UPDATES, PLUS DISABILITIES AND SUPERPOWERS

UPDATES, PLUS DISABILITIES AND SUPERPOWERS:

Hey everybody! Long time no see! Here are some updates! I had another paper published, enjoyed the Doctor Who 50th, and had my own birthday on 11/22. With conventions coming up (notably Ohayocon!) you can be sure I’ll have some anime reviews, and possibly a review of Ohayocon 2014! Stay tuned! For now, here’s  a copy of the article that was published in HireGround. ( From Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities.) It’s called  “Disabilities And Superpowers”.

Disabilities and Superpowers
By Chris Bowsman

Editor’s note: Chris Bowsman, age 28, has a B.A. in German, M.A. in Intercultural Communication

If you enjoy Chris’ writing, look him up on the VSA website at http://www.vsao.org/, or follow his personal blog “Through Alien Eyes” at http://www.christopherbowsman.blogspot.com/ (Chris’s Note: Hey, that’s here!)

  I’ve always loved superheroes. When I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to be like Professor X, leader of the X-men. I didn’t have his superpower of telepathy, but hey, I was in a wheelchair, like him, so that was a good start, right? Or at least, that was the reality I lived on the inside.

But on the outside, much of my daily existence was just an exercise in willpower forged from dealing with my dependencies. It still is. Nobody saw my mental Professor X; what they saw was a kid rolling around or occasionally being pushed, often demanding extra attention and struggling to articulate words that were often hard for them to understand, limbs sometimes jerking in unexpected directions.

This was the overlay I grew up with. It’s the titanic clash between the multitudes of disabilities people see on the outside, versus what those of us experiencing a whole different world within can create mentally. One of my favorite poets laid it out this way: (Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself")

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I am accustomed to people making assumptions about my intelligence and capabilities based on what it looks like I can do, so that really isn’t even a big deal anymore. What I want to say, however, is that my super strength is just determination. My telepathy is called listening. The strengths that I possess are really strengths that anyone can have if used correctly. It is our choices that make us who we are, far more than our abilities … listening and the power to keep fighting, are far better, far more real than telepathy or being able to punch someone into atoms!

If superhero stories tell us anything, it is that people have hidden talents beyond what others can see. Charles Xavier is not just a professor, but the world’s most powerful telepath. Mild-mannered Clark Kent is Superman. Of course, no one looking on from the outside could see these powers of the great superheroes, either. But the invisible (Much more human) lessons we can learn from them involve determination, empathy, and wisdom…just to name a few.

You see, everyone tries to make meaning out of their abilities; what they can and can’t do. I’m still trying to make meaning out of mine. I’ve come a long way from just wanting to be Professor X, to traveling abroad, obtaining my degrees in German and Intercultural Communication!

Two of the most dangerous things you can do, in my opinion, are assuming that physical differences are bad, or pretending that we’re the same as you if you don’t have a disability. Above all, a body must be lived in, and all of us embody a little different view of the truth. Remember the Walt Whitman quote above? And as Professor X said: “We’re not dangerous…we are different.” Don’t be afraid to learn from these differences. Embrace them! Understand them! You may be surprised.

   In sum, I don’t have telepathy; but I have empathy. I don’t have super strength; I have my spirit. To me, superheroes are just about simple human abilities that I have, and how to use them. Each one of us has some amazing abilities if we try to discover them. Who knows? That mild-mannered reporter could be Superman. Yes, even that guy in the wheelchair could be Professor X!

THE 99 (2011) REVIEW:

THE 99 (2011) REVIEW:

Narrator: “It is said that the light of one heart can illuminate all the darkness in the world.”

Once in a while Netflix completely surprises me and shows me something that I really like. In this case, it’s the animated superhero show The 99. The 99 is a 26-episode series written by Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, that focuses on a group of heroes who are powered by magical gems called Noor stones. Supposedly, there are 99 stones. Each stone grants it’s user different powers. The first one to be found is a paraplegic man with the power to send out pain waves/healing waves from his hands: John Weller.

   The others found all have different abilities and powers, and all have Arabic names given to them once they join the 99. I suspect it has to do with the 99 names of Allah…well, and 99 Noor stones. Of course, I myself am an Agnostic, but I love discussing multiculturalism! As for the superheroes: There is (mainly) Jabbar The Powerful, (Superstrength and invulnerability) Darr The Afflicter (John), Mumita The Destroyer (Superstrength and agility.) Noora, The Light, (Light-based  powers and  empathy.) Jami The Assembler (Super engineer.) Those are the main three from what I see. Although the series plays off of Islam, the show itself is more about universal values of good and evil, and happens all around the world (Hong Kong, St. Louis, Hungary, and Jakarta, to name a few…) just  like the X-men and the mutants.
     
