How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal horror-theme structure for a branching-narrative series with an occult detective. I won't discuss the whole system, but the idea is that each story has multiple themes that progress incrementally. Choices take the reader deeper down a particular horror scenario, with branches to other juxtaposed themes.
One of my universal horror themes is strong, but problematic.
Body Horror – this theme is a problem because it plays into universal fears of aging, disability, amputation, disease, birth defects, injury, bad plastic surgery.... It's a legitimate horror theme that I can see escalating to its logical conclusion. Examples are Stephen King's Thinner, and Tod Browning's Freaks.
I don't see a PC way to handle body horror tropes. I don't think horror needs to be PC, but a recent lecture about zombies by a guy in a wheelchair has made me question the whole theme as reenforcing a bad message. Nearly every body horror idea I run through my system reflects real world ablism, or a hierarchy that body-shames real people.
I'm not trying to be PC police of an entire genre. Body horror is legitimately scary. I would rather be able to tap into it.
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
We have visceral fears about our bodies coming to harm or being consumed. Disease, decay, and body revulsion seem like a big part of horror, definitely one of the few universal fears that everyone shares. I've only identified 8 universal fears – losing 1 knocks out a lot of story possibilities. I could limit it to metaphor and abstraction (a decaying house), but it's not visceral and personal like the body.
Body horror is also the theme that sometimes knocks me out of the genre. Films like Saw become just so much torture porn. I wouldn't indulge in gore, but still the threat and consequences of physical harm works as a logical escalation of a horror theme. Horror without consequences is like Scooby-Doo.
Can I raise the stakes in a body horror theme in a way that avoids an inherently ableist message? Can I tap into this anxiety without simultaneously punching-down on real life disabled, sick, and differently-bodied people? This is not about putting a hero in a wheelchair to make an empowering statement. Rather this is about leveraging a particular universal fear, without crapping on people who already have it rough.
horror theme
add a comment |
Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal horror-theme structure for a branching-narrative series with an occult detective. I won't discuss the whole system, but the idea is that each story has multiple themes that progress incrementally. Choices take the reader deeper down a particular horror scenario, with branches to other juxtaposed themes.
One of my universal horror themes is strong, but problematic.
Body Horror – this theme is a problem because it plays into universal fears of aging, disability, amputation, disease, birth defects, injury, bad plastic surgery.... It's a legitimate horror theme that I can see escalating to its logical conclusion. Examples are Stephen King's Thinner, and Tod Browning's Freaks.
I don't see a PC way to handle body horror tropes. I don't think horror needs to be PC, but a recent lecture about zombies by a guy in a wheelchair has made me question the whole theme as reenforcing a bad message. Nearly every body horror idea I run through my system reflects real world ablism, or a hierarchy that body-shames real people.
I'm not trying to be PC police of an entire genre. Body horror is legitimately scary. I would rather be able to tap into it.
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
We have visceral fears about our bodies coming to harm or being consumed. Disease, decay, and body revulsion seem like a big part of horror, definitely one of the few universal fears that everyone shares. I've only identified 8 universal fears – losing 1 knocks out a lot of story possibilities. I could limit it to metaphor and abstraction (a decaying house), but it's not visceral and personal like the body.
Body horror is also the theme that sometimes knocks me out of the genre. Films like Saw become just so much torture porn. I wouldn't indulge in gore, but still the threat and consequences of physical harm works as a logical escalation of a horror theme. Horror without consequences is like Scooby-Doo.
Can I raise the stakes in a body horror theme in a way that avoids an inherently ableist message? Can I tap into this anxiety without simultaneously punching-down on real life disabled, sick, and differently-bodied people? This is not about putting a hero in a wheelchair to make an empowering statement. Rather this is about leveraging a particular universal fear, without crapping on people who already have it rough.
horror theme
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
2
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
2
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
1
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal horror-theme structure for a branching-narrative series with an occult detective. I won't discuss the whole system, but the idea is that each story has multiple themes that progress incrementally. Choices take the reader deeper down a particular horror scenario, with branches to other juxtaposed themes.
One of my universal horror themes is strong, but problematic.
Body Horror – this theme is a problem because it plays into universal fears of aging, disability, amputation, disease, birth defects, injury, bad plastic surgery.... It's a legitimate horror theme that I can see escalating to its logical conclusion. Examples are Stephen King's Thinner, and Tod Browning's Freaks.
I don't see a PC way to handle body horror tropes. I don't think horror needs to be PC, but a recent lecture about zombies by a guy in a wheelchair has made me question the whole theme as reenforcing a bad message. Nearly every body horror idea I run through my system reflects real world ablism, or a hierarchy that body-shames real people.
I'm not trying to be PC police of an entire genre. Body horror is legitimately scary. I would rather be able to tap into it.
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
We have visceral fears about our bodies coming to harm or being consumed. Disease, decay, and body revulsion seem like a big part of horror, definitely one of the few universal fears that everyone shares. I've only identified 8 universal fears – losing 1 knocks out a lot of story possibilities. I could limit it to metaphor and abstraction (a decaying house), but it's not visceral and personal like the body.
Body horror is also the theme that sometimes knocks me out of the genre. Films like Saw become just so much torture porn. I wouldn't indulge in gore, but still the threat and consequences of physical harm works as a logical escalation of a horror theme. Horror without consequences is like Scooby-Doo.
