Our world is becoming increasingly more handicapped accessible, and more and more characters in popular culture are depicted as handicapped. Sometimes their disability is the focus of the story, and sometimes it isn’t even acknowledged. Either way, we are seeing more and more characters in fiction who are handicapped or disabled, and we welcome them alongside our other favorites. In no particular order.
Two of South Park’s most memorable characters are also mentally and physically disabled. Many people (most of whom do not watch the show much) are offended by the depiction, referring to it as degrading amongst other things. Comedy Central was hesitant to allow the inclusion of Timmy at first, to which creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, said they wanted to include a character who is “happy to be [himself]” and wanted to represent him as “part of the gang and not as the subject of cruel schoolyard humor”. Fans of the show will certainly know them, and most likely love them, as many fans do. I think this excerpt from Wikipedia sums it up best:
“When praising the show for both its depiction of Jimmy and Timmy and its coverage of disability-related issues, The Seattle Times columnist Jeff Shannon, a quadriplegic, describes Jimmy and Timmy as ‘goodwill ambassadors’, while commenting that ‘Timmy appears, at first glance, to uphold the condescending disability stereotypes that are gradually fading from mainstream entertainment. But like everything else in ‘South Park,’ he’s actually challenging preconceptions, toppling taboos and weaving his singularity into the fabric of the show’.”
The paraplegic founder of the X-Men is one of the most popular comic book heroes of all time. He is a telepathic mutant who is bound to his wheelchair, but still manages to run a school, provide refuge for other mutants, and run one of the most kick-ass gatherings of superheroes in comics history. The inspirations for his character are Martin Luther King Jr., St. Francis Xavier, and Yul Brynner.
The iconic character has inspired many rip-offs and quotes (“You got your legs back, Lt. Dan!”) that will nauseate us as long as Forrest Gump is popular. But Gary Sinise’s portrayal of a disabled veteran was memorable, and maybe even a tad inspiring.
The weirdly named kid is the star and title character of the show Pelswick, a short-lived cartoon on Nickelodeon in 2000-2002. The series followed Pelswick and his guardian angel (who distributed confusing advice), and emphasized Pelswick’s demand that he not be treated different. If you ask me though, I would have made fun of that kid relentlessly… Because of that name!
The protagonist from the immensely popular movie Avatar is none other than Corporal Jake Sully. A crippled Marine on Earth, he is recruited to take over for his murdered scientist twin brother to operate an Avatar. On the moon of Pandora, the native inhabitants (Na’vi) are contacted through remote-controlled human-Na’vi hybrids, which Jake Sully pilots. He is able to overcome his wheel-chair bound life by spending more and more time in his Avatar body.
Rhyme is an ex-forensic expert who was injured in an accident. But he doesn’t let this stop him from solving crimes, and he mostly acts through other people to get his job done. Many will know him from the series of books by Jeffrey Deaver, and many more will know him as Denzel Washington in the movie adaptation of The Bone Collector.
The consistently vulgar, random, and hilarious cartoon series Family Guy is known for its odd and unsavory characters, but fans will definitely be familiar with the muscly cop Joe Swanson, who also happens to be paraplegic. In spite of his “handicap”, Joe manages to be the top cop on the Quahog police force, has intense anger management problems, and is married to a woman who seems to have been pregnant for 8 years, give or take.
Portrayed best by Shia LaBeouf in Disturbia…. Aw, who am I kidding. That’s wrong in at least 3 ways. His name wasn’t Jeffries, he isn’t crippled, and it definitely wasn’t the best. That honor goes to James Stewart in Hitchcock’s original. The professional photographer suffers a broken leg on one of his more dangerous assignments, and is stuck in his apartment in a wheelchair. It is 1954, so he doesn’t have much to keep him entertained. So he starts watching his neighbors with binoculars, and very soon is embroiled in the life of his neighbor, Lars Thorwald, the friendly neighborhood serial killer.