Dr. Ramzi Razem serves as the mentor (The Professor X, if you will.) of The 99. One thing I liked about the show was how well it depicts in my mind, how people would react to being superheroes. John doesn’t just get on a plane and fly off with them! No! He tells them to get out of his house and go away until his powers go out of control and they chase him down! Although John is a little bitter in the beginning, and generally has a negative view of his chair (Except when The 99 upgrade it into a sort of armored Permobil powerchair!) I tend to think that’s due to his tough-as-nails persona and background, rather than pity.

    In fact, I have to say, for all it’s cheesiness, I really liked The 99’s depiction of John’s disability. He sort of moves extra-consciously…with a click before he moves from his powerchair of course. And although I never realized it…that’s how I move too. I sort of have to think “Okay, turn here; then straight ahead.” but of course it’s all habit. Early episodes have some nice examples of John’s POV, all punctuated with clicks from his chair. Little things like this I notice. I’m always somewhat pleased when I see disability in mainstream superhero media!

     Of course, opposite Ramzi and The 99 is Raghul. Raghul is the Magneto to The 99’s X-men. A nice plot twist occurs when John becomes suspicious of why Ramzi brought them to The 99 Mansion, and gave them codenames. Why do superheroes need secret identities, anyway? (I know, to protect their loved ones.) It turns out that they had been working for Raghul, and the man they were told was Raghul was Ramzi! Nice twist on the secret identity theme. Anyway, Ramzi reasons that since they already have codenames and a secret base, he might as well use them for Good.

     The base of The 99 is in Selville, Spain, on the ruins of a 13th century Islamic library. I like how the show is based in Arabic/Islamic mythology and culture, and explores themes of ethics, social justice, and multiculturalism, in much the same way as X-men does…but just as X-men is not specific to any religion…The 99 has a different cultural/historical setting which adds to the backgrounds of the characters and Good vs. Evil narrative of the show.

Though Islamic culture is important to the show, the religion is never explicitly  discussed. Though I felt like maybe it’s time we have strong Islamic superheroes? I felt like it was a missed opportunity. It’s time we had a serious intercultural dialogue in that respect. If Nightcrawler can discuss Christianity, why not John Weller discuss Islam? Though I really like that the show went for (to me.) something new, to show how people act on cultural values; and for including a bit of disability culture as well.

The only thing I didn’t like about this series was…the animation. Until Beware The Batman proved me wrong, I’ve always kinda thought 3D animation was inherently clunky and awkward…and it’s still pretty bad here. Often, it feels more like a product of the late 90s than modern animation…but the action and themes covered are good, even though animation is lacking! If you’re looking for more disabled superheroes, or just a new show to watch about superheroes, I highly recommend The 99 for its cultural settings, sneaky plot twists, and cool superheroes! I’d rate this 3.5/5 stars, but just for animation issues! Give it a watch! I was pleasantly surprised!

Game Review: Heroclix

Game Review: Heroclix

   Yesterday, I played my first game of Heroclix. I used the Marvel starter set. If you’ve played D&D or Warhammer, it’s pretty much that with superheroes/pop culture miniatures. The one gimmick is that each miniature has a dial that you click to indicate when they take damage. Now, I love the premise of the game. Superhero fights are always (usually) on my mind, like any kid who grew up with fighting games/comics. But, it’s not particularly accessible for me…that doesn’t keep me from playing, I just have a friend help me turn the dial.

    We played 2 games with this one 6-figure set. One 3-on-3 (Wolverine, Elektra, and Hobgoblin vs. Spiderman, Sabertooth, and Wasp.) and one 1-on-1 (Sabretooth vs. Wolverine.) Now, for those you who don’t play Warhammer or D&D, I’ll explain the game simply. Each figure has stats (Movement, Defense, Attack, Damage.) on it’s base.

You use these stats to play the game, along with dice, of course. For example, Wolverine in my starter set has  5 Movement 12 Defense and 1 Damage…but if you use his claws, his damage becomes 1d6. Anyway, all the figures have stats and powers like this. If you equal or surpass Wolverine’s Defense stat, you hit him, and deal the indicated damage on the figure’s base and click the dial. Neat stuff, but I never did click the dials. My buddy did.

    He also set up the map and placed object tokens on it. Light objects increase damage by 1, and heavy objects (Only portable by characters with super strength!) increase damage by 2. In our first official game, it was basically a race to pick up the objects. Whereas I thought any team with Wolverine could win…the teams with Wolverine lost both times!