Can I raise the stakes in a body horror theme in a way that avoids an inherently ableist message? Can I tap into this anxiety without simultaneously punching-down on real life disabled, sick, and differently-bodied people? This is not about putting a hero in a wheelchair to make an empowering statement. Rather this is about leveraging a particular universal fear, without crapping on people who already have it rough.
horror theme
Building on my answer in Proven psychological or scientific means of scaring people?, I'm working on a universal horror-theme structure for a branching-narrative series with an occult detective. I won't discuss the whole system, but the idea is that each story has multiple themes that progress incrementally. Choices take the reader deeper down a particular horror scenario, with branches to other juxtaposed themes.
One of my universal horror themes is strong, but problematic.
Body Horror – this theme is a problem because it plays into universal fears of aging, disability, amputation, disease, birth defects, injury, bad plastic surgery.... It's a legitimate horror theme that I can see escalating to its logical conclusion. Examples are Stephen King's Thinner, and Tod Browning's Freaks.
I don't see a PC way to handle body horror tropes. I don't think horror needs to be PC, but a recent lecture about zombies by a guy in a wheelchair has made me question the whole theme as reenforcing a bad message. Nearly every body horror idea I run through my system reflects real world ablism, or a hierarchy that body-shames real people.
I'm not trying to be PC police of an entire genre. Body horror is legitimately scary. I would rather be able to tap into it.
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
We have visceral fears about our bodies coming to harm or being consumed. Disease, decay, and body revulsion seem like a big part of horror, definitely one of the few universal fears that everyone shares. I've only identified 8 universal fears – losing 1 knocks out a lot of story possibilities. I could limit it to metaphor and abstraction (a decaying house), but it's not visceral and personal like the body.
Body horror is also the theme that sometimes knocks me out of the genre. Films like Saw become just so much torture porn. I wouldn't indulge in gore, but still the threat and consequences of physical harm works as a logical escalation of a horror theme. Horror without consequences is like Scooby-Doo.
Can I raise the stakes in a body horror theme in a way that avoids an inherently ableist message? Can I tap into this anxiety without simultaneously punching-down on real life disabled, sick, and differently-bodied people? This is not about putting a hero in a wheelchair to make an empowering statement. Rather this is about leveraging a particular universal fear, without crapping on people who already have it rough.
horror theme
horror theme
asked 7 hours ago
wetcircuitwetcircuit
9,91011851
9,91011851
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
2
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
2
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
1
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
2
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
2
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
1
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
2
2
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
2
2
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
1
1
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
If you want to be PC, stick to symptoms of infectious diseases, where the sense of body horror would reinforce prevention and be justified as a mean towards avoiding contagion.
As the OP suggests, body horror is about body transformations that go in undesired directions. Thanks to evolution, and sometimes thanks to human activity, we have a very large pool of examples, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congenital_disorders
The list is even longer if we consider diseases that can be acquired during the course of life, and human interventions such as prosthetics from centuries past, and some plastic surgery.
Political correctness is aimed at avoiding forms of expression that exclude or marginalize certain groups of disadvantaged people. There are however some groups of people that are necessarily excluded from normal interactions with the rest of society. These are people with very contagious and lethal diseases. For the normal, medically untrained individual, to be able to recognize the symptoms of such diseases and avoid them is actually a desirable goal.
I think that body horror that would play on the physical symptoms of these diseases would not just be politically correct, but also desirable as a mean toward a form of contagion prevention. In addition, our mind is probably tuned to feel disgust and horror towards the most obvious of such symptoms. Even more so, it would be natural to feel very scared after finding such sings on one own's body. Play on them, exaggerate them, make sure that your readers can feel the horror, and in a sense you'll be even doing a service to mankind.
Some examples, not for the faint of heart:
black plague,
Zygomycosis,
Certain fungal infections,
Peruvian warts, and
Syphilis, Smallpox & Co.
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Having a villain lop off an arm or leg ought not offend someone who either was born without them or lost them due to accident or combat. Losing limbs is not desirable.
I have some disabled friends. One has told me on multiple occasions that he envies me my kidneys. One complaint I hear is people treat him differently. They treat him like he is disabled.
There are jerks and wonderful people who are disabled. Being dismissive of their status as human beings and treating them as though they are special is more likely to offend.
I have two things that some call disabilities;a permanently injured ankle due to a car accident and epilepsy. I am not disabled by them, so they are not disabilities.
Fears are valid themes. Hitchcock would take a single fear, so would Poe. Some fears were exotic, others more universal.
Fear of dismemberment can be more visceral than fear of death as it encapsulates a fear of losing one’s independence. With death, it is all over but anything less than that is survived and such survival and the adaptations required can be terrifying.
I knew a man who thought because he was in a wheelchair, his life was over. I told him it was just another way to get around - same thing I told my mother when she became wheelchair bound after a stroke and heart attack.
When I was recovering from the car accident, I was temporarily wheelchair bound. This man thought I was done for because of the wheelchair. Later, when I walked in to visit him, he did not recognize me. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.
What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."
You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.
An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.
I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.
A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."
My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:
- That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
- The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
- The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
- A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
- That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
- And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
add a comment |
To the best of my understanding, the main problem with the zombie genre is that it positions decay-disease-disability as non-human evil to be eradicated, and as a threat to humankind. (I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but that appears to be what the guy in the video you link to is saying.)
