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[bpokluda]

The most important thing that I can take away from this class is my viewing of films. I can now start to see the nuances of disability within them and discuss them with others.

[bpokluda]

Post 11 @jasonsfarr

In class on Thursday, we talked about Furiosa and her prosthetic. The question of whether or not she was hindered by her prosthetic was brought up. I believe that the answer to that question is no, she is not. Throughout the film, we see Furiosa with and without her arm. When she has her prosthetic, she is able to drive the war rig with ease and fire a gun to protect everyone. When she is without it, she was able to fend off Max when they first met. I think that if Max would not have gotten the gun, Furiosa would have had a very good chance of taking Max down.

Furiosa is just one of the many characters in the movie who is variably embodied. This seems to be the norm of the world that they live in. There are not that many people who are able-bodied. If a woman was one of those who was able-bodied, they were taken to Imortan Joe, the tyrant of the wasteland, so that he could have the opportunity to create perfection through reproduction.

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of my favorite movies. This class has taught me to look at what I read and watch with a more critical eye. I can still enjoy the movies that I watch but I can now see what was always there but have never noticed.

 -Bethany Pokluda  

[bpokluda]

Post 10 @jasonsfarr

In David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder chapter titled Narrative Prosthesis, discuss how disability is used as a plot device to separate the real experiences of those who actually have disability so that people will strive to achieve the “ideal” body.

As we discussed in class on Thursday, I believe that Chris mentioned that during the film The King’s Speech that Bertie’s stammer went away when it wasn’t needed. Then when it was needed to move the plot along, the stammer came back. “Literary narratives support our appetites for the exotic by posing disability as an ‘alien’ terrain that promises the revelation of a previously uncomprehended experience,” (Mitchel & Snyder 228). This supports what we discussed in class. People search for something that was different yet we stigmatize those who do not have the “ideal” body.

A children’s story such as The Steadfast Tin Soldier, has a toy tin soldier that only had one leg. The story follows the hard times that it goes through. To name a few, it goes down a storm drain and gets swallowed by a fish. However, throughout the story the “tin soldier endures the physically taxing without further remark upon the incomplete leg in the course of the tale,” (229). This goes back to the first quote. A character’s disability is only brought up in literature when it is needed to move the plot forward.

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

The Science and Myths of Stuttering in 'The King's Speech'

The Oscar-nominated film 'The King's Speech' still upholds a few myths about stuttering, but effectively shows the social stigma surrounding the condition, experts say.

WEEK 8  @jasonsfarr

This week, we watched some of The King’s Speech and read Paul K. Longmore’s Screening Stereotypes. In class we talked about how disability is portrayed in media and the stereotypes that go along with the portrayals. I found this article titled The Science and Myths of Stuttering in ‘The King’s Speech’ written by Jeremey Hsu, it talks about the film, what it got right, what it got wrong, and living with stuttering.

In class we talked about how the film did fall into some of the stereotypes. Jeremey Hsu says that King George IV’s stuttering “came about in part because of overly strict parenting and childhood trauma”. As viewers of any kind of media, people take what they see and start to apply it to real life situations. this types of viewing reinforces the stereotypes.

Longmore discusses the different types in his work. One of the main topics were that disabled characters are only used for the evil character. Again, media strengthens the stereotype making people shun hose who are disabled because if a person is shown something enough times, they can start to believe that it is true. Longmore stated that a talented actor “spent much of his career relegated to such horrific roles” (133). These “horrific roles” were ones that had an evil disabled character. No one would cast him to be the main character who saved the day.

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

Week 8 @jasonsfarr

The ideology of ability, as stated by Tobin Siebers, is “at its simplest the preference for able-bodiedness,” (279). In both Jojo Moyes’ book, Me Before You, Will Trainor lost a life that was full of adventure and got in return one that was confined to a chair. In the movie Finding Nemo, Nemo was born with a deformed fin that came from a barracuda attack when he was just an egg. Will believes that his life is not one that is worth living and Nemo’s father, Marlin, believes that his son should be coddled his entire life because he has a limp fin. Both of these mindsets stem from the ideology of ability.

Since we as humans believe that a “perfect” body is one that is able to perform in top conditions and if a body does not or cannot reach that status then it should either be done away with or treated as a helpless being for its entire existence.

For the paper, I wanted to talk about how there is a shifting of control throughout the novel and movie. In the beginning the Nemo’s father and Will’s mother, Carmilla, have authority in the sense that they dictate most of their children’s lives since they have become disabled. In the span of these works, both Nemo and Will are able to gain control over their lives, Granted Will’s control is not one that brings about a happy ending like Nemo’s does.