 To be sure, once was due to bad strategy (I was fighting over a boulder with Spiderman and didn’t wanna spend all day playing catch with super strength.) And the second game, I won with Sabertooth because my buddy kept rolling badly! (It happens…but I got lucky.)

     It’s a great game! I can’t wait to start collecting other neat Heroclix figures. I’ve even seen Star Trek and Watchmen Heroclix as well as more specific ones and weird mods like Earthworm Jim Heroclix. Part of me wants to do Marvel vs. DC, but that’s a little cliché. Marvel vs. Street Fighter, that would be something! Or Marvel vs. Watchmen. In sum, it’s nice to have a neat hobby like this game.

    I hope I’ll learn how to click the dials soon. Another friend told me that sometimes they are hard to click, and each base can be different. So, perhaps I just don’t have the dexterity. Nonetheless, it is a game you play with a friend…so, in the event that I really can’t, I can either just have a friend do it, or make a mental note of the clicks in my head, possibly with a notepad. Practice makes perfect though. Just can’t wait to play again! 3/5 for fun, but there can be slight accessibility issues!
   
I like Heroclix because it’s a fun little strategy game to play with friends based on heroes! I would love to get more X-men, or a Professor X figure since he’s my favorite. I admit it’s not for everyone, but it’s still really cool! Though I do like the game so far without those pesky object tokens. Then, it just becomes a race to get them. It should be good physical therapy and great fun! Anyone know any cool sets with Oracle, Professor X, or other disabled heroes? Let me know!

                                             

House of M (2005):

 “He... He only wanted you to be happy... Look what you've done to us, daddy.”

- Scarlet Witch to Magneto

I gotta say: I’m bored with DC Comics. It’s all about Batman vs., Superman right now, (Infinite Crisis, Batman vs. Superman movie, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Sacrifice, etc.) and they won’t even let Superman act like a hero. So, instead I’ve chosen to review a graphic novel that made me think: What would happen if Magneto suddenly got what he desired? This is the plot of House of M.

   The X-men decide they have to kill Scarlet Witch as she lost control of her powers and killed several Avengers, including her husband Vision. To stop the X-men/Avengers from killing her she uses her reality-altering powers (Amplified by a mind-controlled Professor X to create a world where her dad Magneto gets everything he ever wanted. Mutants rule the Earth, and the Avengers are outcasts. But, this is not without good effects too. Peter Parker and M.J. are happily married and successful; Uncle Ben is alive, The Avengers are alive, several of The X-Men become Magneto’s elite Red Guard. Captain America walks on the moon to broker a tentative peace between mutants and humans.

     But, beneath all that appears happy and successful and covered up by tabloids, Wolverine senses that the reality is false, because he’s had his mind wiped so many times before. He storms out on Mystique (who he’s married to.) and goes off to unite the other heroes, starting with Emma Frost, who also senses the reality is false and can convince others psychically.  Wolverine fights past the elite guards, which notably includes Rogue and Nightcrawler as part of the Red Guard.
 
    Eventually, Emma Frost (who’s happily married to Cyclops, and she lets him see reality.) runs into Layla Miller, a little girl who, unaffected by the reality-altering, still retains memories of the previous reality. Wolverine takes her to the Avengers’ hideout, where together they figure out this might have been Magneto’s work. See, the Avengers’ don’t have it so lucky. They are hunted by sentinels, like the X-men in the previous reality.

After that, Wolverine, Cyclops and Dr. Strange decide to crash a meeting of the world’s leaders, led by the House of M. Dr. Strange contacts Scarlet Witch, and of course, gets her to confess that she created this reality, and loses control. (With one special caveat I won’t reveal here!) But anyway, this comic just got me thinking in the midst of all this boring Batman vs. Superman stuff: How much good makes up for one evil? People were happy under mutant rule, but people were still oppressed. Is happiness really all that people seek, even under a dictatorship? What defines reality? This was some REAL philosophy to chew on rather than the old dichotomy between Justice and Revenge we see in DC Comics. It was refreshing: Of course, it all leads to a bigger plot which is a whole different beast (But, not Beast!) A vs. X! That’s how you do a vs. buildup!