If we accept that premise, the way to write more PC body horror would be to break this connection. Some examples of how one can do that:
- Maybe you tell the story from the POV of the zombie. His yesterday friends and family treat him as humans usually treat zombies in the genre, only he isn't in fact a crazy monster hungry for human flesh. (Doesn't have to be specifically zombies. The subject of being unfairly marginalised because of one's disability would be familiar to the group you want to build up.)
- Maybe the story isn't about surviving/defeating the monster, but about finding a cure. Maybe the MC has to observe his own degeneration, or the degeneration of a loved one.
- Maybe what is being inflicted on the victims is not "ugliness", but beauty - some dictator makes everyone look like Holywood actors, against their will.
Those are just off the top of my head, more examples can be found.
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
add a comment |
Frankly, I don't see a problem involving political correctness at all.
According to Wikipedia's sources, which are numerous and which I will not reproduce for the sake of brevity, political correctness is "language [...] that [is] intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society."
It continues, "avoiding language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people".
Writing horror about a group of people is not excluding, marginalizing or insulting said group in any form or fashion, unless you write in a way which does so (which, I guess, you would pretty much know if you did, and hardly do it by chance). If you write about Zombies and graphically describe body parts falling off, you are not "excluding, marginalizing or insulting", say, the group of lepers - unless of course you go on and explicitly ridicule lepers by drawing (offensive) comparisons in an explicit way that makes it clear that you, as the author, are speaking.
By this logic, you could not write horror about women (or, for the sake of equality, men!). You could not write about black, white or blue people. You could not write about young or old; or stupid or bright people. You could not write anymore, period.
Remember that "groups in society" are not just based on sex, disabilities or skin color. Any and all attributes of a human can be used to select a sub-group. If you take PC earnest, you have to apply it to all groups (including majorities and so on). All that is fine and well in the real world, but not generally applicable to books (unless you specifically, actively make them contain anti-PC content, which again, hardly will happen by accident).
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
How on earth is the one related to the other? I am pretty sure that people with disabilities on the scale that you can actually make them work in a Horror setting (with the disability being the main theme, the cause of the horror) may have a problem with your book - not based on political correctness, but because they do live a horrible life anyways!
If you write a horror book about a blind person being cruelly tortured, with his blindness the main theme, then you are not politically incorrect. The book may be particularly disagreeable to blind people, but unless you put specifically political incorrect language in (for example, glamorizing perverse practices against blind people), they of course can still be the subject of your book.
A guy I know (father of two small children) could not stomach a book about a pair of children stranding "home alone" and almost dieing (from thirst etc.) - the horror was too real. But that was not due to political incorrectness against parents (or children).
To compare against other groups - if you write horror involving, say, male genitalia, you are not automatically being political incorrect against men.
Forgive me all those examples, but I hope you see that whatever (unhappy) theme you write, you can always find a matching subgroup of humans; and if you were to subscribe to the general PC-ness, then you had to remove all content from all media that is not happy-go-lucky, leading the idea ad absurdum.
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "166"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f42341%2fhow-can-i-portray-body-horror-and-still-be-sensitive-to-people-with-disabilities%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
If you want to be PC, stick to symptoms of infectious diseases, where the sense of body horror would reinforce prevention and be justified as a mean towards avoiding contagion.
As the OP suggests, body horror is about body transformations that go in undesired directions. Thanks to evolution, and sometimes thanks to human activity, we have a very large pool of examples, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congenital_disorders
The list is even longer if we consider diseases that can be acquired during the course of life, and human interventions such as prosthetics from centuries past, and some plastic surgery.
Political correctness is aimed at avoiding forms of expression that exclude or marginalize certain groups of disadvantaged people. There are however some groups of people that are necessarily excluded from normal interactions with the rest of society. These are people with very contagious and lethal diseases. For the normal, medically untrained individual, to be able to recognize the symptoms of such diseases and avoid them is actually a desirable goal.
I think that body horror that would play on the physical symptoms of these diseases would not just be politically correct, but also desirable as a mean toward a form of contagion prevention. In addition, our mind is probably tuned to feel disgust and horror towards the most obvious of such symptoms. Even more so, it would be natural to feel very scared after finding such sings on one own's body. Play on them, exaggerate them, make sure that your readers can feel the horror, and in a sense you'll be even doing a service to mankind.
Some examples, not for the faint of heart:
black plague,
Zygomycosis,
Certain fungal infections,
Peruvian warts, and
Syphilis, Smallpox & Co.
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
If you want to be PC, stick to symptoms of infectious diseases, where the sense of body horror would reinforce prevention and be justified as a mean towards avoiding contagion.
As the OP suggests, body horror is about body transformations that go in undesired directions. Thanks to evolution, and sometimes thanks to human activity, we have a very large pool of examples, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congenital_disorders
The list is even longer if we consider diseases that can be acquired during the course of life, and human interventions such as prosthetics from centuries past, and some plastic surgery.
Political correctness is aimed at avoiding forms of expression that exclude or marginalize certain groups of disadvantaged people. There are however some groups of people that are necessarily excluded from normal interactions with the rest of society. These are people with very contagious and lethal diseases. For the normal, medically untrained individual, to be able to recognize the symptoms of such diseases and avoid them is actually a desirable goal.
