Random post #2

So, as one could probably guess from my giant Batman logo my blog is rocking, I'm a comic book nerd. I don't mean that like I just watch the movies. I mean, I actually go to the comic store to pick up my new releases every Wednesday and own a few hundred. Anyways, my cousin recently opened up a store in Putnam, CT called Glimpse of Gaia and right around the corner is a comic store. Naturally, when I went to check out her store and then went to the comic store near her place after. I ended up picking up a couple of old issues from a early 1990s mini-series starring the Question (the character Rorschach from the Watchmen is based off of. He's pretty rad.). In the back of one of the issues was a letter written (that's what comics did back then...people would right letters that would sometimes appear in the back of the issues.) in regards to an earlier issue where the Question dealt with a little girl with developmental disabilities.

The letter was written by a man who says he is the father of a girl with developmental disabilities, specifically, Down Syndrome. His letter is mostly about how he feels the way the girl in the comic was not portrayed accurately and he goes on to speak of the services his daughter received in her school. One issue he takes to is that he believes in comic books, people with disabilities are only portrayed in two ways, either as "ravening monsters" or "pure and innocent" who are usually victims. He says neither of these archetypes are realistic.

What I find interesting, however, is the language he uses in his letter. We talked about "people first" language in class. Except in a few instances, this man would use phrases such as "mentally handicapped people", "severely handicapped people", "Down Syndrome people", and at one point, even says "my retarded daughter". It's amazing to see how language has evolved in just my life time as this particularly issue came out in 1991, just a year after I was born. I imagine that if this letter was written in 2010, this girls father would more likely be using the people first language.

Much like was mentioned in class, this man did mention that it is important to not have a person's disability be their sole defining characteristic. He mentions that though his daughter may have Down Syndrome, she "likes the same things other 12 year old girls like ---- Boys for instance." and goes on to list her favorite tv show, movie, food, music and some of the chores she does around the house.