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Disabilities in fantasy lit?
- Thread starter Aravelle
- Start date
Kit
Maester
. I am just find it all a bit too nice
Obviously you were not a five-year old in the theater when Bambi's mom died!
- Thread starter
- #63
Aravelle
Sage
It is hard to explaine, maybe I am just a cynic but I find them overly twee. It is also the whole trademark disney thing. "Disney's hunchback of notredame" or "Disney's snow white" as though they wrote those stories. I do appreciate the impact disney has had on entertainment and film making but they do tend to mangle things. I am just find it all a bit too nice
I worked on Disney show once as well, years back and they are utter perfectionists and work their people REALLY hard. Now sometimes this is what is needed but it seemed to go too far imo.
I just don't like the films much but they have certainly been influential and bought enjoyment to millions. I think there is just something which annoys me. Each to their own though
Ah.. I assure you though, they're not as nice as they seem, if you pay attention closely. Aladdin indirectly called a man an ass. "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" implies Nala and Simba had sex.. and then there's the subtly gay characters. Even with this I admit Disney's lighter than what I normally like, but it's nice to be able to watch and be entertained by something "softer" every so often. In my opinion, focusing on nihilism and excess cynicism is unhealthy. There's enough of that junk out there when you're not looking for it.
Jess A
Archmage
I took a unit on social context at University. I wrote an essay about racism and Orientalism in Disney films for my exam. Aladdin and Aristocrats being just two out of many examples.
Of course, everything is more politically correct today than it was when those films were made.
This is so off-topic that I forgot what thread we were in. Apologies.
Kaellpae
Inkling
For a disabled/crippled character, Glokta from Joe Abercrombie's trilogy is the best example I can think of. He was tortured into the state his body is in, and he can walk, mostly. I didn't see anyone else mention him and thought I'd throw that out there.
- Thread starter
- #66
Aravelle
Sage
I took a unit on social context at University. I wrote an essay about racism and Orientalism in Disney films for my exam. Aladdin and Aristocrats being just two out of many examples.
Of course, everything is more politically correct today than it was when those films were made.
This is so off-topic that I forgot what thread we were in. Apologies.
Ah, Disney and racism.. I still get miffed when people bring up Jafar. He looks nothing like how I see an Arabic man, his face is much too long and thin. Aladdin was originally going to be a child but they made him a teen because they didn't want his mother in the picture anymore. And since he became a teen, they decided to make him attractive [not intentionally trying to add "white features"].
Lion King and the older movies don't have many excuses though..
Mindfire
Istar
Can I not just enjoy the films of my childhood in peace without people going on about how un-PC they are? -_-
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Mindfire
Istar
Pretty sure that's a satire...
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This may be, but Walt Disney's anti-semitic views are well documented.
Mindfire
Istar
Perhaps, but that particular cartoon is not evidence of them. The whole point of it was to mock the Nazis.
Weaver
Sage
In a possibly futile attempt to get the thread back on topic...
Have any of you written - or read - stories in which there's a disabled character whom some readers (even yourself) would consider not really disabled not on the basis of "it doesn't impair them enough" but because that perticular condition isn't seen as a real disability (as in, "that doesn't count")?
I'm probably not asking this question clearly enough... Say, for example, you've got a character who's around 85 years old (or whatever the equivalent is for "advanced old age" for that character's species) and has bad arthritis (or similar) in his/her/its legs (limbs used for locomotion). Since this is often considered a normal part of growing old in our society here-and-now, would it be considered "not a real disability" for a fictional character? And does that matter? If "it depends," how/when/why does it?
For that matter, what is the motivation for writing a story in which one or more characters is disabled? Is it to make a point about disabilities in general? Is it because that particular character needs some kind of impairment to move their personal growth through the story? Is it something to make the character more interesting/less like other characters?
(All of this is only to reboot the discussion. Of course, you're free to report me to the moderators if you feel I'm being inappropriate again.)
Have any of you written - or read - stories in which there's a disabled character whom some readers (even yourself) would consider not really disabled not on the basis of "it doesn't impair them enough" but because that perticular condition isn't seen as a real disability (as in, "that doesn't count")?
I'm probably not asking this question clearly enough... Say, for example, you've got a character who's around 85 years old (or whatever the equivalent is for "advanced old age" for that character's species) and has bad arthritis (or similar) in his/her/its legs (limbs used for locomotion). Since this is often considered a normal part of growing old in our society here-and-now, would it be considered "not a real disability" for a fictional character? And does that matter? If "it depends," how/when/why does it?
For that matter, what is the motivation for writing a story in which one or more characters is disabled? Is it to make a point about disabilities in general? Is it because that particular character needs some kind of impairment to move their personal growth through the story? Is it something to make the character more interesting/less like other characters?