I think that body horror that would play on the physical symptoms of these diseases would not just be politically correct, but also desirable as a mean toward a form of contagion prevention. In addition, our mind is probably tuned to feel disgust and horror towards the most obvious of such symptoms. Even more so, it would be natural to feel very scared after finding such sings on one own's body. Play on them, exaggerate them, make sure that your readers can feel the horror, and in a sense you'll be even doing a service to mankind.
Some examples, not for the faint of heart:
black plague,
Zygomycosis,
Certain fungal infections,
Peruvian warts, and
Syphilis, Smallpox & Co.
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
If you want to be PC, stick to symptoms of infectious diseases, where the sense of body horror would reinforce prevention and be justified as a mean towards avoiding contagion.
As the OP suggests, body horror is about body transformations that go in undesired directions. Thanks to evolution, and sometimes thanks to human activity, we have a very large pool of examples, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congenital_disorders
The list is even longer if we consider diseases that can be acquired during the course of life, and human interventions such as prosthetics from centuries past, and some plastic surgery.
Political correctness is aimed at avoiding forms of expression that exclude or marginalize certain groups of disadvantaged people. There are however some groups of people that are necessarily excluded from normal interactions with the rest of society. These are people with very contagious and lethal diseases. For the normal, medically untrained individual, to be able to recognize the symptoms of such diseases and avoid them is actually a desirable goal.
I think that body horror that would play on the physical symptoms of these diseases would not just be politically correct, but also desirable as a mean toward a form of contagion prevention. In addition, our mind is probably tuned to feel disgust and horror towards the most obvious of such symptoms. Even more so, it would be natural to feel very scared after finding such sings on one own's body. Play on them, exaggerate them, make sure that your readers can feel the horror, and in a sense you'll be even doing a service to mankind.
Some examples, not for the faint of heart:
black plague,
Zygomycosis,
Certain fungal infections,
Peruvian warts, and
Syphilis, Smallpox & Co.
If you want to be PC, stick to symptoms of infectious diseases, where the sense of body horror would reinforce prevention and be justified as a mean towards avoiding contagion.
As the OP suggests, body horror is about body transformations that go in undesired directions. Thanks to evolution, and sometimes thanks to human activity, we have a very large pool of examples, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congenital_disorders
The list is even longer if we consider diseases that can be acquired during the course of life, and human interventions such as prosthetics from centuries past, and some plastic surgery.
Political correctness is aimed at avoiding forms of expression that exclude or marginalize certain groups of disadvantaged people. There are however some groups of people that are necessarily excluded from normal interactions with the rest of society. These are people with very contagious and lethal diseases. For the normal, medically untrained individual, to be able to recognize the symptoms of such diseases and avoid them is actually a desirable goal.
I think that body horror that would play on the physical symptoms of these diseases would not just be politically correct, but also desirable as a mean toward a form of contagion prevention. In addition, our mind is probably tuned to feel disgust and horror towards the most obvious of such symptoms. Even more so, it would be natural to feel very scared after finding such sings on one own's body. Play on them, exaggerate them, make sure that your readers can feel the horror, and in a sense you'll be even doing a service to mankind.
Some examples, not for the faint of heart:
black plague,
Zygomycosis,
Certain fungal infections,
Peruvian warts, and
Syphilis, Smallpox & Co.
answered 5 hours ago
NofPNofP
1,410218
1,410218
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
2
2
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
omg, those links give me anxiety. Added benefit is it could strike anyone in any order, and be associated with an eerie artifact that "brings back" the disease, and could be a way to track a MacGuffin through its victims. WOW! Thank you, yes I think this works on multiple levels, and also minimal marginalization since it would presumably be egalitarian in how it strikes.
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Having a villain lop off an arm or leg ought not offend someone who either was born without them or lost them due to accident or combat. Losing limbs is not desirable.
I have some disabled friends. One has told me on multiple occasions that he envies me my kidneys. One complaint I hear is people treat him differently. They treat him like he is disabled.
There are jerks and wonderful people who are disabled. Being dismissive of their status as human beings and treating them as though they are special is more likely to offend.
I have two things that some call disabilities;a permanently injured ankle due to a car accident and epilepsy. I am not disabled by them, so they are not disabilities.
Fears are valid themes. Hitchcock would take a single fear, so would Poe. Some fears were exotic, others more universal.
Fear of dismemberment can be more visceral than fear of death as it encapsulates a fear of losing one’s independence. With death, it is all over but anything less than that is survived and such survival and the adaptations required can be terrifying.
I knew a man who thought because he was in a wheelchair, his life was over. I told him it was just another way to get around - same thing I told my mother when she became wheelchair bound after a stroke and heart attack.
When I was recovering from the car accident, I was temporarily wheelchair bound. This man thought I was done for because of the wheelchair. Later, when I walked in to visit him, he did not recognize me. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Having a villain lop off an arm or leg ought not offend someone who either was born without them or lost them due to accident or combat. Losing limbs is not desirable.
I have some disabled friends. One has told me on multiple occasions that he envies me my kidneys. One complaint I hear is people treat him differently. They treat him like he is disabled.
There are jerks and wonderful people who are disabled. Being dismissive of their status as human beings and treating them as though they are special is more likely to offend.