The Fuhrer… Er, pardon, the President of the United States, was hard-pressed to stay sane after he turned to the aptly named Dr. Strangelove for advice when several rogue bombers took to the sky to drop nukes on the Soviet Union. Between snapping off Nazi salutes, trying to strangle himself, and miraculously (or not) being able to walk just prior to the Earth’s destruction, Dr. Strangelove is quite possibly the most well-known, most iconic character on this list. And who can forget his famous line? “Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!”
One of the stars of the vastly popular TV show Lost, John Locke (named after the philosopher, and portrayed by Terry O’Quinn, who won an Emmy for his role) is the only main character who had a disability. After their flight, Oceanic 815, crashes on the mysterious Island, John Locke awakens amongst the wreckage staring at his feet. He immediately hops to his feet, and begins helping the other survivors steer clear of the still-rotating turbine, find water, hunt boars, and build shelter. So why is he on the list? It is revealed in later episodes that Locke had been confined to a wheelchair for the last 4 years of his life. After his con man father suckers him into giving him a kidney, and then vanishing, Locke is left alone, and confronts his father after a long search. Locke is subsequently hurled out a window in the ensuing fight, and spends four years in a wheelchair until he visits Australia for a walkabout. After being denied, he utters his now-famous phrase, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!”, and leaves to go back to America. The rest is television history.
lol wow great list!
doctor strangelove should be number one. he is one of the best movie characters ever.
i agree. and i hate 4
'In no particular order.'
and locke isn't even handicapped
i really expected swanson on this list
he is on the list……
Where's Dr. House?
he's not handicapped
He actually would be considered handicapped, since he can walk but is limited in doing so. Handicap doesn't just apply to an inability to walk, it applies to all physical disabilities
ChrisM is correct. Doctor House would be considered handicapped or disabled under the standard legal definitions in the USA where the show is set. While the character would no doubt despise it, the difficulties he has with walking would qualify him for a handicapped parking license plate and plaque. The parking permits are generally intended for those who are not fully ambulatory without assistance. Other disabilities generally don't qualify for them such as mental retardation or illness or upper body injuries that do not impact the ability to walk.
Drug addiction, is also, a handicap
HOUSE MD!
drug addiction is not a handicap, moron, it's a choice
I'm not quite sure why you chose to feature characters who are using a wheelchair. Being handicapped doesn't equal to not being able to walk… or being in a wheelchair.
Drug Addiction and Alcoholism are categorized as diseases by the AMA moron
I've been marathoning House for a few weeks now. He does actually have a handicapped space…for his motorcycle. That's House for ya.
And yes, he is definitely handicapped just for having a serious limp. He calls himself a "cripple" all the time. He's definitely has a sense of humor about it, even though it makes him miserable. He can barely go up a flight of stairs.
I was really hoping to see him on this list, but I guess he doesn't count as a positive role model. Rather, a more realistic one.
A little annoyed Joe Swanson got on the list though, family guy is constantly making cruel offensive handicap jokes about him.
I'm not sure that a broken leg is a handicap. At least not compared to some of the other ongoing handicaps on the list. Other than that, interesting list, but it focuses on physical handicaps. Someone has already mentioned Dr House. I'm sure the issue of mental handicaps will me mentioned many more times yet.
there's no way that having a broken leg in a cast qualifies as being handicapped. i mean — i know you can force it into the definition, but there are so many other non ambiguous examples out there.
imho, however, stewart's jefferies is the best portrayal of someone with a broken limb of all time.
I agree with most choices up there. Still as someone said maybe dr. House? Main protagonist of a very popular tv show throughout the world. He might have made it. Anyway that was a great list.
Locke is really kickass. Sucks how his life turned out on the show, but at least he gets some form of redemption in the end.
No Raymond from Rain Main…?
