Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Picture Of The Day
Don't Forget Sen. Coburn ...
While we are (rightfully) calling out "60 Minutes" for the terrible journalism in their "Disability, USA" story ... can we remember also to direct some ire at the main man hyping this SS Disability panic, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla)?
Sen. Coburn's official website: http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/
Monday, October 7, 2013
What's it all about? *
I think that there is a significant number of Americans who believe that there's an epidemic of people either faking disabilities, or cynically appropriating the "disability" label, in order to bankroll their laziness or inadequacy. It's the common denominator behind Social Security Disability panic, outrage about Disney World line-jumping, scoffing and eye-rolling at people with chronic pain and other invisible disabilities, grousing about how many school kids are "labeled" as ADHD, and the incoherent rage dumped on people who have the temerity to walk, hobbling perhaps, from their cars parked in handicapped spaces. The vestiges of their grade-school morality won't quite let them hate on quadriplegics and blind people, but anyone else who says they are disabled is fair game.
I'm not saying there are no cheaters. Of course there are. But, it's all a matter of scale, and it seems to me that the level of outrage about these things is way out of proportion to their real prevalence and impact.
And in case we are tempted to think of this as simply a cultural or social issue, the same impulse has caused a wholesale restructuring of disability benefits in the United Kingdom, in which every disabled person has to re-prove in minute detail their disability and its precise extent … with a private, for-profit company paid to do the evaluations, by a government committed to rooting out "benefit scroungers."
* Note: Atrios, the lead blogger at Eschaton.com often uses the title "What's it all about?" when he tries to give his broad perspective on what's actually going on with some political or public policy controversy or other.
Photo Of The Day
Nice Going, "60 Minutes"
Well, I guess I called it …
The only upside to this media excretion is that it's managed to raise some outrage and incredulity from mainstream / non-disabled journalists and bloggers. They are generally on the liberal side, but none of them are people who typically write about the disability experience. Once in awhile, it's nice to see people other than ourselves defending us, and doing it with some wit and skill.
Disability, USA, "60 Minutes" - October 6, 2013
The only upside to this media excretion is that it's managed to raise some outrage and incredulity from mainstream / non-disabled journalists and bloggers. They are generally on the liberal side, but none of them are people who typically write about the disability experience. Once in awhile, it's nice to see people other than ourselves defending us, and doing it with some wit and skill.
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times - October 7, 2013
"Is it possible for a major news organization to produce a story about the Social Security disability program without interviewing a single disabled person or disability advocate?"
"That's the experiment "60 Minutes" conducted Sunday. The result was predictably ghastly."
Hannah Groch-Begley, Media Matters - October 7, 2013
"The myths pushed by 60 Minutes have been repeatedly debunked by experts. The report admitted that the vast majority of people applying for benefits are denied, but ignored the fact that the majority of appeals are also denied, and that award rates have actually fallen during the economic recession. In April, the Wall Street Journal called the claim that federal disability benefits were to blame for people leaving the labor force "exaggerated," explaining that disability was in fact the least common reason individuals left the workforce."
Charles P. Pierce, Esquire Politics Blog - October 7, 2013
"It simply has become reflexive behavior on the part of too many news organizations -- This American Life? Oh, Ira.-- to believe that we are beset by greedy poors who are gaming the good citizens. It is not easy to be poor in this country. That should be something our elite media takes as a given."
Atrios, Eschaton.com - October 7, 2013
"When kicking the poors isn't giving you that buzz anymore, you have to start kicking the disabled poors."
Atrios, Eschaton.com - October 7, 2013
"… but there must be a story behind how all the major media outlets are falling all over themselves to talk about the scourge of disabled people going through immense amounts of major red tape and legal hassles in order to maybe, just maybe, score the golden ticket of $1000/month benefits. I mean, what the fuck? What is wrong with you people? I bet most of you occasionally drop a grand on your wine bill at dinner."
On the other hand, there's Salon.com, which first posted the "60 Minutes" story as a "Must-see morning clip", followed by a short and entirely uncritical summary, where the segment's conclusions were restated as fact. The article's author, Assistant News Editor, Prachi Gupta, later added an update referencing the LA Times's criticism, including two paragraphs from that article.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
A Twitter-Sized Thought
No, I don't "let my disability define me", but I do let my disability influence me. It would be delusional not to.
