Riker the ableist?

[Mojochi]

I think the OP's premise is a bit of a stretch, to say what Riker found unexpected was just the deafness. Clearly there's other seemingly remarkable things going on with him.

It does seem weird they wouldn't have had foreknowledge of him, given how renowned he is, but maybe with how diverse their universe is, it just doesn't come up much.

You wouldn't necessarily feel the need to pass along that Troi is empathic in a briefing to a mission she was being sent too, because of how common telepathy is in their reality (even though they DO mention it... A LOT lol)

You can't have it both ways though. Either his state is noteworthy, making it unbelievable that no one noted it before meeting him, or his state isn't noteworthy enough to mention beforehand, & their surprised reaction is out of place

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

I asked to sit in the front of a training session due to my hearing problem. But people think if you can't hear, your faking it.

I spent 6 months with a crippling disease which effectively gave me arthritis and chronic fatigue for the duration and I was shocked how peoples default attitude was that I was faking it because I didnt have a walking aid or any visible issues with my body. Would get so much agro for using accessible toilets or taking up seats on public transport.
Sorry that you got to go through that all the time

 

[Nakita Akita]

I mean the whole beginning of the episode was pretty dumb. Riva was such a famous and well respected diplomat//negotiator (I can't remember the exact term they used) who worked on so many important peace treaties in the recent history of the 2360s....yet nobody, absolutely nobody knew these two very obvious facts about him?(The Deafness and his Communication via the Chorus) I mean I just think Picard should have been told ahead of time, just like it should be mentioned when a species is telepathic, or needs a different mixture of gases to breath (wasn't that the thing with the Benzites?)
Seems like something Starfleet should have mentioned and detailed in their orders to Picard to undertake the mission. At the very least someone should have made it obvious that Riva will be arriving with three interpreters who will need their own accommodation (The lady interpreter says something to the effect of "I hope you have quarters for us as well")
I mean it's not like Riva and Picard were meeting at a function, a party or causal get together, they were on a important mission, where things usually get detailed in advance.

Seems like it could have been told to the audience in the Captains Log and then we go straight to a scene where Riva's way of communication via the Chorus is shown to the audience.

Truth be told I wish we had learned more about Riva and his Chorus before they were killed off. It seemed like the three interpreters were their own people, did they have their own lives? Were they allowed to quit? The episode made it seem like they were irreplaceable (or was it just that Riva feared that the chance of peace for that war-torn planet would be over by the time they had gotten, and possibly trained, replacements?) Or were they a sort of hive mind?

It all kinda reminds me of Haven, when everybody just coincidentally ran into each other in the vastness of space (and even Troi just walked into the Transporter Room for no apparent reason when her gift box was beamed on board without any explanation)
Stuff like that makes Starfleet seem kinda disorganized.

I don't know about them telling people that he's deaf.
Wouldn't that be like telling someone that the person coming to give a talk is, in a wheelchair, uses crutches, is white, Jewish, has an accent etc.
If you are very familiar with the other person, it's something you don't even think of and generally it's something that doesn't make any sort of difference.
Riva was a galaxy wide renowned negotiator. That's all anyone really needs to know about him. The rest is not relevant to negotiation.
Riker was weirded out because in the Federation people don't have many physical 'disabilities', they have the means to get them 'fixed'.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

uses crutches, is white

Very different things. 1 may require extra needs and considerations where as the other does not

 

[Nakita Akita]

Very different things. 1 may require extra needs and considerations where as the other does not

Well, there ya go, Riva didn't need any special considerations. So nobody said anything about it.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Well, there ya go, Riva didn't need any special considerations. So nobody said anything about it.

He did after they shot his entourage

 

[Orphalesion]

I don't know about them telling people that he's deaf.
Wouldn't that be like telling someone that the person coming to give a talk is, in a wheelchair, uses crutches, is white, Jewish, has an accent etc.
.

Let's look at it that way: everybody knows that Ray Charles is blind. As a prominent and important person, who is so revered by whole populations Riva should be known to be deaf and talking via a Mind Hive Chorus at least by some of the crew, like Worf who seems to have a high opinion of him due to his importance to the Klingons.
And what I am saying is that Starfleet should have told Picard that Riva is a deaf telepath who talks via a symbiotic hivemind chorus, because it tells them that they're taking four people on board, not just one person and that the three additional people aren't just aids or valets but important and vital to the success of the mission.

And to bring up another Trek example...everybody on DS9 knew that Melora is from a low-gravity world and confined to a wheelchair before she showed up.
And form your examples, yes it would be important to know that a person coming to a function is Jewish, so that you can prepare kosher refreshments for them.

Well, there ya go, Riva didn't need any special considerations. So nobody said anything about it.

Yes. He did. They needed additional quarters for his symbiotic hivemind chorus.

 

[Mark 2000]

In what way do you believe that Riva was different to Riker’s expectations? His hair color, perhaps? His star sign?

It never ceases to amaze me how people who are willing to pick everything apart in a story can suddenly put blinders on when it comes to prejudice.

 

[Imaus]

Riva's apparently the guy who gave the Klingons a word for 'peace maker'. (end-war forger? ). I think Riker was expecting a big, tough guy, maybe even a tellarite who could hold his own, scarred and battered. Not a lithe human(iod?) aristocrat with a chorus of telepaths.

Though this is still odd. Maybe Riva is long lived (though the script according to MA says he was just 30) and was at Khitomer, because I see little way for treaties by the early-mid 24th century, but anyway, Riker can't pull up a dossier on the guy? Take a minute or two to read it?

And Riva was also played by a deaf actor, H. Seago, trying to advocate the Deaf community, so that's also a reason. Riker had to be turned into the 'everyday' guy at first.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Riva was actually quite rude to Riker when they met maybe it was his odd manner that surprised Riker. I myself though Riva was quite arrogant in general and definitely a bit creepy from the off with Troi