Yeah, good work ianzy 'xpect there would be more of these…
Surely these are disabled not handicapped characters.
diisability is an umbrella term encompasing impairment (impairment being a necessary limitation of functionality)
physical disabilities, mental disabilities (mostly psychosocial disabilities), social disabilities, cognitive disabilities, spatial disabilities developmental disabilities, and sensory disabilities are all examples of imparement. disability has a wider scope.
handicapped refers to something that makes something else more difficult, a disadvantage, or a physical or mental disability.
i think the definitions are so close, that distinguishing between them is akin to nitpicking
and while i didnt quote the dictionaries, i could — i just paraphrased them for ease and quickness
A handicap is that which through disability of some kind holds you back from normal full physical function. That can include mental disorders and temporary or minor disabilities.
it would be a cool addition if intensedebate or wordpress could tell us when more than one person is replying to the same comment at the same time
The word “handicapped” has (unfortunately?) fallen vicim to the overly PC world that we live in. “Disabled” is the preferred, politically correct word. At least here in the U.S., which does tend to result in a backlash of annoyed people. Seems like sometimes in the PC game, there are no winners, though you kind of unwittingly touched on the reasoning in your post. “Handicapped” does seem to foster a less-empowering feeling of being “held back”, whereas most people that do have disabilities like to think of themselves (rightly so) as being capable of overcoming those obstacles and NOT be held back.
How about Artie from glee?? Or Forest Gump?
I thought of Artie from Glee when I was pre-editing the list. But then is glee big enough yet to rank a mention?
its big enough (here in the states anyway)
**my 9 year old niece has a glee lunchbox — which pretty much defines it as big**
but its not nearly cool enough
well, Pelswick that is certainly not a definition of a "big" show, I only watched about 3 shows of it and it is totally forgettable. One the other hand Glee had 4 golden globe nominations winning one. Not to mention other awards and nomination, like the people's choice award, and writers guild award, etc, etc.
By definition Glee is BIG, tell me when Pelswick wins any of those awards and I'll believe the that your list is sufficient, oh wait it's already canceled…….
I suspect you'll have enough for another list if you look for them. I seem to recall Dr. House, Rainman's lead character, MadEye Moody of HP and several others just off the top of my head. If you go into mental handicaps you can add in some of the greatest villians in comic book history to the list like Two-Face and the Joker from Batman who are both severely mentally disturbed. From Marvel, both Sabertooth and Wolverine are mentally unbalanced in big ways and could be considered to have mental disabilities.
yes it is!
Slow yes. But the man charmed the pants of Nixon and won a ping-pong competition? that ain't handicapped
This was a great list, 2 more people that could've been mentioned are Luke Zimmerman (Tom Bowman from Secret Life Of The American Teenager) or Chris Burke ( Corky Thatcher from Life Goes On).
What about capitain hook? great list (:
my only suggestion would be to somehow retitle the list.
because this list has exaqmples from 1954 (jefferies) and 1964 (strangelove), and then 7 examples from the last 7 years or so, and lt. dan.
the list title is a tiny bit misleading, because upon reading it, you think youre going to see examples from a broader range of literature.
i expected to see some of these……….:
-tiny tim (christmas carol)
-laura (glass menagerie)
-sam — sean penn's character in 'i am sam'
-buauby in 'the diving bell and the butterfly'
-in burnett's "secret garden" — the young boy? colin?…and mr. kraven the hunchback
-quasimodo — (hunchback of n.d.)
-tom hulce's character in dominick and eugene (hulce's best performance besides amadeus, period)
-capt. hook in peter pan (although missisng a hand is a stretch for 'handicapped' )
-cruise's char. in born on the fourth (or.wait.. ron kovik wasnt fictional was he? – dont know about that one)
-the deformed aardvarks in 'the raccoons'
-tommy — townsend, daltry, moon & the ox 's pinball wizard
cont'd………………….