THE WOLVERINE (2013) REVIEW:

THE WOLVERINE:

Today, I saw The Wolverine. It was okay. It didn’t really have a hook though. It was just sort of like “Oh, hey, Logan…this guy hurt a bear. Wanna go beat him up and go to Japan to visit this Yoshida guy you saved in WWII?” And Wolverine thinks a bit…and he’s gruff, but then he says “One day…”  and then flies to Japan with this girl Yuriko. While he’s there, he uncovers that Yoshida’s granddaughter Mariko is next in line to inherit the Yoshida Corporation which is actually the Black Ninja Clan. Yeah, I didn’t really follow either, but I think I got it.

What the movie lacked in hooks they made up for in cool fight scenes. See Wolverine fight: At a wedding, on a train, in laboratory rafters, in a Japanese love hotel. There are two in this movie. Overall, my sense of the movie is that in parts it tried to be Kill Bill. Weak story, good action scenes. Some funny moments. In short, a Marvel movie, but the acting is still better than The Dark Knight Rises. (Zing!)

One of the most frustrating things about this movie was (I felt.) the forced bonding moments between Mariko and Wolverine. They’re already being chased by a rival ninja clan…and those are good scenes! We don’t need to see Mariko and Wolverine having tea together or revisiting the place where Wolverine met Mariko’s grandfather that the beginning of the movie already told us about. Being chased by ninjas is enough reason to get along and make out if you want. So, that was a huge break in the action, and a huge distraction.

Another thing…you would expect this movie’s main villain to be Silver Samurai! No! He’s in there, but the main villainess you see throughout the movie is Viper. She can poison people. She’s basically a more hardcore version of Batman’s Poison Ivy with a snake theme instead of a floral theme. But anyway, although Silver Samurai is involved, I expected to see more of him. We are in Japan after all. Also, Viper steals Wolverine’s healing factor for a bit. (Yes, it’s one of those movies…)

Honestly, I don’t know why it’s so hard for Hollywood to make a good Wolverine movie. He’s one of the most powerful mutants there is. We don’t need to see him go through a personal crisis and wondering if he’s killing for the right reasons. Not only is that boring, but he’s BEING CHASED BY NINJAS. We know he’s killing to survive and protect Mariko! With Wolverine, I think not wanting to be chased by ninjas is a good enough motivation. Let him claw his way out!

Overall, the movie had great action! I just think the story was a little weak, and the character transformation was a little forced. Wolverine goes from being a bum with no powers, back to the way he was, and then back again. Nothing really changes or is particularly unexpected. If they would’ve played out the BEING CHASED BY NINJAS part a little more instead of turning into a character study, it could’ve been a great over the top action movie, instead of an average Marvel movie. Some characters are simple: Wolverine has claws and one-liners. That’s how I like him. He’s Wolverine!

That being said, I’m looking forward to Days of Future’s Past. But, was the Japan story really the setup you want for that huge of a sequel, based on a great comic, that unites two different X-men? I guess we’ll never know otherwise now, but I’m hoping Wolverine has no trouble killing in his next movie. Leave the ethics to the two Professor Xs! By the way, I rate this one 2.5/4 stars or a B-, but I’m biased and being lenient: I’m a Marvel guy.

  

   

X-Men: Children of The Atom Review

X-Men: Children Of The Atom Review 

My favorite types of videogames are beat-em-ups and fighting games. Very disability friendly. There are no complex puzzles (aside from maybe Special Moves.) to solve. You just jump right into the game and start being awesome. My favorite types of these games are often X-Men games. While browsing the Internet recently, I  came across a list of the so-called top 10 X-men games. I won’t do that, since I can’t really think of 10 good X-Men games that weren’t crossovers with Capcom. In my mind, there are only two real contenders for good X-Men games. X-men Arcade and X-men: Children of The Atom.
 
X-Men: Children of the Atom was so good with character animation that they used the same sprites for games as recently as Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I already reviewed X-men Arcade, so now I’ll review X-men: Children of The Atom. Now, the game has like 10 characters. And for some reason, one of them is Ice Man. Ice Man wasn’t even in the 90s cartoon that much. At least, not regularly. The game also used the original voice actors from the 90s cartoon, which is cool.

    As per usual, the game is obsessed with combos, and you can do super jumps, and meter-dependent “X-Moves” similar to Marvel vs. Capcom’s super moves. On my Dingoo system, these attacks are triggered by pressing L+R at the same time. No doubt in the arcades it was HP+HK. Other things I like about this game are that you can knock people to different parts of certain stages, which later X-men fighting games would follow. I love Ice Man’s cheesy lines like, “When I say chill out, I mean it!” and the fact the Colossus’s stage is besieged by sentinels. Spiral’s stage spirals downward! Little details like that are fun to me.
 