Siebers has a list of bullet point in his chapter that describe the myths and stereotypes that talk of ability as an ideology. One of the bullet points that I want to put in my paper is, “Nondisabled people have the right to choose when to be able-bodied. Disabled people must try to be as able-bodied as possible all the time,” (280). This bullet stuck out because the idea that a disabled person to “try to be as able-bodied as possible” seems absurd. That is a large amount of pressure to put on anyone’s shoulders, able or disabled. Nemo goes against this bullet point. He is able to live his life and not look at his fin as being disabled. When he is trapped in the tank at the dentist’s office, he stops the tank filter from cleaning the tank so that they could enact their escape plan. However, on the other side of this point, Will falls into the belief that since he cannot, as a quadriplegic, be able to be as “able-bodied as possible”, that he should not live in a world where he cannot have the “perfect” body. Both Me Before You and Finding Nemo show two different types of thoughts at the idea of living a life with having a disability.  

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

Week 7 @jasonsfarr

In the last section of Tobin Siebers article he talks about the Social Construction of Embodiment. I found this section very interesting. In this section he gives an example of a resort type place called Galehead hut in the Appalachian Mountains. The main point to this example is that the “design environment…determines who is able-bodied at Galehead lodge” (294). This ties back to our discussion at the beginning of the semester when we discussed how our physical and built environments are what make us disabled or able-bodied. Those with disabilities can and are hindered by able-bodied persons. Those who are able-bodies determine themselves who can and cannot travel to certain places based on a person’s physical ability. The owners of this resort thought this way. They did not think that those who had disabilities would be able to make the twelve hour hike it took to get to the resort itself, so they didn’t think to make any accommodations until they were required to by the United States Forest Service to meet the ADA requirements (293). This able-bodied way of thinking is hindering the progress of making more places accessible to those who need it. This also reminds me of my first Tumblr post of the trailer Speechless and how the ramp entrance to the school was in the back of the school, next to the dumpster. It seems as if those who have disabilities are thought of last and not on equal terms as those who are able-bodied.

[bpokluda]

Week 6 @jasonsfarr

This weekend I went to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. While there I saw many great performances as well as accommodations for those who are disabled. At each of the stages there was an area that was sectioned off for people who had wheelchairs (in picture above). This area allows for those who are physically impaired to enjoy the shows by being able to view the show with ease as well as without being jostled in the crowd. Another accommodation that I found was that the ACL provided staff members who provided sign language to those who were hearing impaired (also in picture above). Not only was the venue adapted for those who needed assistance to enjoy the festival but the shuttles to get there were also adapted to those who used wheelchairs.

In Jojo Moyes novel, Me Before You, the character Lousia Clark is trying to get a quadriplegic man, Will Traynor, to look at life in a different way. She would look for places that are adapted for those who need assistance when going out. A festival such as this would have been something that Lou would think about as an option for Will but he would probably turn it down. Tobin Siebers talks about how society views the body as something that should be perfected (279). With places like ACL that have accommodations for those who need them, there are more options available for those who need them so that they can go out and enjoy activities like everyone else. Those who don’t have “perfect” bodies can still go out because even though Siebers says that our modern culture feels the need to "perfect the body", there are events like ACL and others that make changes to allow everyone to enjoy the things that they love (278).

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

Week 4 @jasonsfarr

In the movie Any Day Now, we as the audience watch the court scene and can see what is wrong with how it is being handled. The entire trial is based on Rudy and Paul as a homosexual couple and not on the real issue which is the welfare of Marco. When Rudy was being questioned, Lambert was framing the questions to make it seem like their lifestyle was “rubbing” off on Marco. This brings us back to the concept of heteronormativity. Those who were against Paul and Rudy getting custody of Marco were trying to follow the unwritten rules implying that only a man and woman can raise a child. At the end of the first trial the judge gives her verdict saying that Rudy and Paul’s “…openly homosexual life style could be assumed by the child to be normal”. This quote supports the idea of heteronormativity. They are trying to set things the way that they are supposed to be.

[bpokluda]

WEEK 3 @jasonsfarr

I found this clip and I felt like I fit the topic of compulsory able-bodiedness well. This clip shows a man who is able-bodied. He is treated as a minority and is pitied because he is able-bodied. In Robert McRuer’s chapter in our Disability Studies Reader, he talks about compulsory able-bodiedness. In one section of his article he states that “we all agree: able-bodied identities, able-bodied perspectives are preferable and what we all collectively are aiming for,” (372). This clip is taking what McRuer is describing but turning it around on itself. In this clip, having a type of disability is the norm of the world. This again brings us back to the term normalcy. A culture is what sets up the “norm” for its society and this clip is complicating the view on what the norm and its deviant are.

Later in his chapter, McRuer also says that, “Everyone is virtually disabled both in the sense that able-bodied norms are ‘intrinsically impossible to embody’ fully and in the sense that able-bodied status is always temporary, disability being the one identity category that all people will one day embody if they live long enough,” (374). In other words, disability is something that can affect anyone and everyone. No one is safe from it if they live long enough.  This video makes one think about how people who have disabilities are treated as a minority by changing the perspective of who is actually being “disabled”.

