#i knowww this looks so silly next to my previous posts. i'm just always thinking about it

[hortaheart]

Realizing with the Lower Decks finale that Rutherford being a disabled character was actually something I projected onto him rather than intentional writing. Which is a really uncomfortable realization. It's the fact that in science fiction, a cybernetic replacement is usually something needed due to physical injury, limb or organ loss, and he did get it in the immediate aftermath of severe physical injury.

However even then it was implied that he could've been healed without it, given the "he'll think it was elective" line. Not to mention his problems always seemed very set in a particular hypothetical situation, rather than something that resonates through broader disabled experiences. (Although I bet people with experience using prosthetics have recognized some of his issues.) I had noticed that but somehow it still didn't really effect my impression. I suppose the "visual cyborg = physical disability" thing is just too strongly embedded in my consciousness from consistent cultural representation.

I recognize all that now, but it still hurt my feelings when he got it removed and was healthy and handsome and it was a happy ending. I'm not mad at the writers or anything but I am very troubled by it.

Especially considering the broader trends in new Star Trek, and TV and our culture in general. I don't know I don't really have anything more to say about it yet. I'm just very troubled.