shows can do that.
shellGVchick:I know people though who know all the characters, watched every episode and so on, they could write a book on it.
Uh, I kind of used to be one of those.
But of course I grew up.
Now I know everything about 'Diagnosis Murder' '
Ever dream 'bout flying in space? I do, especially since I was so close to the program...most of dreams are being launched into space