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

Week 2 @jasonsfarr

This article talks about people of color and disability. This is part one of a two-part article in which they asked disabled people to talk about their experiences with the ADA and how it impacted their lives, both good and bad. They received a wide range of responses from not only those who they initially thought would respond but they also heard from people of color who are disabled. The article is broken up into sections that divides the responses into different categories such as: Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Disability Rights and People of Color; Racism, Discrimination, Violence, and Ableism, and many more.

Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act:

This section shows both the positive and negative feeling that people have with the ADA. Some of the respondents said that the ADA gives a sense of identity that they did not feel before. While others say that the ADA has gaps in its helpfulness, especially in the workplace.

Disability Rights and People of Color:

For this section, they directly asked people of color to respond with their experiences and what they think it means to be disabled.

Racism, Discrimination, Violence, and Ableism:

In this section respondents who were people of color talked about how their childhood was affected by all-white neighborhoods and non-disabled environments. As well as stereotyping and discrimination because of their race and being disabled.

All of these sections describe disability and its intersectionality. Like Alex said in class, not everyone is just one “thing”. Who we are as a person is made up of multiple “things” that make us different, yet we can all find something that connects us together. In Josh Lukin’s chapter titled “Disability and Blackness”, he quotes Johnnie Lacy stating that “[she] also discovered…that many African-Americans consider being black as having a disability, and so they didn’t really identify with disability as a disability but just as another kind of inequality that black people had to deal with” (309). People should not have feel that just because they are not like the majority, whether it be skin color or being able bodied, that they do not belong. As I stated before, we are all made up of multiple things and that is what makes us who we are.

This two-part article will allow others to see how the built environment both helps and hinder those who have disabilities. As well as show those in power how the ADA might need to make some changes in order to be able to assist in some areas that more help is needed.

-Bethany Pokluda

Thompson, V. & Wong, A. (July 26, 2016). #GetWokeADA26: Disabled People of Color Speak Out, Part One. Ramp Your Voice! http://wp.me/p3Ov4P-FA

[bpokluda]

This is a trailer for a new tv show called Speechless. This show is about a mom who will do anything for her family to make them happy. One of her children has cerebral palsy and she is trying to find the right school that can accommodate him and his needs. In the trailer it shows them arriving to the new school for the first time, the mother asks where the wheelchair ramp is and the principal takes them to the side or back of school where the janitor comes out wheeling a cart of garbage. The mother points out the obvious saying that is meant for garbage and not people while the principal tries to down play it by saying that it is an “acceptable alternate entrance”.

This trailer reminded me of the Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor video. Both the tv trailer and the video discuss the ability to have mobility in everyday life and how both Taylor and the son, JJ, are human being just like everyone else. In one part of the trailer when the mom is arguing with the principal about the ramp, the mother brings up a question asking if JJ is garbage or a human being since he was being let into the school where the garbage gets taken out. This also brings up the Social Model of Disability reading. The UPIAS states that the term disability is defined as:

the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by a contemporary social organization which takes little or no account of people who have physical impairments and thus excludes them from participation in the mainstream of social activities. (Shakespeare 215)

In the trailer for Speechless the wheelchair/garbage ramp is impeding JJ’s ability to be treated as a person and the social activity that he is missing out of is school. This tv show looks like it will be a great tool to educate society in the needs of disable people. I also think that this show might take away the pity aspect that usually comes with a disabled character on a show.

-Bethany Pokluda

[bpokluda]

I this picture because in the beginning, all of the bad angels, including Satan, were cast out of heaven. One of the descriptions of their their new dwelling place was a burning lake and I found that this picture shows a very good representation of one.  

[suribot]

[ghdos-blog]

The two smartest men on the planet.

[nicolrene-deactivated20130906]

Just one of those posts you can’t not reblog.

[forecastiel]

This is unreal

[scott-parker-vs-the-world-deact]

Smart, brave souls…

[usersukuna]

[bpokluda]

[x]

[doctaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

peeta has never been more proud of himself than he has at this moment

[bpokluda]

"They use it above all to hire, at extravagant rates of pay, foreign mercenaries, whom they would much rather risk in battle than their own citizens. They know very well that for large enough sums of money many of the enemy’s soldiers can themselves be bought off or set at odds with one another, either secretly or openly."
-Utopia Book II, Sir Thomas More pg 611

[bpokluda]

"They use it above all to hire, at extravagant rates of pay, foreign mercenaries, whom they would much rather risk in battle than their own citizens. They know very well that for large enough sums of money many of the enemy's soldiers can themselves be bought off or set at odds with one another, either secretly or openly." -Utopia Book II, Sir Thomas More pg 611