#i think doctor strange 2016 handles disability and the cure narrative in an interesting way

[badassbutterfly1987]

I know this is very much a Your Mileage May Vary thing, so speaking purely as someone who is both disabled and a fanfic writer, I think there is a little more nuance to the "don't ever cure disabled characters".

For context: I'm autistic and was diagnosed with epilepsy. I have struggled with depression and anxiety as a side effect of the difficulties of not being diagnosed until high school. I fortunately haven't had a seizure in years. I have also recently experienced a form of chronic pain and other symptoms that are probably fibromyalgia, though no diagnosis yet.

I have written about characters that aren't disabled in canon but are in my fics. There's a level of catharsis there, in writing characters that experience similar things to me but still get through life. Sometimes they've gotten used to it and get accomodations and shrug off others' pity. Sometimes they're angry at the way disability affects them and the way people treat them because of that disability but still keep going.

But there's also a certain amount of catharsis in characters not having to deal with that anymore. In not being in pain or worrying about how much one can do on a given day and how much it's going to hurt the next day.

I wouldn't give up my autism because that's an intrinsic part of my identity and the epilepsy can be managed (just gotta avoid strobe lights and check what kind of visual chaos to expect in a movie).

Chronic pain sucks. Fatigue sucks. Intermittent tremors and migraines suck. It has interfered with both working and just doing things I can enjoy, and I know other people experience that on a greater scale. If someone offered a fix that removed all that, something that was proven to work, I'd certainly be curious; though the preference is still good accomodations and finding ways to cope with it.

The cure narrative, in the sense that the character can only be happy in an abled body and will be perfectly 'fixed', is an awful ableist mess for the reasons said above and in other posts.

It's difficult to give more concrete advice without knowing more about anon's story and how they intend to write it but for some things to consider:

don't have this be your only disabled character please. also always good to show a variety of disabilities. perhaps one character would like a cure while another entirely rejects the idea?

instead of a straight up cure, go for something a little more complicated. is it an amputee being given a good prosthesis? is it like medication, something that needs to be done regularly and has its own side effects?

what is the disability and how does it affect them? is it the disability itself that the character wants to get rid of or is it the side effects that come with it (going to vary with the exact kind of physical disability)? like I said, chronic pain sucks.

what is motivating them? shame about being diabled? the lack of accomodations? the side effects of the disability? is this something they are seeking out or a cure offered out of the blue?

consider if this is the most satisfying conclusion to their arc (assuming this occurs later in the story). acceptance and learning to work with a disability is often more appealing, since that is exactly what real life people have to do and why we're so wary of a cure

make sure to get feedback from readers with the disability you're writing. different people with the same disability will have different opinions about what's relatable and satisfying

I have a question; if in our story, a disabled (or at least physically disabled in my case) character is given a chance to lose said disability, is it bad if they take that chance? Because I've seen people complain about giving 'quick fixes' to disabled characters in other stories and others have said that it's okay? It honestly confuses me

Hello,

Okay, so here's the problem with a fictional cure.

Yes, objectively, it would make sense for your character to jump for a cure for some conditions. Say they do, they get that cure, and now they are no longer disabled.

But us, the disabled people in real life who were relating to that character, are still disabled and always will be. And now this character is harder to relate to, maybe even a source of envy, anger, or insecurity. Even for a life-ending condition, such as Hunnington's Disease, it alienates readers to see someone with their condition cured. Because they can't be and now they can no longer relate to the character.

There's already so little representation for disabled readers to relate to. By curing them, you're taking what little we have and turning them into someone who is no longer disabled. That hurts real-life readers.

Here is a post about the issue and why the cure trope should be avoided

And another post

And another one

And I could easily find at least fifty more across all sorts of disability blogs. Please don't cure your disabled characters.

Mod Aaron