I have two things that some call disabilities;a permanently injured ankle due to a car accident and epilepsy. I am not disabled by them, so they are not disabilities.
Fears are valid themes. Hitchcock would take a single fear, so would Poe. Some fears were exotic, others more universal.
Fear of dismemberment can be more visceral than fear of death as it encapsulates a fear of losing one’s independence. With death, it is all over but anything less than that is survived and such survival and the adaptations required can be terrifying.
I knew a man who thought because he was in a wheelchair, his life was over. I told him it was just another way to get around - same thing I told my mother when she became wheelchair bound after a stroke and heart attack.
When I was recovering from the car accident, I was temporarily wheelchair bound. This man thought I was done for because of the wheelchair. Later, when I walked in to visit him, he did not recognize me. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Having a villain lop off an arm or leg ought not offend someone who either was born without them or lost them due to accident or combat. Losing limbs is not desirable.
I have some disabled friends. One has told me on multiple occasions that he envies me my kidneys. One complaint I hear is people treat him differently. They treat him like he is disabled.
There are jerks and wonderful people who are disabled. Being dismissive of their status as human beings and treating them as though they are special is more likely to offend.
I have two things that some call disabilities;a permanently injured ankle due to a car accident and epilepsy. I am not disabled by them, so they are not disabilities.
Fears are valid themes. Hitchcock would take a single fear, so would Poe. Some fears were exotic, others more universal.
Fear of dismemberment can be more visceral than fear of death as it encapsulates a fear of losing one’s independence. With death, it is all over but anything less than that is survived and such survival and the adaptations required can be terrifying.
I knew a man who thought because he was in a wheelchair, his life was over. I told him it was just another way to get around - same thing I told my mother when she became wheelchair bound after a stroke and heart attack.
When I was recovering from the car accident, I was temporarily wheelchair bound. This man thought I was done for because of the wheelchair. Later, when I walked in to visit him, he did not recognize me. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.
Having a villain lop off an arm or leg ought not offend someone who either was born without them or lost them due to accident or combat. Losing limbs is not desirable.
I have some disabled friends. One has told me on multiple occasions that he envies me my kidneys. One complaint I hear is people treat him differently. They treat him like he is disabled.
There are jerks and wonderful people who are disabled. Being dismissive of their status as human beings and treating them as though they are special is more likely to offend.
I have two things that some call disabilities;a permanently injured ankle due to a car accident and epilepsy. I am not disabled by them, so they are not disabilities.
Fears are valid themes. Hitchcock would take a single fear, so would Poe. Some fears were exotic, others more universal.
Fear of dismemberment can be more visceral than fear of death as it encapsulates a fear of losing one’s independence. With death, it is all over but anything less than that is survived and such survival and the adaptations required can be terrifying.
I knew a man who thought because he was in a wheelchair, his life was over. I told him it was just another way to get around - same thing I told my mother when she became wheelchair bound after a stroke and heart attack.
When I was recovering from the car accident, I was temporarily wheelchair bound. This man thought I was done for because of the wheelchair. Later, when I walked in to visit him, he did not recognize me. I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.
answered 2 hours ago
RasdashanRasdashan
5,4341038
5,4341038
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
Thank you, reality check is good. It's suppose to be horror after all.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.
What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."
You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.
An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.
I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.
A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."
My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:
- That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
- The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
- The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
- A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
- That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
- And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
add a comment |
Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.
What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."
You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.
An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.
I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.
A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."
My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:
- That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
- The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
- The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
- A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
- That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
- And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
add a comment |
Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.
What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."
You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.
An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.
I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.
A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."
My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:
- That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
- The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
- The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
- A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
- That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
- And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!
Disabled people fear losing functionality as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, because they need to rely on existing functional parts more strongly than others do.
What you want to avoid is putting a value on it. For example, losing a limb is awful and creates huge challenges in performing tasks of everyday living, transportation, and may require changing careers. No one is going to dispute this. You can show all that. You can show the fear of going through that. Just avoid judgements like "no man would want her now" or "his life was no longer worth living."
You can use disability as a starting point as well (hopefully you'll have some disabled characters in there). No one would want an accident that makes them deaf, for instance, but for someone who is already blind, the very idea of it would be terrifying beyond belief. Someone who is already Deaf would be far more horrified at the idea of losing a hand than someone who is hearing.
An additional disability can be easier for someone who already has one or more, because they're used to the idea of making changes to accommodate. And the changes they've already made might be useful for the extra need too. Other times though, it's harder than the first one. Because if you have already gone to extensive hassle and expense and changing not just your life but those of the people who need to accommodate you, doing it all over again is just too fracking much.
I don't know if your definition of "body horror" includes the brain. One great fear we all have is losing our memories. Not an amnesia situation (though that could be a horror too), but dementia and similar conditions. We all rely on our memories to get through life but someone of may need them more than others. People who are face blind, for example, have trouble recognizing even people they may know well. If you can no longer count on your memory to figure out who the person is (based on clothing, hair, context, etc), you're in trouble.
A person with an invisible disability may fear exposure. It doesn't have to be about shame. They may fear the social ostracization , the change in how people treat them, losing their job or not being allowed to do parts of it, losing a spouse, or even having their children taken away. Invisible disabilities can become visible if they get worse or if a second disability changes the person's ability to function in a way that doesn't seem "different."