 The game has two boss characters and unique endings for each character. One boss is Juggernaut. Magneto is the other one. (Both would show up later as playable characters in Marvel Super Heroes!) I do know that Ice Man, in his ending, stands around on a beach making ice sculptures to impress babes. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why Rogue wasn’t added until X-men vs. Street Fighter! Wasn’t this based on the cartoon?

    Anyway, with it’s attention to details, cartoon sources, modern combo chains, and two-button super moves, this might be my favorite X-men fighting game! In my mind, there can’t be a top 10 because the rest of the games just aren’t that good, and/or are way to easy to get stuck in. Children of The Atom basically invented the modern fighting game before Killer Instinct or any of the Marvel-Capcom fighters.

And yes, I know Ice Man’s moves are cheap, but “cheap” is also accessible. The modern button-mashing in fighting games has it’s genesis in a game based on the Fatal Attractions comic storyline. If they had gone one step further, and added fatalities, Magneto might’ve been able to rip out Wolverine’s metal spine! Truly, this game was ahead of it’s time.
   
 What do you think? Did I miss any good X-men fighting games/crossovers? What other games are there? Let me know. Comment away! Until next time…I think next week I should have some new comics to review. Mostly DC! Although I’m a Marvel guy! Stay tuned!

                                                                        Arcade Art

                                                                Spiral vs. Psylocke!                                                          

                                                                   Cyclops's X-Move!
                                                   

                                              With Colossus's stage, you end up on a boat!

I’M AN INTERGALACTIC WARRIOR: ON DISABILITY AS AN ALIEN CULTURE:

I’M AN INTERGALACTIC WARRIOR: ON DISABILITY AS AN ALIEN CULTURE:

Well, it’s been an exciting weekend! I had a friend over for olives and beer while trying to explain intercultural discourse, followed a Doctor Who blog, (Blogtor Who); I got a surprise visit from my mom and went to Whole Foods for Indian. Curry tofu. Later, we had curry chicken, but my mom is vegetarian, and so she had more tofu. On the first trip out for lunch, she explained to me that she’d met a “spirit reader”; a shaman. Being a sci-fi nut and a storyteller, I usually take such readings with a grain of salt. This one especially. So, she told me that he said I was an intergalactic warrior from the Pleiades in a past life, and she had been Alantean.

    For me, I guess it was just cool to be pictured as an intergalactic warrior. I don’t believe it for a second except as cool sci-fi. Maybe I’ll write a story about it. What was interesting is that the shaman said that in my “present form” I felt pulled down by the density of my physical body. This is before he had learned that I have cerebral palsy. So, as we ate, I couldn’t stop thinking: If I know the environment of the Pleiades constellation, then maybe I can extrapolate some idea of the weapons and culture that existed there.
 
 One of the things I had read later on an astronomy website said that its surrounded by a nebula, pulsars, and flare stars. So, I got this idea of people battling in zero gravity with radiation guns, energy shield rings, flamethrowers, light saber-type weapons darken  the bright nebulous battlefield like camouflage  Though I’m sure this is all laughable to a real astronomer: If life existed on such a constellation, wouldn’t it be informed by its nebulous and poisonous environment? Can any real astronomers help me out?

   Also, I got to watch all of Joss Whedon’s 2009 Astonishing X-Men. I especially like Joss Whedon’s depiction of Professor X…although his wheelchair looks like concrete. Looking back on it, I suppose there’s an element of alienation in every Professor X portrayal, because, so far as I know…he has never been designed by a person with a disability. If anyone can prove me wrong, I’d love to be proved wrong. Professor X has always been my hero, but it never really struck me how odd his wheelchairs are until I saw him in Astonishing X-Men.

   The earliest depictions of Professor X as paralyzed were in the 60s. He has a practical manual chair, with a blanket over the legs. In the 90s X-men he has a hover chair, but I wonder if this is reflective of the density of being pulled down by his body. It seems to symbolize the hope of inclusion, but is so impractical. I think in the 80s, he retained the manual chair, but in 1989 it became a power chair in Pryde of The X-Men. Thus, in X-Men Arcade it was also a power chair, but ways were contrived by which Xavier could also walk (in the comics, and 90s cartoon.) The power chair model returned in Bryan Singer’s X-Men trilogy, and the walking power suits stopped; however, Xavier dies. Days of Future’s Past may right this wrong! In X-Men: Evolution Xavier becomes a slave of Apocalypse.