Agreed. Someone could do such a list as this entirely from fiction, or entirely from movies, etc. A fun read, anyway.
man—- this topic is wide open. right you are.
the one i would be interested in would be set up like lists by flamehorse and 7raul7, regarding ten geniuses of ten fields of human activity.
it would be cool to do one on highlighting the best performances depicting 10 or 15 different types of disability.
actually—–i *might* just think about doing that.
if written succinctly, that could be very interesting
Just curious, but how is missing a hand a stretch for being considered handicapped. Losing a hand limits so many activities, and makes life a lot harder. Sure, you don't get one of the handicapped parking spaces, but losing a hand, or even just a thumb, is a huge thing to overcome and adjust to.
its all in the characterization……
*at the time* i was differentiating between an injury and a disease or congenital birth defect.
i know its huge…..im left handed and when i tore my right rotator cuff — i was limited too.
a lot.
then i went to work and thought about this further.
the connotation of spme words (handicapped) has changed going along with societal expectations. no matter how dumb that proves itself to be.
when i was writing that at 5am, i had subconsciously seperated the different types of disabilities, and i didnt like the 'injury' type.
*then* it occured to me that tiny tim, denzel in the bonecollector et al had gotten their disability via injury, and that my only problem was with jimmy stewart, since his disability was temporary — obviously hook's is permanent
i figured if anyone had an issure theyd say so (like you did), at what point i'd explain it (like im doing now)–much like a 'words' conversation, i cannot un-say that
maggot –in a previous comment ^^ up there somewhere, had the point that political correctness (which in usa has gone waaaaay to far with – so much so that it almost muddles the original idea)
the connotation of spme words (handicapped) has changed going along with societal expectations. no matter how dumb that proves itself to be.
when i was writing that at 5am, i had subconsciously seperated the different types of disabilities, and i didnt like the 'injury' type.
*then* it occured to me that tiny tim, denzel in the bonecollector et al had gotten their disability via injury, and that my only problem was with jimmy stewart, since his disability was temporary — obviously hook's is permanent
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, cont'd
-ringo the flamingo
-samuel l jackson's character in unbreakable — another stretch, but a fun one
-that kid in the mystery of blue bottle that had asperger's syndrome
-snow white and wizard of oz — (are dwarfism and munchkinism handicaps?)
i would have a hard time not lumping joe swanson, tim-tim and jimmy valmer together — even though theyre vastly different — there are just so many good examples of this out there
Omfg! Best and most original list in a while! Thanks, JFrater!
First name that came to mind when I saw the name of today’s compilation was:
mmmmTimmmmaaayyyy!!!
He’s without question my favorite character on this list.
Like the list….except Locke. No way does he beat Dr. Strangelove. I would have included House as well…..somewhere.
However, very happy you added Timmy.
*ahem* See, last line of the intro, please
I disagree with your non-ranking of this list. It should’ve been ranked.
Nah just kidding, it was a pretty good list, dude. Interesting idea for a topic. I do agree with others though about the seemingly out of place inclusion of Jeffries, considering it would’ve been pretty easy to come up with a better fitting entry. How about going with a villain – Sykes, the one-armed killer from The Fugitive?
I didn't think of Sykes… Good idea. But at the same time, I feel like if I didn't put Jffries I'd have a similar crowd saying "What about the guy from Rear Window? He was in a wheelchair."
There was a paraplygic character in the Bloom County comic strip. I think his name was Cutter-something. His wheelchair used to occasionally run away with him (but that's how he 'picked up' his very nice, walking girlfriend). He was shown having a full life, even to romance. Hee. And he used to use his chair as the USS Enterprise, with Opus the Penguin being Spock to his KIrk. "Fascinating, Captain. That appears to be the IRS auditor we are currently avoiding." "Phasers on KILL!"
I loved Pelswick. I wish that show would've lasted longer.
I enjoyed the Professor X movies, and do agree with others that Dr. House needs a mention.
The list brought back some memories.
Thanks ianz09
Ever you people thought that no one of the disabled characters you see in fiction are actually handicapped? Cartoons aside.
Only exception i can think of is when superman did that remake of "Rear Window".
Is it really that hard to find an actor with disability to play that kind of part?