(All of this is only to reboot the discussion. Of course, you're free to report me to the moderators if you feel I'm being inappropriate again.)
Kit
Maester
Well, it depends on your definition of "disabled"- ie, is it 1)something that makes it difficult for you to do things, or is it 2)something that makes you and others regard yourself as someone different or less than the perceived norm?
There are a number of disabled characters in my story because they are performing a physically dangerous job, and it is only realistic that a lot of them die or end up disabled.
I think I have an interesting aspect going on in which the most skilled/experienced characters are able to make accommodations and still perform their (physically demanding) job in spite of any physical disability. I don't want to say more and give away my whole plot.
But I'm finding it interesting how different characters with different challenges approach the issue.I also find it a little annoying when every single person in a story is an attractive, young, hale physical specimen. People are more varied than that.
In one of my novels, I wrote a blind priestess as the MC. I probably already mentioned that somewhere on this thread, but anyhoo... She sees with a sort of spirit sight, whereby she can see auras, energy, etc. But she's sometimes clumsy, and is still quite blind in the real world.
Also, as a sort of irony, her job is as a seer, working for an oracle, so she gets visions and premonitions.
The tale is a sort of love story, where in the course of her traveling with a young man aspiring to be a paladin, he learns that she is blinding herself with herbs and toxins, and he begs her to stop. His face is the first one she sees in fifteen years, and her whole life changes after her vision returns, because she's afraid she'll lose her magical and spiritual gifts.
Also, as a sort of irony, her job is as a seer, working for an oracle, so she gets visions and premonitions.
The tale is a sort of love story, where in the course of her traveling with a young man aspiring to be a paladin, he learns that she is blinding herself with herbs and toxins, and he begs her to stop. His face is the first one she sees in fifteen years, and her whole life changes after her vision returns, because she's afraid she'll lose her magical and spiritual gifts.
I've seen the "it doesn't count" approach regarding Tyrion Lannister.
I've started writing short essays on disabilities and using them in RPG games without excluding the character from action. So far, I've covered cerebral palsy and hearing impairment.
Speaking of, any such characters in fantasy fiction?
I've started writing short essays on disabilities and using them in RPG games without excluding the character from action. So far, I've covered cerebral palsy and hearing impairment.
Speaking of, any such characters in fantasy fiction?
Ireth
Myth Weaver
I've mentioned here and in other threads that one of my characters is profoundly deaf. I don't have any with cerebral palsy, though.
Arhenvir
Acolyte
You've asked some very good questions that are going to keep me up tonight.
I've fallen into a habit of putting a lot of myself into my characters lately. This guy has these traits, that girl has those other traits, and so on. After I suffered a brain injury two years ago, I thought about how to write about it and have a good outlet, but I didn't want to rant in a journal entry, because that would only make me sad if I read it again in the future. I wanted a reason to put a stronger voice behind the thoughts and feelings, in a more constructive way, a positive one if possible.
So when I revisited one of my characters in my scribbles, I thought of how she would cope with it, and all the limitless possibilities she has in her fictional world that I don't in real life. How is this going to affect her ability to cast spells?
Well, there's this to think about, but I have also decided that this is going to move another character's personal growth in great strides. He's so arrogant and self-absorbed he can't normally be bothered to think about someone else's struggles. I think that becoming friends with her is going to make him grow up a little bit, and learn humility, and other things.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I have a character in my own fantasy who lost a leg early in the tale. At the time I wrote it, I was not expecting the character to become a major character with issues to explore, but the character got new life in book 2. The loss of the limb dramatically changed the course of his life, removed him from his warrior role and put him more as an advisor. In developing his character, I came to see him as greatly bothered by the event, and the way it has made him useless towards the things he most wants to do. He wrestles with it quite a bit, and even though good things do happen with him, he lacks the full appreciation he would have otherwise. He believes himself less capable, and that his best days are behind him. When things go wrong, he tends to blame it on his injury, and tries to find ways to cope. He has had other things happen as well, which make him a bit more complex, but I thought the injury would become a big theme in his life, and overcoming it would kind of be his struggle. He's not there yet, but I am still writing the tale. One of my beta readers pointed out that the character may win some relatability from others with injuries, which I had not considered. It does make me want to give him greater importance--though honestly, I have struggled with him as a character, he's been eclipsed by another character he is often paired with. I think he will get some bigger scenes soon though.
Not sure if the OP really needs to be answered anymore, but there have been many villain's that suffered disabilities. Darth Vader lost all his limbs, and Sauron lost a finger. Getting burned or disfigured is quite common, and also the loss of power and abilities as well. Many villains have missing eyes, more cause it looks cool, but it is still missing.