My biggest concerns with showing a character acquiring a disability are:
- That the fear and horror is of becoming disabled. If you show disabled people also going through this horror, that turns this on its head.
- The idea that being disabled means your life is worth less. No more post-accident suicides (my God! really, just no!).
- The idea that people with disabilities are less physically attractive.
- A value judgment on the newly disabled person (lazy, demanding, not important, can't work any more, needs lifelong help, etc...even if some of these things are true, they can still be stereotypes).
- That using adaptive equipment is a sign of "giving up."
- And the worst: inspiration porn. If you just work really hard and want it enough, you'll get better!
answered 1 hour ago
CynCyn
10.7k12154
10.7k12154
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
add a comment |
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
3
3
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
This is the best answer. My sister has a permanent disability and a recent film ended with the disabled character committing suicide to "not be a burden" which was absolutely the worst message. I wish I had more than one upvote for this.
– linksassin
1 hour ago
2
2
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
Thank you @linksassin. I'm disabled myself and so are most of my friends. Those "burden" movies make me sick. There's just no excuse for them at all. They're nondisabled people's horror-fantasies.
– Cyn
1 hour ago
1
1
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
Thank you both! @linksassin is right, this is probably the most important perspective.
– wetcircuit
1 hour ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@linksassin Was the character's behavior portrayed as appropriate or was it something no one else actually wanted them to do?
– JAB
10 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
@JAB I haven't seen it since my sister was so distressed by it she warned people not to see it. I believe it was portrayed as a heroic sacrifice though.
– linksassin
8 mins ago
add a comment |
To the best of my understanding, the main problem with the zombie genre is that it positions decay-disease-disability as non-human evil to be eradicated, and as a threat to humankind. (I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but that appears to be what the guy in the video you link to is saying.)
If we accept that premise, the way to write more PC body horror would be to break this connection. Some examples of how one can do that:
- Maybe you tell the story from the POV of the zombie. His yesterday friends and family treat him as humans usually treat zombies in the genre, only he isn't in fact a crazy monster hungry for human flesh. (Doesn't have to be specifically zombies. The subject of being unfairly marginalised because of one's disability would be familiar to the group you want to build up.)
- Maybe the story isn't about surviving/defeating the monster, but about finding a cure. Maybe the MC has to observe his own degeneration, or the degeneration of a loved one.
- Maybe what is being inflicted on the victims is not "ugliness", but beauty - some dictator makes everyone look like Holywood actors, against their will.
Those are just off the top of my head, more examples can be found.
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
add a comment |
To the best of my understanding, the main problem with the zombie genre is that it positions decay-disease-disability as non-human evil to be eradicated, and as a threat to humankind. (I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but that appears to be what the guy in the video you link to is saying.)
If we accept that premise, the way to write more PC body horror would be to break this connection. Some examples of how one can do that:
- Maybe you tell the story from the POV of the zombie. His yesterday friends and family treat him as humans usually treat zombies in the genre, only he isn't in fact a crazy monster hungry for human flesh. (Doesn't have to be specifically zombies. The subject of being unfairly marginalised because of one's disability would be familiar to the group you want to build up.)
- Maybe the story isn't about surviving/defeating the monster, but about finding a cure. Maybe the MC has to observe his own degeneration, or the degeneration of a loved one.
- Maybe what is being inflicted on the victims is not "ugliness", but beauty - some dictator makes everyone look like Holywood actors, against their will.
Those are just off the top of my head, more examples can be found.
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
add a comment |
To the best of my understanding, the main problem with the zombie genre is that it positions decay-disease-disability as non-human evil to be eradicated, and as a threat to humankind. (I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but that appears to be what the guy in the video you link to is saying.)
If we accept that premise, the way to write more PC body horror would be to break this connection. Some examples of how one can do that:
- Maybe you tell the story from the POV of the zombie. His yesterday friends and family treat him as humans usually treat zombies in the genre, only he isn't in fact a crazy monster hungry for human flesh. (Doesn't have to be specifically zombies. The subject of being unfairly marginalised because of one's disability would be familiar to the group you want to build up.)
- Maybe the story isn't about surviving/defeating the monster, but about finding a cure. Maybe the MC has to observe his own degeneration, or the degeneration of a loved one.
- Maybe what is being inflicted on the victims is not "ugliness", but beauty - some dictator makes everyone look like Holywood actors, against their will.
Those are just off the top of my head, more examples can be found.
To the best of my understanding, the main problem with the zombie genre is that it positions decay-disease-disability as non-human evil to be eradicated, and as a threat to humankind. (I don't necessarily agree with that statement, but that appears to be what the guy in the video you link to is saying.)
If we accept that premise, the way to write more PC body horror would be to break this connection. Some examples of how one can do that:
- Maybe you tell the story from the POV of the zombie. His yesterday friends and family treat him as humans usually treat zombies in the genre, only he isn't in fact a crazy monster hungry for human flesh. (Doesn't have to be specifically zombies. The subject of being unfairly marginalised because of one's disability would be familiar to the group you want to build up.)
- Maybe the story isn't about surviving/defeating the monster, but about finding a cure. Maybe the MC has to observe his own degeneration, or the degeneration of a loved one.
- Maybe what is being inflicted on the victims is not "ugliness", but beauty - some dictator makes everyone look like Holywood actors, against their will.