That makes me think to that other movie, "Monster"; did they really had to pick a famous gorgeous super-model to play the part of an ugly, mean looking character? They could have spared the money and time they used to put all the make up and latex on her beautiful face by hiring an ugly looking actress.
I know the star system is important but…
As for Avatar they really could have found a guy that needed not his leg to be photoshopped. and with a better accent also.
The idea of casting is that you pick someone who suits the part well. Looks can easily be manipulated, acting skill on the other hand…
jfrater i was talking about aussie accent not kiwi.
And what's wrong with an Aussie accent?
It depends on who's talking. Russell Crowe (we consider him an Aussie), good. Pauline Hanson, Bad.
Lost sucks
I so agree with you General Tits! Can anyone tell me in one million words or less what the hell was going on in that show? I have asked people who have watched the entire series and even they are not sure.
well depending on the the definition i think house could be here, i don't know how about more mental cases of disability like monk or forrest gump, but a guy with a broken leg is certainly not a handicapped but just temporarily disabled. imo
Number 6. "On the moon of Pandora,"
Pandora is the moon, not the moon of Pandora. It is the moon of Polyphemus, the Jupiter like gas giant it orbits.
Okay, my geek side is showing.
On the moon known as Pandora. Same as if I had said "On the planet of Earth". Although since I was referring to a moon, I see the confusion. But trust me, I knew which was which
"Corky" from Life Goes On, really should be on here, as he was the leading role, and played by an actor who really has Down's Syndrome. I agree with the comment about Rear Window – broken leg = temporary, not really a handicap. Also love the mention of Tom Hulce playing Dominick in Dominick and Eugene. Wonderful performance and a really good movie – totally overshadowed by Rain Man which came out around the same time. While we're on the subject, though, Dustin Hoffman's Oscar winning performance as Raymond in Rain Man surely beats out Jake Sully from Avatar or John Locke (is he or isn't he handicapped?) from Lost.
i agree, lyrebird!
Dustin Hoffman – Raymond Babbit – Autism – Rain Man (1988)
a solid (and very memorable) performance from Hoffman on this one.
Not to insult anyone, and don't take this seriously, but ianz09 try not to mention any self commentary or anything. I know you have an opinion and you're trying to make the list a little funny and readable but its very unnessasary and makes the reading a little longer. #3 shows a bit, just the beginning part of it.
Just a freindly tip incase you make any future list! Oh, great list by the way. I hope you make more in the future!
Hey, anybody notice at the very bottom there is a little "
" next to where it says Top Ten Lists and under Privacy. Its so CUTE!!!
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I think it is easy to see I was concerned primarily with physical handicaps, but a follow up list could easily have been made with mental handicaps. Perhaps a follow up is in order in the future?
This list has already mentioned some mental handicaps. Making a follow-up might seem a little redundant. I would say that you might want to wait for this list to be forgotten a bit so the new list dosen't seem so repetitive. And i would believe there was a list on mental disabilities for music, so maybe it could be about people who played a huge importance in the world instead of fictional. Or… just make a list that has nothing to do with mental capabilities?
Really enjoyable liist that inspired good discussion. Good work, ianz09!
No Barbara Gordon/Oracle?
For shame.
Yeah, I was expecting her too
Leonardo DiCaprio in Gilbert Grape?
Jimmy BALMER not Vulmer
Look it up
Actually, I went ahead and did it for you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_students_at_…
ianz—- great list — original idea.
however (and one of my pet peeves is the spelling police) but i want the oppurtunity to tell this peckerneck alex that if youre going to correct something…..man…make sure you know what your talking about — cause other than "first" comments, and txt msg speak, correcting something wrong with something else wrong is about as stupid as you can make yourself look.
had to be said
now——ianz, you actually are wrong (but not as wrong as that alex dude is)
the wiki link you provided has a typo.
his name is jimmy valmer
i have all the seasons of this show oin dvd (and its printed some of the liner notes)
and its consistant with the south park studios website
and i use the c;losed captionibg on my tv at times, and it is va…whener they refer to jimmys folks…its mr. and mrs. valmer
http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Jimmy_Valmer
looking fwd to your next list
Well, I choose to blame Wikipedia for the error
Artie from GLEE would have been great on this list.
