Should The New Show Include a Disabled Character?

[Longinus]

You can think of no instance where a group of smaller numbers imposed its will unfairly, even brutally, against a group of larger numbers?

Yes I can. I cannot think of such instance when it was done in the name of political correctness.

Or use no non-literal imagination to apply such concepts in microcosm, abstraction, or loose analogy to political correctness?

There are words, and they technically form a sentence, but I have no idea what you're saying.

 

[Longinus]

Should you be a poster, an example of political correctness would be a individual attempting (and perhaps succeeding) to curtail the language and customs of others owing to the individual's personal perception of what constitutes "discriminatory" or derogatory words or actions. By describing words and terms in a certain way, the individual gains power and control over others, and can elevate their own position(s).

This is the manipulation I spoke of earlier.

Or perhaps it is just them expressing their freedom of speech? You're perfectly free to yell N-word on the streets and others are perfectly free to call that discriminatory, derogatory or just plain racist.

 

[Trekkin]

Not here your can't. It's assault.

Which IMO, is fine. We've a right to freedom of political speech (and a few other things), not a 'emotionally and mentally abuse others' licence.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Been thinking on this one a bit....

The only ways to portray a disability in the supposed Utopian future would be to:
1) An alien who is "disabled" because they have to work and live in a human friendly environment
2) A person who has an incurable disability that evades the best that 24th century science can bring to bear on it
3) A person who chooses to remain disabled because they don't feel a need to be "cured."

If you have (1) then you can get some traction story-wise, but most of those type stories have already been told - see "Melora" and others.
(2) has also been tapped out and in any case it would lead to the inevitable "I'm cured Mama! I can see! Praise Science Jesus!" kind of story that doesn't really help develop the idea that we can and should accept disabled individuals as they are and not just wait around for them to be cured.

I think (3) has the most potential for an interesting story, especially if the character in question is a multiple amputee. Perhaps they could have been hurt in an accident and instead of accepting a prosthetic they just felt that they would adapt to their circumstances, and NO ONE QUESTIONS THEM, or whines about making accommodations - they just treat them as a colleague.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Specialists, consultants and advisers don't need to spend a month living off the land in the Australian outback.

I'm amazed that Melora got through that.

Compared to the Vulcan Forge, the sounds like a bracing day in fall.

Vulcans are probably given a "different" intolerably extreme environment to suffer through.

Educations, physical training is species specific.

 

[JWPlatt]

There are words, and they technically form a sentence, but I have no idea what you're saying.

A literalist would not understand them. Think Drax.

 

[T'Girl]

The only ways to portray a disability in the supposed Utopian future would be to:
1) An alien who is "disabled" because they have to work and live in a human friendly environment

Or go with a Human who is perfectly healthy and of average intelligence, and have them assigned temporarily to a Starfleet vessel where the majority of the crew is non-Human. In comparison the Human is slow (both physically and mentally), and this causes problems which the crew comments on, and the Human is shunted to the side in terms of duties and maybe even socially.

This would be the point of the story, a person who lacks the capacities of the surrounding society. In the end the Humans different abilities save the day, showing that being "lessor" is some way doesn't mean that you are so across the board.

By having the "disabled" person be the Human, the audience would be better able to put themselves into the character's shoes.

2) A person who has an incurable disability that evades the best that 24th century science can bring to bear on it

This is the way I would want to see. Perhaps someone with a neurological affliction, the result of being injured by a alien weapon half way through the first season.

3) A person who chooses to remain disabled because they don't feel a need to be "cured."

Examples would be Klingon generals Martok and Chang missing one eye, the disabilities were a badge of honor.

Interesting that both were missing their left eye, maybe a Klingon would have had their right eye replaced?

+

 

[Doom Shepherd]

I'm red-green colorblind, which being part of the makeup of the eye is possibly as unfixable by futuretech, as Geordi's blindness, but it doesn't merit a VISOR... AND it keeps me from serving in a number of appealing careers, because you have to be able to tell the red lights from the green lights and the red wires from the green wires, or else you probably blow up the ship.

Or go with a Human who is perfectly healthy and of average intelligence, and have them assigned temporarily to a Starfleet vessel where the majority of the crew is non-Human. In comparison the Human is slow (both physically and mentally), and this causes problems which the crew comments on, and the Human is shunted to the side in terms of duties and maybe even socially.

This would be the point of the story, a person who lacks the capacities of the surrounding society. In the end the Humans different abilities save the day, showing that being "lessor" is some way doesn't mean that you are so across the board.

By having the "disabled" person be the Human, the audience would be better able to put themselves into the character's shoes.

Seems like a one-episode gag. Or he ends up Wesley Crushering it all the time because even when we're weak, humans are superior

This is the way I would want to see. Perhaps someone with a neurological affliction, the result of being injured by a alien weapon half way through the first season.

This seems the most promising... they're going to have to spend a season or two going through the stages of grief, too.

Examples would be Klingon generals Martok and Chang missing one eye, the disabilities were a badge of honor.

Klingons are nuts, though. Classic case of Honor Before Reason.

Interesting that both were missing their left eye, maybe a Klingon would have had their right eye replaced?

Only if it fired lasers. [/QUOTE]