    It seems being both the world’s most powerful telepath and disabled means the writers really don’t know what to do with Professor X physically except destroy him or make him evil. Let’s not forget Warren Ellis’s Onslaught Epic! (Hover chair Xavier; 1996.) But, the Onslaught Epic does raise a good point…that people never say what they mean…Ellis’s Xavier can’t take this anymore, and years of repressed psychic darkness turn him into Onslaught. As a person with a disability, I can say I’ve been upset by the doubletalk I sometimes experience, such as when someone able-bodied says they think of me as “Just the same” as them; but obviously I’m different. Being telepathic and disabled would amplify (and perhaps verify.) this doubt. So, in that sense Xavier has been very strong for 30 years holding back. He is repeatedly referred to as the most powerful telepath on Earth, so Onslaught must be a negative manifestation of all his mental power.

    Indeed, I might not be an ancient alien warrior, but my first experience as an alien was the awareness of the difference between my mental and physical abilities. I’m at home in more a weightless, maybe formless environment. One ruled by imagination. But, at the same time, that means there’s a certain euphoria in every physical victory. Every hang out, every time I give a correct speech, turn of phrase, when my speech inspires ACTION, when I even go to the library across the street; there’s a feeling of victory, going beyond my form.

    Speaking of form, now that The Doctor is set to regenerate this Christmas, I wonder what form he’ll take next. In the sense that he’s a formless super genius unbound by time, The Doctor has always been my friend in disability experience. But, as you have seen, I have a tendency to read disability as an alien experience. Even in disability-based communities. Because no one experience is the same. For every Iron Man, or alien, cyberpunk, or sci-fi experience…there seems to me to be a disabled experience as well. I am able in this way to make the familiar seem strange. I’m comfortable looking into alien spaces.

Images of Disability

My Top 10 Negative  Disability Images:


10. TIMMY (AND JIMMY)


(PORTRAYED AS INARTICULATE MONSTERS.)
9. JOE


(OBJECT OF DEGRADATION.)
8. JOKER


(HOPELESSLY VIOLENT PSYCHOTIC.)
7. THE SECRET GARDEN


(CURED BY MAGIC.)
6. PUMPKIN


(2007; Magic sorority girl inspires “retarded” guy named “Pumpkin” to walk out of love.)







5. MILLION DOLLAR BABY


(EUTHANIZED AFTER PARALYSIS.)
4. SPECIAL ED


(ONLY EVER SAID “YAY.”; IMBECILIC)







3. TINY TIM


(WEAK; OBJECT OF SYMPATHY SYMBOLIZING ABLE-BODIED PURITY.)

2.CHRISTOPHER REEVE


("I've noticed that there are very few roles for people in chairs... I would like to see people with disabilities featured sympathetically.")





1. JERRY’S KIDS


(Cure muscular dystrophy; don’t give it meaning.)



My Top 10 Positive Disability Images:

10. Daredevil (Marvel)


(Blind crime fighter.)

9. Forest Gump


(Symbolized American history; mentally disabled.)


8. Rory O’Shea (From Rory O’Shea Was Here.)


(British “punk” who lives independently with MD; depicts independent living well.)

7. John Nash (A Beautiful Mind.)


(Successful economist living with schizophrenia.)
6. Christie Brown (My Left Foot.)


(Successful artist with cerebral palsy.)







5. Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: The Next Generation.)


(Blind Chief Engineer in Star Trek: The Next Generation.)
4. Rain Man


(Well-rounded depiction of life with autism; neither too sentimental nor harsh.)




3. Deadpool (Marvel)


(Schizophrenic super ninja with regenerative powers.)
2. Homer


(Author of The Odyssey epic; father of Western civilization’s poetry; blind.)






1. Professor X (Marvel)

 
(Physically disabled founder of The X-men; powerful psychic mutant.)

MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF DISABILITY IS STILL OVERWHELMINGLY NEGATIVE. Many of the positive images to me, are within the sci-fi genre. Images to add? Debate welcome.