Picture Of The Day
Full Review: Ironside
Spoilers ahead? … A few, but only related to characters and the depiction of disability, not about the main "case" of the episode.
What's It About? …
Sgt. Robert Ironside is an African-American police detective who uses a wheelchair, having been paralyzed by a gunshot two years ago. Ironside uses a combination of rule-breaking, strategically applied brutality, and intellect to solve difficult cases, with help from a team of three other officers, two young men and one young woman. They work as a unit, out of a converted NYC building that Ironside also uses as his home. Sgt. Ironside is tough with his team, brutal … verbally and physically … with suspects, and compassionate with crime victims and their families. He works under the somewhat loose supervision of a police Captain, who despairs of Ironside's unorthodox methods, but respects his intellect and results. Ironside also deals with the dysfunction of his former partner and close friend, who is guilt-ridden about his partner's injury.
Background Information …
I was surprised at how many themes from the old series are carried into the new one. Both Ironsides have a dedicated office / apartment, both have a hand-picked investigative team, and both are inscrutable. Like Sherlock Holmes, both Ironside characters formulate theories about their cases early on, yet don't share their theories with their team until they have gathered enough evidence to prove them correct. His team members spend almost as much time trying to figure out what their boss is onto as they do investigating the crimes. Both Ironside characters have gruff exteriors … though the intensity is cranked up in the new show, and unlike the early version, the new Ironside is also physically violent. Yet, underneath, both are compassionate and empathetic towards victims and the socially powerless.
A lot of debate in the disability community has revolved around the decision to cast a non-disabled actor in the role. Producers have explained that this is because they are using flashbacks to incidents before Ironside was shot, which is an important device in the Pilot episode. I think it will become clearer after more episodes whether an actor disabled in real life could have added some valuable insights that Blair Underwood cannot.
The Good ...
The best aspects of this Pilot episode are those directly about Ironside's disability. And the best aspects of these are purely visual. There are some really great, brief scenes where creative camera work gives us something of the wheelchair-user's view of things … a perspective not seen in any other cop show. The sex scene with Ironside is also somewhat satisfying and artfully shot. "Ironside" also appears to dodge what was a potentially deadly "bullet" ... the bitter cripple trope. It is made very clear in the Pilot episode that Sgt. Ironside was tough, brutal, and a rule-breaker before his injury. Although a few people here and there suggest that he now uses his disability as some kind of excuse or shield for his actions, the point of view of the show seems to be that this is a pretty weak idea. Basically, we see here the purposeful unraveling of a very old and harmful cliché ... the character whose darkness and misbehavior is a result of his disability. This Ironside was like this before. If anything, the show may end up suggesting an opposite idea ... that disability might soften him a bit.
The Bad ...
Pretty much everything else is mediocre to bad, both from a disability perspective and as a show of this type. The dialog is mostly clunky and unremarkable. While nobody says or does anything wholly cliché or offensive, at least regarding disability, the little one-liners about disability that seem meant to be insightful and profound just kind of fall flat. For instance, a suspect Ironside has beaten into a confession asks, "Are you really a cripple?" Ironside replies, "You tell me." Sounds good and hard, but once you think about it a bit ... huh?
Non-disabled viewers might hear or see things that are new to them, but nobody with either a passing interest or personal experience of a physical disability will be mind blown or even slightly challenged. Plus, the "rogue cop" cliché is laid on so thick here that it is at times unintentionally funny. Finally, I have to mention the "Shoot the hostage!" moment ripped off from the '90s film "Speed". Were the characters supposed to be making a conscious reference? Or, did the writers think it was an exciting, original plot device? It's not at all clear, and such an obvious reference should have been dealt with one way or another.
Is There Hope? …
The first episode leaves two questions hanging. First, how, exactly, did Sgt. Ironside manage to get reinstated with the NYPD, with his own building and handpicked team? Second, is there more to his partner's guilt and emotional collapse than we have been told? These could become the elements of season-long story arcs that would provide a reason to keep watching. Or, they might simply be symptoms of sloppy storytelling. This show desperately needs complex, character-based stories to tell. Otherwise, it's just another cop show, and not a very good one.
