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Disabled main carictors?

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Paynesgrey:
Back on topic, one popular character with disabilities is Miles Vorkosigan.  Pre-natal poisoning left him with long bones that had the consistancy of chalk.  (Kind of like Mr. Glass in the Bruce Willis flick "Unbreakable.")  He's hunchbacked, and breaks very, very easilly.  He's also clinically bi-polar as hell. 

Shecky:

--- Quote from: Paynesgrey on February 06, 2012, 05:48:22 PM ---Back on topic, one popular character with disabilities is Miles Vorkosigan.  Pre-natal poisoning left him with long bones that had the consistancy of chalk.  (Kind of like Mr. Glass in the Bruce Willis flick "Unbreakable.")  He's hunchbacked, and breaks very, very easilly.  He's also clinically bi-polar as hell.

--- End quote ---

Good point. Miles is LOADED with weaknesses. He more than compensates for them, though, which is a great story in and of itself.

jeno:
Miles has disabilities, yeah, but it becomes a plot point in later books that most of them are corrected. Even the bi-polarness settles down once he *spoilers*. There's another disability that pops up later, but that one gets controlled with, er, medication.

Not that this is a bad thing as far as the books go (in fact it make sense that the disabilities are corrected, given Vorkosigan's particular ambitions and the level of technology in his world), but I know that a lot of people side-eye books that focus mostly on 'curing' disabled people so that they can become normal. The Vorkosigan books, though not specifically about Miles' disabilities or the curing thereof, still fall under that pattern. Just something to keep in mind.


Random Vorkosigan quote:

"Schizoid or no, not even you could compartmentalize yourself to that extent."
"I am not schizoid," Miles bit off. "A little manic-depressive, maybe," he admitted in afterthought.
Galeni's lips twitched. "Know thyself."
"We try, sir."

Shecky:
I've often wondered about that. If I understand correctly, differently-abled people are often lambasted for seeking to eliminate that difference. If this is the case, are we to privilege the differently-abled-and-proud-to-stay-that way viewpoint over the differently-abled-and-desirous-of-changing viewpoint? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole point of correctness, of equality, is to accept and see the good in all viewpoints.

jeno:
I don't think the issue is with privileging certain viewpoints (proud vs wanting to change) over others. That's just diversity of opinion. It's more of an issue when there's a long pattern of people (particularly people who don't have disabilities) writing about how curing disabilities makes disabled characters normal/happier/better etc.

It's not an argument that can be applied to individual works (like, say, Vorkosigan) because all things can, theoretically, be justified in the text. It's more about the broader context and implications of what you're writing, which can be something you ignore, but is still not something you can avoid, if you see what I'm saying.

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