X-MEN X-MAS PART 2: THE RETURN OF CIVIL RIGHTS

X-MEN X-MAS PART 2: THE RETURN OF CIVIL RIGHTS

Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (or holiday)! As usual, I was back in Athens. I got many gifts to do with the X-men! Particularly, I had wanted X-men comics/graphic novels that dealt with Civil Rights issues. To my surprise they were all done by the best modern X-men writers! Mark Millar (Ultimate X-men) and Joss Whedon (Gifted). I guess my parents’ overheard me in the bookstore. I didn’t really want any of that stuff to do with civil wars and vampires. Back to the roots for me!
   I’ve been trying to get my reviews up on AbleGamers, starting with my X-men review. Videogames are a whole new venue of advocacy for me. It’s quite fun. Any social changes we affect as advocates, will have to effect all new forms of media. In particular, these new motion controls make things inaccessible for mobility impaired gamers. But, I’ve accepted that this is just a stage that videogames are going through, like memory cards in the late 1990s, early 2000s. I predict motion control will be replaced by touch screens. Though touch screens have their own issues, it’s still better than disenfranchising 33 million disabled gamers who may not have full mobility: Thanks to AbleGamers for that statistic.
   Speaking of accessibility in the media, prepare for more reports from me on OSU’s Cartoon Library. I realize there’s a whole lot of comics and such there, but many are available by appointment only: including all the X-men. So, as fueled by nostalgia and social justice as I am, I grabbed a copy of MAD magazine, spoofing the Twilight Saga (that was pretty funny.) I also sense Twilight is responsible for the X-men’s turn turning vampires and demons, and supernatural romance, when it really should be about Civil Rights. (Yes, I know Joss Whedon did Buffy the Vampire Slayer; but thus far he hasn’t brought it into X-men.) A huge concern for me is what these media are saying that people should pursue.
That’s why in Hollywood right now, it’s sort of epic monsters vs. epic heroes. Are we more interested in self-preservation than justice? Now, I realize the driving force in Hollywood is money; but, it will be interesting to see where these myths go. I can remember watching the 3rd X-men installment with vague disappointment as characters were killed needlessly, and the movie made odd winks to Internet Culture, concluding with a lackluster “showdown” with only a teaser of a sentinel’s head in sight! Hollywood thought it gave people what it wanted, but it backfired. A good sign that the audience still has power.
   Fortunately, for every X-men 3, you have The Avengers movie; good superhero epics. It will be interesting to see if this decade gives us another Lord of The Rings-type trilogy in The Hobbit, for example, or if this will be considered just a re-hash. I’m going to see The Hobbit tonight, so we’ll see what I think of it.  In the meantime, I hope everyone’s holiday was good, and regenerative and a sign of good times to come!

                                         (Enjoy this video of one of the graphic novels I got!)

ACCESSIBILITY REVIEW: X-MEN ARCADE ON IPAD

X-MEN ARCADE ON IPAD:

Earlier, I had promised to review the disability accessibility of the iPad. So, I was psyched (or should I say, “Cyked”) to play this 1992 arcade classic which at the same time ties in with my favorite superheroes. There were some accessibility issues, as there seemingly always are with iPad games. Those of us with less than full dexterity will often tire of taps or swipes that don’t register. But, the one big pro was the game itself!

First off, before we get to pros and cons, I remember this game from Birchwood Mall in Port Huron, MI, when it was new. My memories are extremely vague, but I remember everybody always wanted to play it, and there would be like 5 people crowded around that big X-Men cabinet; lots of shouting and shoving, my mom would hold me up to the cabinet to play. Here was a game that let you be the X-Men. Cyclops, Colossus, Storm, Dazzler Nightcrawler, and Wolverine; this was not the roster from the 1992 cartoon, then new; this was from the 1989 cartoon pilot Pryde of the X-Men!

But, differences in roster aside, you got to fight against the bad guys from the comics. And what could be greater? Translating the format from cabinet to touch screen however, proved a bit tricky. On a cabinet, you have big giant buttons: jump, attack, mutant power, and a big joystick to move around with. On a touch screen, you have small, touch-sensitive icons, which are lumped together in the bottom right of the screen. Lumping together makes perfect sense if you have full dexterity, or are on a cabinet (after a while you just physically feel where each button is.) but on a touch screen, it means you’ll be pressing the wrong icon unless you look down there a lot.

Most curious to me was the joystick translation. Here, you have a small X in the bottom left corner of the screen. With most iPad games you just tap the screen and it goes. This is not so here. The spaces in between the X correspond to cardinal directions that you hold down to move. Especially given that the icon is on the opposite side of the action icons, it was difficult, though not impossible, to do two things at once. Moving and attacking, being relatively close but on opposite sides, is easiest. But, say, jumping and attacking is a bit more slippery, or jumping in a given direction. For this reason, I hated pit levels (which I believe start with level 4 and continue on.)

If there was a pit, I was falling in it, which of course makes you lose a life. So, unless I very slowly walk around it down Nightcrawler or whoever goes. Also, if you take too long…I believe a minute after clearing an area and the game tells you to “MOVE ON! à ” a bomb drops, killing your hero. While this was useful in arcades as a tactic to goad lazy bones holding back the group when arcade goers were spending precious time and tokens, it just feels annoying here. I’m trying to save the world, and the game drops a bomb on me.