What bout Stevie Kenarban from Malcolm in the Middle? This show was bold enough to throw a wheelchair bound, asthmatic African American kid through the air and make him bang his head in a tree trunk just feet away from a big cushioned pile of dry leaves
Just had to mention him as MitM was my favorite show…
I can think of many memorable characters that were overlooked, but the determination of who does or does not make a list is the discretion of the list maker. That said, I believe that this was an original and inspired list, and I enjoyed reading it. I will admit to being proud to see John Locke at the top spot, but that's primarily because I am a Lost fan.
John Locke!!!!!! His inclusion almost forgives you misquoting Forrest Gump
a lot of white men…just sayin'…
How about offering up a suggestion then? Instead of just sayin’ a cheap shot.
What about Jimmy Brooks from the Canadian teen show "Degrassi: The Next Generation"? He came to mind when I was reading this list.
Tom Robinson from To Kill a Mockingbird?
Definitely! Did you know that this year marks the 50th anniversary of that great book's publication?
I would add Raymond Burr as "Ironside" — I believe the first lead TV character with a disability and it ran for 8 years.
Dr. Strangelove made the list. To be fair, you spent too much of "handicapped" on "wheelchair". What about mentally handicapped characters, such as Forrest Gump? What about people with canes, such as House or so forth? I know plenty of handicapped people who can walk fine, but you treat the list too much as people who can't walk at all. What about S. L. Jackson in Unbreakable?
What about Inspector Kemp from Young Frankenstein? (One of the funniest movies ever!)
I think there should be a move towards attempting to rank the lists again. It used to be all "Top 10 _______" lists and now just ambiguous "Ten _______." I like the ranking because it gives another level to the list and makes the read more enjoyable. Good list, by the way. Interesting idea.
i think its a great idea for some of the lists.
however — some lists can easily encompass ten randomly haphazard items. and they get listed alphabetically or along a timeline, or what have you.
flip side: in order to assign a rank-order number to each entry, you have a couple options —- one is to mathematically or statistically justify the placement. this is not done very often (jiminut's list on bands you either love or hate comes to mind — with his %ages of search results.) —- other choice? — no matter how its really done, you have to take a bit of subjectivity into account which is great because it stimulates the conversations in comments
if i write a list on most peculiar cover songs (and include info on sales or chart position, theres not an argument unless you create a rank system that is nonsensical or contrary to the point.)– i can pick *****
read em, and start making comments — you forgot this/that. you rank order them, and you can guarantee youll have 25 comments on — why is this #1 — how could have put 'x' at #5 behind 'y' at #3. and all that kind of *****.
which gets really really tired and annoying really really quick.
I figured if people make those "you forgot this", "this should be #1", and "you're stupid" comments on lists that aren't even ranked, there would be little further harm done in ranking them
But yeah, some lists are incredibly difficult to rank. I just miss a little bit of the subjectivity of Listverse. Some people condemn anything but the most rigid objectivity, and I think it makes it a tad bit boring (not that I would ever think of not coming to LV everyday – psh. don't be ridiculous).
haha—-some people are gonna ***** — that is true. it seems to me like the less quantifiable the inclusions are, there is a direct proportion to the number of stupid comments to wade through.
rigid objectivity can be boring — it can be telling (blogballs last list about shipwrecks was highly defined).
