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Star Trek (in general) and disability
May. 24th, 2009 03:31 pm... so, okay, when I was in high school I hadn't considered fanfic as a possibility so instead was daydreaming up clone-universes of Star Trek (andm to a lesser extent, Pern). With a complete OT3 of not-Kirk, not-Spock, and not-McCoy.
I reeeeally wish I had any of the high school stuff any more, because it would be terribly entertaining to go back and look at it.
One thing I do remember, though?
At least half the time, the not-Kirk was disabled.
Sometimes from an incurable medical whosit, sometimes from unfixable damage sustained in a Dramatic Rescue. Always with adaptive technology -- fuck the whole "blocky uncomfortable wheelchair where the person can mentally trigger communication by a light flashing yes or no" thing that TOS had; I think the most frequent thing I used was a sort of not-really-a-jet-pack exoskeleton, which right now (based on current knowledge and vague fuzzy memories of what I was writing) I can best describe as a cross between Iron Man and orthotic brace.
I'm kind of torn on the lack of visible disability in Starfleet. On the one hand, it *is* a semi-military organization that has standards of physical fitness. On the other, does it need to? I mean, okay, you don't want someone with a spastic condition to be responsible for manually aiming a weapon, and maybe you don't want someone who can't crawl into ducts to be an engineering lackey, but. Still.
(One other argument is that, aside from medical purposes, for which temporary wheelchairs are sufficient, is that Star Trek, being a somewhat idealistic view of Earth's future, is a placetime where all significant diseases have been cured. But I ... am skeptical. Some of the more serious medical issues of a thousand years ago, even a hundred years ago, are no longer an issue, but others have risen to take their place.)
Adaptations can be made for aliens wishing to enter Starfleet, but yet not for disabled people, even for cases where the needed adaptive technology exists *now*?
...I do not blame TOS for this; it was a product of its time. The movie ... could have done something.
Me, I just want to find my dorky immature OT3 daydreamings.
I reeeeally wish I had any of the high school stuff any more, because it would be terribly entertaining to go back and look at it.
One thing I do remember, though?
At least half the time, the not-Kirk was disabled.
Sometimes from an incurable medical whosit, sometimes from unfixable damage sustained in a Dramatic Rescue. Always with adaptive technology -- fuck the whole "blocky uncomfortable wheelchair where the person can mentally trigger communication by a light flashing yes or no" thing that TOS had; I think the most frequent thing I used was a sort of not-really-a-jet-pack exoskeleton, which right now (based on current knowledge and vague fuzzy memories of what I was writing) I can best describe as a cross between Iron Man and orthotic brace.
I'm kind of torn on the lack of visible disability in Starfleet. On the one hand, it *is* a semi-military organization that has standards of physical fitness. On the other, does it need to? I mean, okay, you don't want someone with a spastic condition to be responsible for manually aiming a weapon, and maybe you don't want someone who can't crawl into ducts to be an engineering lackey, but. Still.
(One other argument is that, aside from medical purposes, for which temporary wheelchairs are sufficient, is that Star Trek, being a somewhat idealistic view of Earth's future, is a placetime where all significant diseases have been cured. But I ... am skeptical. Some of the more serious medical issues of a thousand years ago, even a hundred years ago, are no longer an issue, but others have risen to take their place.)
Adaptations can be made for aliens wishing to enter Starfleet, but yet not for disabled people, even for cases where the needed adaptive technology exists *now*?
...I do not blame TOS for this; it was a product of its time. The movie ... could have done something.
Me, I just want to find my dorky immature OT3 daydreamings.
