I am still hung up on the way they decided to portray Bashirâs disability in DS9. Or more accurately Not portray it. The narrative essentially goes:
1) Julian Bashir was born neurologically and developmentally disabled. He had unspecified cognitive and physical disabilities that could easily be read/interpreted as high support needs autism, cerebral palsy, and/or all kinds of combinations of various existing conditions.
2) His parents had this illegally Fixed. His disabilities were Cured. Not only this, but he was enhanced to have cognitive and physical skills beyond any natal human capability. He is now functionally Better than other humans. This act was definitely a violation of his agency and autonomy, but the takeaway is that heâs now super-abled, not disabled.
3) Now letâs meet some other genetic augments who went through the same procedure! Oh, wow, theyâre all struggling. They definitely have superhuman abilities, and part of their difficulty integrating into society is attributed to their being institutionalized and also general cultural Federation prejudice against augments, but fundamentally these people struggle because their augmentations giveth and they taketh away. Their augmentations have not erased their ongoing need to be accommodated! Sarina is straight up catatonic and nonspeaking from constant overstimulation; her enhanced senses deliver more information than her brain is able to process. Such narrative choices clearly demonstrate that genetic augmentation does not automatically heal disabilities and is incredibly likely to Give You New Ones even if it doesâŚ
4) unless you are Julian Bashir.
5) The other augments actively express jealousy towards Bashirâ that heâs allowed to integrate with society, yes, but also that heâs not functionally disabled. The writing and portrayal of his character is absolutely still neurodivergent and disability coded, thatâs pretty consistent, BUT: textually, according to the internal logic of DS9âs narrative, Julian Bashir has been successfully âcuredâ of his disabilities, and he is the only genetic augment for whom this appears to be true. The others need accommodations to meaningfully participate in society, and he does not.
6) They double down on this by having him âcureâ Sarina in Chrysalis. Additional genetic augmentation performed by genius Dr. Bashir manages to stabilize her and she is suddenly able to function independently in society. But is she Cured the way Julian is Cured? No, she still requires support. Could you argue her struggles adjusting are due to being institutionalized and also catatonic for most of her life? Yeah sure, but that still suggests that genetic augmentation is not an automatic fix for being able to function independently. This is well in line with the themes DS9 and Star Trek attempt to narratively convey! Itâs not as simple as just doing eugenics until no one needs wheelchairs or Braille anymore; in fact, we agree the practice is actively harmful to the wellbeing of individuals and society.
7) And yet Dr. Bashir is fine. Granted, he has his own issues and idiosyncrasies, but so do the rest of the DS9 cast, and so these are easily attributed to him being a complex and nuanced character, not a disability. Because heâs not disabled, at least according to narrative logicâ they Fixed that. Yes, it was traumatic and violating and dehumanizing, and yes, augmentation has demonstrably never worked that way for anyone else in-universe, but Bashir is the narrativeâs special favorite boy as far as this concept is concerned. He gets to be Fixed and Cured and never experience any measurable side effects of his own augmentation outside of social stigma and his own complicated feelings about it.
8) Hereâs what grinds my gears more than anything: DS9âs narrative recognizes the violence inherent in augmenting Julian without his consent, but not the violence inherent in actually erasing his disability. Shady criminal procedures Cure his deficiencies by bestowing him superpowers, and aside from the fact that it makes both Julian and others uncomfortable, there are no objective downsides to this result. Purposefully or otherwise, it suggests that curing disability is not only possible in Star Trekâs utopian future, but a net positive moral good.
TLDR: The entire justification for Bashirâs special treatment as an illegal augment and the basis of his allowance to remain in Starfleet is that heâs an undeniably gifted doctor who will save countless lives by continuing to practice medicine. Jules Bashir, the six year old who struggled to learn the ABCs, could never have achieved this. Ultimately, Julianâs achievements symbolically justify his parentsâ decision to violate him in the long run! Sure, he has depression and anxiety, he may not be content or personally fulfilled, but he functions, and thatâs what makes it worthwhile. He contributes, and he does not need to be accommodated. Bashirâs whole personal complex around being an augment is even centered around trying to prove that augments (disabled people) can contribute to society. But considering the episode where other augments are introduced is all about demonstrating their limitations, combined with Sarinaâs arc in Chrysalis and Julianâs entire character post-retcon, they are demonstrably only able to do this ONCE THEYâRE CURED.
This is Star Trek! The same show that on the surface across multiple episodes and multiple series with multiple disabled characters has expressly, consistently tried to communicate that disabilities shouldnât be cured or erased! Other fans have pointed out the Star Trek universeâs wobbly and conflicting success in conveying this message, but stillâ It blows my mind that DS9 beefed it THIS hard. Bashir is an incredibly well written character outside of this aspect too! Yet from a narrative analysis perspective, where characters are representative symbols and not just people, Jules the disabled six year old really is dead. Thatâs not purely something adult Julian is written to believe about himself, it is textually true. Jules was completely erased. No matter how much the story condemns that erasure as injustice, there are still no narrative consequences. Richard Bashir goes to jail, but Julian is still a superpowered genius who can help save the world. Julian is troubled and has conflicting feelings about his augmentations, but even that internal conflict never gets in the way of his ability to practice medicine/functionally benefit society. Eugenics wins. DS9 as a creative project is actively thematically trying to push against fascist eugenicist pro-authoritarian rhetoric, and I donât believe Julianâs arc is intended in any Doylist sense to fulfill it, but still, it does. Even the introduction of other augments who are functionally disabled, intended to complicate the narrative of augmentation/curing as a solution, simply ends up reinforcing Julianâs role as a special example of how the whole practice can ultimately be successful. Thatâs fucked, especially considering how close they got to doing something legitimately groundbreaking and revolutionary for a mainstream 90s science fiction narrative! All they had to do was let Bashir continue to be disabled after they retconned him to be that way. No one was holding the writerâs room at gunpoint or forcing them into that decision; the least they could have done was stand by their goddamned choice.
I canât offer any proof for this beyond instinct but I choose to blame Rick Berman. Seriously, fuck that guy.