"the top ten things to do in gulf shores, alabama" is loaded with opinion, and "top 15 tallest buildings in albuquerque, new mexico" cannot really have any opinion involved. this site does a good job of giving both types of lists to us. the problem some pepople have is that they want to learn something new everytime they turn around. if theyre learning about building heights its info and they learn. if its the other kind, then they only thing theyre learning is what *i* consider to be fun ***** to do in gulf shores. what sucks is that they get so hung up in facts sometimes, that they cant ignore the numbers and be content to learn of the 15 things — and not have to cry about the order of the list
if i were to write a list on top 15 fun things to do in washington d.c., i would put a 15-way tie for 1st, and let you figure it out on your own. — jamie probably wouldnt publish it like that, but i'd try. i mean — jamie likes wine — so eating dinner at 1789 in georgetown would be enjoyable to him. if you hate french food and dont drink, theres not any reason for you to go there. again…..***** the numbers, decide according personal preferences.
Hey guys, just wanted to throw in my reasoning. When I write lists based solely on opinions, I try to rank them accordingly. Sometimes I let my personal opinion take the reigns, but usually I try to rank them according to what I think popular opinion would dictate. For example, I wrote the list about ten freaky animals (Crawled Out of Your Nightmares is what I'm pretty sure is the title). I put the giant isopod at 10, because it is harmless and lives in the deep ocean, making it unthreatening twofold, and therefore the popular opinion (I predicted) would have been that it didn't rank above the other animals included. I ranked the Sidney funnel web spider at 1 because it is deadly, common, big, and frankly, it is terrifying. I figured most people would see my reasoning behind it being number one. But when I write lists where I am not sure at all what the popular opinion would be, I choose not to rank them. This way I don't have to worry about re-reading the list and thinking, "Man, I really wish I would have switched x and y" or having excessive amounts of differing opinions. Since it is unranked, most won't complain, and the few that do are usually not very rude about it (usually just stating how they would have done it, and often then complimenting the list or else just casually stating their opinion of it in general) or else they are just a random douche bag. Because I wasn't able to predict what would be most well-received in which place, I chose not to rank them. If I had known how many Lost fans there were versus Dr. Strangelove fans, it would have been easy to make a decision, and so on and so on. Just my reasoning for choosing not to rank them
Yeah, I was thinking how this is kind of a difficult list to rank. What would you use besides popularity? Degree of handicappedness? I definitely see the difficulty in ranking every list that's written. But, if I ever actually get around to writing lists, I'll rank them, if for no one's peace of mind than my own.
i love the idea of degree of handicappedness — even thought that would cause a *****storm the level of which is usually reserved for lists about racism or *****ism (or excuses people use to hate on america)
the answer to this question, though, is chronologically.
yanno—by publish date or air date.
why is laura from the glass menagerie before lt. dan?
easy
cause 1944 happened before 1993 did
im guessing there are more strangelove fans.
and there are more 'lost' commentors
it doesnt matter anyway — the info is still there, and most of the time its fun or odd info —
the fact that these lists arent computer generated means there is gonna inherently be some level of personal influence. it makes them unique, and opens up more discussion. youre going to have a handful of people that say things rudely or stupidly. but ***** them. if you were writing for them the list title would be '5 ways to go about your day without acting like a dick'.
as for the animals list. the comments lead to a great amount of discussion, and in some cases, are more interesting than the lists. and i dont nornally say anything about order (which you will already know from my posts) — but it has been 5 months, and i do think about it once a week, so here goes — my first ever queue of this nature:
:)
—-dude….what the hell is wrong with you? how in the world can you sleep at night knowing that you put the honey beaver ahead of the black mamba? ?!? that is as crazy as kim-jong il hitting 5 holes in one in the same round.
Dr Everett V Scott from Rocky Horror Picture Show?