Those are just off the top of my head, more examples can be found.
edited 1 hour ago
answered 2 hours ago
GalastelGalastel
31.9k590169
31.9k590169
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
add a comment |
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
2
2
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
Metamorphosis would be a good example of a story being told from the POV of the transformed person. Your post made me think of it.
– Cyn
57 mins ago
add a comment |
Frankly, I don't see a problem involving political correctness at all.
According to Wikipedia's sources, which are numerous and which I will not reproduce for the sake of brevity, political correctness is "language [...] that [is] intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society."
It continues, "avoiding language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people".
Writing horror about a group of people is not excluding, marginalizing or insulting said group in any form or fashion, unless you write in a way which does so (which, I guess, you would pretty much know if you did, and hardly do it by chance). If you write about Zombies and graphically describe body parts falling off, you are not "excluding, marginalizing or insulting", say, the group of lepers - unless of course you go on and explicitly ridicule lepers by drawing (offensive) comparisons in an explicit way that makes it clear that you, as the author, are speaking.
By this logic, you could not write horror about women (or, for the sake of equality, men!). You could not write about black, white or blue people. You could not write about young or old; or stupid or bright people. You could not write anymore, period.
Remember that "groups in society" are not just based on sex, disabilities or skin color. Any and all attributes of a human can be used to select a sub-group. If you take PC earnest, you have to apply it to all groups (including majorities and so on). All that is fine and well in the real world, but not generally applicable to books (unless you specifically, actively make them contain anti-PC content, which again, hardly will happen by accident).
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
How on earth is the one related to the other? I am pretty sure that people with disabilities on the scale that you can actually make them work in a Horror setting (with the disability being the main theme, the cause of the horror) may have a problem with your book - not based on political correctness, but because they do live a horrible life anyways!
If you write a horror book about a blind person being cruelly tortured, with his blindness the main theme, then you are not politically incorrect. The book may be particularly disagreeable to blind people, but unless you put specifically political incorrect language in (for example, glamorizing perverse practices against blind people), they of course can still be the subject of your book.
A guy I know (father of two small children) could not stomach a book about a pair of children stranding "home alone" and almost dieing (from thirst etc.) - the horror was too real. But that was not due to political incorrectness against parents (or children).
To compare against other groups - if you write horror involving, say, male genitalia, you are not automatically being political incorrect against men.
Forgive me all those examples, but I hope you see that whatever (unhappy) theme you write, you can always find a matching subgroup of humans; and if you were to subscribe to the general PC-ness, then you had to remove all content from all media that is not happy-go-lucky, leading the idea ad absurdum.
add a comment |
Frankly, I don't see a problem involving political correctness at all.
According to Wikipedia's sources, which are numerous and which I will not reproduce for the sake of brevity, political correctness is "language [...] that [is] intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society."
It continues, "avoiding language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people".
Writing horror about a group of people is not excluding, marginalizing or insulting said group in any form or fashion, unless you write in a way which does so (which, I guess, you would pretty much know if you did, and hardly do it by chance). If you write about Zombies and graphically describe body parts falling off, you are not "excluding, marginalizing or insulting", say, the group of lepers - unless of course you go on and explicitly ridicule lepers by drawing (offensive) comparisons in an explicit way that makes it clear that you, as the author, are speaking.
By this logic, you could not write horror about women (or, for the sake of equality, men!). You could not write about black, white or blue people. You could not write about young or old; or stupid or bright people. You could not write anymore, period.
Remember that "groups in society" are not just based on sex, disabilities or skin color. Any and all attributes of a human can be used to select a sub-group. If you take PC earnest, you have to apply it to all groups (including majorities and so on). All that is fine and well in the real world, but not generally applicable to books (unless you specifically, actively make them contain anti-PC content, which again, hardly will happen by accident).
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
How on earth is the one related to the other? I am pretty sure that people with disabilities on the scale that you can actually make them work in a Horror setting (with the disability being the main theme, the cause of the horror) may have a problem with your book - not based on political correctness, but because they do live a horrible life anyways!
If you write a horror book about a blind person being cruelly tortured, with his blindness the main theme, then you are not politically incorrect. The book may be particularly disagreeable to blind people, but unless you put specifically political incorrect language in (for example, glamorizing perverse practices against blind people), they of course can still be the subject of your book.
A guy I know (father of two small children) could not stomach a book about a pair of children stranding "home alone" and almost dieing (from thirst etc.) - the horror was too real. But that was not due to political incorrectness against parents (or children).
To compare against other groups - if you write horror involving, say, male genitalia, you are not automatically being political incorrect against men.
Forgive me all those examples, but I hope you see that whatever (unhappy) theme you write, you can always find a matching subgroup of humans; and if you were to subscribe to the general PC-ness, then you had to remove all content from all media that is not happy-go-lucky, leading the idea ad absurdum.
add a comment |
Frankly, I don't see a problem involving political correctness at all.
According to Wikipedia's sources, which are numerous and which I will not reproduce for the sake of brevity, political correctness is "language [...] that [is] intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society."
It continues, "avoiding language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people".
Writing horror about a group of people is not excluding, marginalizing or insulting said group in any form or fashion, unless you write in a way which does so (which, I guess, you would pretty much know if you did, and hardly do it by chance). If you write about Zombies and graphically describe body parts falling off, you are not "excluding, marginalizing or insulting", say, the group of lepers - unless of course you go on and explicitly ridicule lepers by drawing (offensive) comparisons in an explicit way that makes it clear that you, as the author, are speaking.