Pros for the iPad: Mercifully, the iPad version has a “pause” icon so a bomb doesn‘t drop on you every minute! Also, you can continue as much as you like. While it takes away from the challenge, sometimes it’s necessary to just use your mutant power attack to clear the screen, although it takes two health slots. Honestly, there is such variety to the attacks that the mutant power attacks never made me feel like I was less into the game. There’s a difficulty setting if you want more challenge, which I can assure you the arcade version didn’t have. These are all plusses to the iPad version for accessibility.

In fact, to me, using mutant power in more desperate situations (attacked in mobs, etc.) made the game feel more like a comic book; like you were really kicking butt! Which, I’m sure was the game makers intention even in arcades, when gamers would wait for those situations to pop up. It looked cool, and it saved sweet tokens. And the 5 guys you could play with would thank you maybe. On the iPad, since you don’t use tokens, mutant powers are just shorthand for either “I wanna look awesome!” or “Ugh! Let’s get this fight over with.”

A note on character appearances. As mentioned before, this is the 1989 roster from what I see. Dazzler is basically Jubilee. Professor X has a power chair it looks like, but it is less detailed and it’s ambiguous how he’s driving it, since there’s no joystick. Details, details. Also, the characters retain the badly translated Japanese dialogue, such as Magneto and Emma Frost’s “Welcome to die!” which adds a corny factor. Twice, even! Two characters say that! Also, you know it’s from the 1989 roster because Professor X has no British accent.

Stylistically, the game very much reminds me of an arcade game. (Those token-eating beat-em-ups of the 90s.) but the control mechanism really takes me out of the game sometimes, which is otherwise a good game: I don’t want to see Cyclops getting pummeled because I was punching one guy and forgot to turn around. But, the iPad makes up for that in that it is not as merciless (thank goodness!) as the arcade.

Overall, I’m excited (X-Cited?) to have the game again, and to relive some epic childhood moments. For me, it’s all about story. And now I’m in there again, using mutant abilities to save the world. As the game says: “Here come to the heroes to save the world from destruction. They are X-men!” Oh yeah, I’m an X-man again! Now, if only I could stop jumping against that wall!

FINAL GRADE: B

ACCESSIBILITY GRADE: B-

FORGIVENESS FACTOR: A-

TOUCHSCREEN CONTROL: C (See: X-Compass)

(Colossus' mutant power.)

                                                   (Good view of the control scheme.)

X-Mas With The X-Men

X-mas with The X-Men:

To me, there are no better advocates of disability rights in the superhero world than the X-Men. In the real world, it would be places like VSA and independent living organizations, but probably my first experience with my own advocacy was through X-Men. So, instead of looking at doomsday scenarios, I wanted to pay tribute to my first superheroes on the holidays.

There were a couple holidays episodes of at least two animated series. The one in the 90s (Have Yourself A Morlock Little X-Mas.) and the 00s series X-Men: Evolution. Which you can watch above. It’s really good, and deals oddly enough, with Angel who saves a disabled woman in the opening scene! The 90s version is a fairly Christmas Carol version of X-Men. Wolverine doesn’t want to help a Morlock (sewer mutant.) who stole some food, but Professor X invites him to eat with the X-Men. Wolverine sort of plays Scrooge.

But, it’s the X-Men: Evolution episode that really speaks to me, as far as holiday specials go. It stays true to the X-Men themes of fighting for equality even though people may fear and hate others. Plus, there are two disabled people in this episode! Check out Professor X’s wheelchairs between the series! I remember when I was a kid I wanted a hover chair like the 90s version. But, I particularly like the modern power chair design with the Xs in the spokes. Looks comfy.

If you watched that episode, let me know what you thought. To me, it brings up an all too important issue of labeling. Angel’s good actions are first attributed to his mutations (being an “angel”.) then people hate him because of it. So it goes. But, neither is actually true. He’s not an angel from heaven, and he’s not a freak. He’s a good person. But, he’s fighting labels. This is the first episode to show Kitty Pryde as Jewish, and (to my knowledge.) Cyclops as Christian. In this respect, it’s also more diverse than its 90s counterpart.

Personally, I always thought the X-Men were about Civil Rights. And that’s important, because it means that the X-Men want equality; just like we in the disability rights movement do. Our special abilities are what define us, yet we want no special treatment. Our Xavier’s Institutes might well be places like VSA or independent living centers where we learn to use our gifts to benefit others. A big thank you to VSA, which I know always encourages using our gifts. And I love giving people gifts. Especially on X-mas! Happy holidays everyone, and don’t forget to comment on the episode!