Students have been better nkweorted. No, Mark, students have been better INDEPENDENTLY nkweorted as within mental health we’ve seen no shortage of networking, indeed NIMHE and the mental health charities spend in excess of a3120 million on developing elite Government backed rather than independent mental health networks that simply were never intended to be system critical. These networks crumpled when New Labour lost the election and proved as useless a form of defence as the Maginot Line , they were wholly public facing when the attacks on disabled claimants and mental health services came from the Tory Government and, truth be told, the New Labour one before them. A truth that One in Four also helped suppress to fit in with the elite networks that were dominated and steered by the charities and NMHDU to address their nkweorted agenda.The fact that One in Four is only now enabling people to comment on its website after two years of operation is telling. It’s always going to be a bit more difficult for people with disabilities to get their voices heard but the greatest barrier to this within mental health to date has been the mental health charities and system policy makers who have usurped user voices for their own ends. Like Mind’s Time to Change project that airbrushed the unemployed and unwell out of its national video campaign as its supporters Tweeted Forget benefits focus on jobs’ even after the Tories came to power as disabled people and carers independent of their system serving networks desperately tried to highlight Government and media attacks on disabled people and claimants.As for mass movement , the problem in mental health is that the charities created false impressions that there already was a mass movement of service users and survivors , they even created the fraudulent a3750,000 National Survivor User Network to front it and silence the real diversity of mental health voices that are out there . Right now people with disabilities and claimants simply need to work together to resist Tory attacks and cuts and that will require funded mental health organisations like Mind, Rethink , Together and Time to Change to use their media connections and websites to highlight when demonstrations and actions take place instead of trying to partner up with ATOS and Government behind the backs of those they claim to represent.Lastly, I expect to see One in Four providing more information on demonstrations too, being more system critical in output generally and finally ready to change its name to distance itself from the way the elitist and treacherous One in Four networks have abysmally failed people with mental health problems. Unless of course Mark, you still think in line with your many not the few comment on Dawn Willis’ website that the people with mental health problems on benefits at the bottom of the heap arent worth worrying about.
I would have guessed you to add in Samuel L. Jackson's character Elijah Prince in UNBREAKABLE with Bruce Willis, but I don't think that was a very popular movie when it came out as it almost immediately went to DVD.
what is a walkabout?
eitherway great list!
Walkabout is/was an Indigenous Australian practice where a person would travel and live alone in the bush as part of a spiritual journey or rite of passage. more info -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout
though, as an Aussie, I've only heard it used to describe the Aboriginal practice. Never heard of a specially run 'tour' kind that was depicted on Lost, though they prolly exist.
I think it would be fun to do a list with fictional people who are handicapped from literary works. I think someone mentioned several in a comment higher up.
AHA!
When I first saw this list, I thought, "John Locke!"
And here he is at number one! Sweet!
Goddammit people. What part of "in no particular order" do y'all not understand?
Lars in Rear Window wasn't a serial killer, he just killed his wife and hid the body. Other than that, great list!
What about Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol? God bless us everyone.
What about Homer Simpson? He lacks a brain, you can't tell me he isn't handicapped…
I was hoping Locke would be on here. He had such a *****ty life:’( I think he’s become my favourite character in any tv show ever!
Number one is spot on.
*****ing edward scissorhands was all kinds of disabled.
"crippled" can't believe you used that word more than once
If the word is offensive, once is even too much. If I said n****r to a black person, would it be ok that I only said it once?
hey that sgoing too far , crippled is crippled nothing bad about that , seriously it must suck to be disabled but we cant let the self concious , obsessivly politically correct corrupt the english language . i mean they must be gratefull we arent call them spastic and stumpy (not that i would), crippled is fine jeez .
Lost was such crap, that there were actors on the show telling people it would never last, 'cause it sucked, and were surprised it got picked up. Locke as number 1? You probably watch American Idol too, Dude. Did you cry when Simon said goodbye?
***** American Idol. And if you actually read before you commented, instead of just skimming the items hoping to be disappointed (or even just read the comments) you would have noticed I chose not to order them. It says plain as day "In no particular order."
Enjoyed the list, though you almost could've called it 'ten fictional wheelchair-bound characters'… also, I agree with several Listversers before me that L.B Jeffries wasn't so much handicapped as temporarily inconvenienced. Still, you have a nice, easy to read style, and an interesting topic. Cheers!
What about Becky, the cheerleader with Down Syndrome from Glee?
Dude what about Arnie from What's eating Gilbert Grape and FOREST GUMP!!