Conclusion …
The new "Ironside" can only be groundbreaking for viewers with no prior exposure to progressive disability ideas. Disabled viewers can enjoy some vicarious thrills and superficial empowerment through Ironside … he's a sexy bad-ass … but so far it doesn't seem ready to offer any deeper insights or commentary on the disability experience. If the character development intensifies, and story arcs develop, it could become interesting enough to watch. These developments also might work backwards to improve the wooden dialog, as the characters take on a life and logic of their own. However, the mere existence of a cop show with a detective in a wheelchair isn't going to do much by itself. The original "Ironside" ran for 8 seasons, not because the premise was unique, though it was. It lasted that long because Chief Ironside was an interesting person. Blair Underwood probably has the chops to make his Ironside interesting, but it'll take a lot of work and time, and I'm afraid the show won't live long enough to get the job done.
Further reading …
Saturday, October 5, 2013
The "60 Minutes" Treatment
Oh, joy. "60 Minutes" is doing a story about the "alarming state" of Social Security Disability. I'm sure it will be a humane, nuanced story, without finger-pointing or victim-blaming.
Actually, I have some residual respect for "60 Minutes", but the show tends to do better with stories about corrupt individuals than with complex, systemic problems. Also, they tend to suggest creative, out-of-the-box ideas only if they happen to find someone to articulate them. When they simply interview the usual suspects, they end up reporting the usual, predictable answers.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Medical Model vs. Social Model
If you're wondering what I'm trying to get at with the Misery Calculator thing, click here and read some good dialog about the Medical Model vs. Social Model of disability.
The Misery Calculator, Patent Pending
You know how in the film, "Dead Poet's Society", the stodgy, old-fashioned headmaster uses numerical ratings and graphs to teach his students how to "appreciate" poetry? In the movie, that's supposed to dramatize how regimented and soulless the school is before Robin Wiliams' Mr. Keating arrives, but I always thought that graphic system got a bad rap. As long as it is just one of several ways you use to experience a poem, I don't see any harm in it, and it could even reveal things you might miss with a more holistic, emotional approach.
Maybe we can use a similar approach to understand better how we are doing on any given day, or in general, regarding our disabilities. I figure what we need is some kind of spreadsheet that would amount to a calculator where we enter a 1-10 number of each of, say, 10 quality measures … with 1 being the lowest level of difficulty or suffering, and 10 the highest. Then we get the thing to draw us a chart so we can see not only the amount of awfulness we are experiencing, but what kind. You know that "spoons" is going to be one of the measures, and I'm thinking of dividing the ten measures up into 5 that are purely personal or "Medical Model", and 5 that are external or "Social Model". That would allow us to see what percentage of our total misery really is due to social barriers and breakdowns, prejudice and ableism … and how much is, in fact, about our physical or mental impairments.
So, I set up a spreadsheet, plugged in number ratings for myself, and here are my results:
This seems about right. For myself specifically, my physical, medical impairments are a somewhat bigger factor in my life than "Social Model" pressures, although they are unmistakably there, too. But I don't use a wheelchair, so accessibility is going to be less of a factor. I have a car. My life at present doesn't involve a whole lot of interaction with the public, and I don't depend much on bureaucracies. My biggest disability-related thing is my lung condition. If I miss out on something or feel incapacitated, it's usually because I'm not breathing very well and don't have enough energy or endurance.
This is my first shot at something like this. I'd appreciate any suggestions to make this more meaningful … a different rating system, different categories, etc. What would your "Misery Calculator" results look like?
=================================
Raw data from charts:
| Pain |
3
|
| Stamina / “Spoons” |
7
|
| Functionality |
4
|
| Mental & Cognitive |
1
|
| Sensory |
1
|
| Physical Barriers |
2
|
| Screwups |
1
|
| Systemic Barriers |
2
|
| Tools & Resources |
3
|
| Prejudice / Ableism |
4
|
| Medical |
16 (57%)
|
| Social |
12 (43%)
|
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