By this logic, you could not write horror about women (or, for the sake of equality, men!). You could not write about black, white or blue people. You could not write about young or old; or stupid or bright people. You could not write anymore, period.
Remember that "groups in society" are not just based on sex, disabilities or skin color. Any and all attributes of a human can be used to select a sub-group. If you take PC earnest, you have to apply it to all groups (including majorities and so on). All that is fine and well in the real world, but not generally applicable to books (unless you specifically, actively make them contain anti-PC content, which again, hardly will happen by accident).
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
How on earth is the one related to the other? I am pretty sure that people with disabilities on the scale that you can actually make them work in a Horror setting (with the disability being the main theme, the cause of the horror) may have a problem with your book - not based on political correctness, but because they do live a horrible life anyways!
If you write a horror book about a blind person being cruelly tortured, with his blindness the main theme, then you are not politically incorrect. The book may be particularly disagreeable to blind people, but unless you put specifically political incorrect language in (for example, glamorizing perverse practices against blind people), they of course can still be the subject of your book.
A guy I know (father of two small children) could not stomach a book about a pair of children stranding "home alone" and almost dieing (from thirst etc.) - the horror was too real. But that was not due to political incorrectness against parents (or children).
To compare against other groups - if you write horror involving, say, male genitalia, you are not automatically being political incorrect against men.
Forgive me all those examples, but I hope you see that whatever (unhappy) theme you write, you can always find a matching subgroup of humans; and if you were to subscribe to the general PC-ness, then you had to remove all content from all media that is not happy-go-lucky, leading the idea ad absurdum.
Frankly, I don't see a problem involving political correctness at all.
According to Wikipedia's sources, which are numerous and which I will not reproduce for the sake of brevity, political correctness is "language [...] that [is] intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society."
It continues, "avoiding language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people".
Writing horror about a group of people is not excluding, marginalizing or insulting said group in any form or fashion, unless you write in a way which does so (which, I guess, you would pretty much know if you did, and hardly do it by chance). If you write about Zombies and graphically describe body parts falling off, you are not "excluding, marginalizing or insulting", say, the group of lepers - unless of course you go on and explicitly ridicule lepers by drawing (offensive) comparisons in an explicit way that makes it clear that you, as the author, are speaking.
By this logic, you could not write horror about women (or, for the sake of equality, men!). You could not write about black, white or blue people. You could not write about young or old; or stupid or bright people. You could not write anymore, period.
Remember that "groups in society" are not just based on sex, disabilities or skin color. Any and all attributes of a human can be used to select a sub-group. If you take PC earnest, you have to apply it to all groups (including majorities and so on). All that is fine and well in the real world, but not generally applicable to books (unless you specifically, actively make them contain anti-PC content, which again, hardly will happen by accident).
How can I portray body horror and still be sensitive to people with disabilities?
How on earth is the one related to the other? I am pretty sure that people with disabilities on the scale that you can actually make them work in a Horror setting (with the disability being the main theme, the cause of the horror) may have a problem with your book - not based on political correctness, but because they do live a horrible life anyways!
If you write a horror book about a blind person being cruelly tortured, with his blindness the main theme, then you are not politically incorrect. The book may be particularly disagreeable to blind people, but unless you put specifically political incorrect language in (for example, glamorizing perverse practices against blind people), they of course can still be the subject of your book.
A guy I know (father of two small children) could not stomach a book about a pair of children stranding "home alone" and almost dieing (from thirst etc.) - the horror was too real. But that was not due to political incorrectness against parents (or children).
To compare against other groups - if you write horror involving, say, male genitalia, you are not automatically being political incorrect against men.
Forgive me all those examples, but I hope you see that whatever (unhappy) theme you write, you can always find a matching subgroup of humans; and if you were to subscribe to the general PC-ness, then you had to remove all content from all media that is not happy-go-lucky, leading the idea ad absurdum.
answered 29 mins ago
AnoEAnoE
70927
70927
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Writing Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f42341%2fhow-can-i-portray-body-horror-and-still-be-sensitive-to-people-with-disabilities%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
If the body deformations are inflicted by an external malicious agent, why should that offend someone who was born with it, or received it by accident?
– NofP
7 hours ago
2
I'm not sure? I'm not trying to speak for disabled people –– but if a malicious agent made someone obese, or old, or have minority skin, I think that sends an authorial message that those are bad things…. Also the body revulsion might be external, that's usually how the trope works, a character sees it in others initially, and then it happens to them, or it comes to them incrementally, like a degenerative disease. Often they just see someone repulsive and there is a value judgement innate to that situation.
– wetcircuit
6 hours ago
2
Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder? The story deals with 'What is beauty?' Perhaps the answer to your dilemma is to turn the message on its head--you may be able to tap into horror while acknowledging the problem with an ableist message. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder (FTR I have no idea if this is a PC comment or not, but it seems that good stories are layered and that idea may be part of the answer.)
– DPT
6 hours ago
1
@DPT, that's a good example. It actually invokes the value system but in a critical way, and the end leaves you feeling ambiguous and unsettled, not preached at. You make me realize, there are probably other angles to playing with the same ideas...
– wetcircuit
4 hours ago