Wiscon Day 3 - Report 7

[julieandrews]

Actually, after hitting the farmer's market, I think I may have wandered down the street to A Room of One's Own, the feminist bookstore. There, I bought Eclipse One because it was in a programming item I intended to attend, and Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners which I kept seeing mentioned and this and that, so I finally got it. I think I stopped at 2 books. They had a whole display for Wiscon attendees, plus a fairly decent sf/f section, with lots of stuff I wanted, wanted, wanted. If I could remember which Bending the Landscapes I have or don't have, I could've completed my collection.

Next up, panel.


M: Carrie Ferguson, Adrian Simmons, joyce scrivner, JoSelle Vanderhooft

I was interested in this topic in general, but I was specifically hoping for more recommendations for sf/f with deaf characters. I was to be disappointed on that score.

Mental illness was one disability discussed. One of the panel (I didn't write down who, doh) wanted to see stories where mental illness wasn't part of a horror plot and a threat.

Geordi got mentioned. Yay Geordi! How in the first episode, they set up that his VISOR gave him headaches and they never followed up on that plotline, which could've been really interesting.

Here's a bunch of books that got mentioned. Some of them aren't sf/f.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein
The Ship Who Sang - McCaffrey
Five Quarters of the Orange - Joan Harris
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - includes autism
Red Dragon - Thomas Harris
Woman on the Edge of Time
Apex Hides the Hurt - includes chronic pain
Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Leatham (sp?) - Tourette's
Dragonwings(?) series
Maximum Ride series - James Patterson
Christine Smith series?
Souki Stackhouse? - I wrote down 'telepathy as disability'
Darkover - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Stones in the River - Ursula Hegi - dwarfism in 1930's Germany
"The Great Escape" - movie?
"The Clinic" - Sturgeon, plus other Sturgeons
Sense of Desire - loss of sense of smell
Rising Stars - J. Michael Straczynski - comic
Wild Cards - anthology series

You can visit this thread on the Wiscon community lj for a more complete and accurate list of titles mentioned at this panel and others.

In some stories, the individual is overshadowed by their disability. In others, the disability is their advantage.

Some disabilities, particularly mental ones, are seen as 'quirky'. Such as OCD.

Stories with magical cures. But what about life after the magical cure?

Most of my notes on this panel were jotting down all the titles that were mentioned. Maybe I was too busy writing those down and listening to write down anything else useful!

However, when I (yes, I spoke up!) asked a question, asking for recommendations for sf/f books about deaf characters, it sparked an interesting discussion. Adrian commented that deafness isn't seen as a 'real' disability. Which comment kind of baffled me, but the rest of the audience tackled it pretty well, so I didn't chime in. Being isolated by language, and Deaf communities and Deaf culture, and etcetera. Nobody said anything in the audience that I disagreed with, but neither was it new to me. And nobody came up with any deaf characters in sf/f other than Echo, who I guess is some comic book superhero. Is she(?) an X-Men maybe?

It felt kind of silly to answer my own question, and the discussion eventually moved on. But perhaps I should've mentioned the only example I know of, which is the Starbridge series by A. C. Crispin. A young Deaf woman is chosen for a first contact mission with an avian race because their piercing cries would be not-good to anyone who could hear. Plus they communicate with a sign language, so she's the perfect candidate for this mission. I think two books in the series are about her. I need to reread them.


Moving on, to a media panel, which are generally boring, so I probably would have skipped it if something really interesting was opposite it. But how can you resist a title like....



Captain Jack's Big Gay Torchwood
M:Naamen Tilahun, Jennifer Pelland, Mary Kay Kare, Penny Hill, Victoria Janssen

The panel mentioned that Torchwood is not very gay. Really, there's not a single gay character on it. There's two bi, and possibly 3 other bi or straight, depending on your point of view.

General consensus was that Torchwood was not very good, particularly certain episodes, but it was worth it for the awesome same-sex scenes and themes.

I didn't take too many notes, as I was just generally agreeing with everything that was said and having fun listening to different takes on the show.

One audience member objected to the phrase 'gay kisses' in the panel description. She said they were just kisses. And I certainly agree that they weren't gay kisses, since, as previously mentioned, no one on there's gay! Well, not the main characters anyway.

The panel also noted the lesbian relationship of the old Torchwood, which I guess I hadn't picked up on, or maybe I did and sort of let it melt into the backdrop of 'oh, one more same-sex relationship on Torchwood'. Because I certainly did remember the line that one of the women said Jack wasn't as cute as the other Torchwood chick. Anyway..

Jennifer noted that James Marsters has been reported as saying that John Barrowman is a better kisser than Sarah Michelle-Gellar. Heh heh. (Though he should be, I've seen him kiss more people than Hugh Grant!)

Jennifer also pointed out in the midst of general discussion that it's not slash if it's canon. Which is not only true, but makes Torchwood all the more awesome.

In short. Yay Torchwood. Yay Jack. Yay Ianto. Squee, squee, squee.


This was a long entry (if you read the panel notes), and I have enough for another entry for Saturday, so look forward to next time.. when I discuss dinner, the Tiptree auction, and a panel that made me uncomfortable.

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

I have wondered this myself.