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Disabled superwoman

20 Jan 2020 06:46 #66492 by Thefirstone
Disabled superwoman was created by Thefirstone
I think there’s a lot of story potential here.  A woman who’s physically superhuman in every way, but has a serious mental disability.  A woman who can lift mountains but still needs vastly weaker people to take care of her could be an interesting contrast.  

(Of course, I also feel like this could easily go seriously wrong and would be best written by someone with experience with people like that)
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20 Jan 2020 07:18 #66494 by jumperprime
Replied by jumperprime on topic Disabled superwoman
This reminds me of a story from DC's "Legends of the Dead Earth" event. Basically each of their comics' Annuals during that event was a story set in the far future of the DC universe, when Earth is no longer able to support life and humans have spread out among the stars, and taken the legends of the heroes of old with them, whether they know it or not. I think this event was when Thunder got her start(not Black Lightning's daughter, the girl who was granted the power of SHAZAM by a VERY old Captain Marvel after anti-tech terrorists accidentally transport her to the Rock of Eternity)

Anyway, the story I'm thinking of was "The Legion of Supermen" The people of a distant colony are protected by an elite team, each of whom is imbued with one of the powers of Superman(that's all a human body can handle, IIRC) None of them are mentally disabled but most of them need to be taken care of by the support crew because they can't turn off their powers. The one with super strength crushes anything he tries to hold, like a water cup, so the support crew need to feed him and such. The one with X-Ray vision needs to wear lead blinders when not on a mission, rendering him effectively blind, because otherwise he'd go nuts from seeing through everything, including the people. The one with flight needs to be tethered when not on a mission so he doesn't float away.

Heat, the team leader with the power of heat vision has it relatively easy compared to most of his teammates. He just needs to fire a blast of heat vision out a window into the sky at regular intervals. IIRC, he noted that it makes getting a night's sleep "interesting." I think he needed to wake up multiple times every night just to discharge his built-up heat vision.energy

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20 Jan 2020 09:48 #66496 by Woodclaw
Replied by Woodclaw on topic Disabled superwoman

Thefirstone wrote: I think there’s a lot of story potential here.  A woman who’s physically superhuman in every way, but has a serious mental disability.  A woman who can lift mountains but still needs vastly weaker people to take care of her could be an interesting contrast.  

(Of course, I also feel like this could easily go seriously wrong and would be best written by someone with experience with people like that)


I would be scared to death by a scenario like this one. I've worked with people suffering from mental disabilities for a few years and considering how some of them are barely aware of their bodies the idea of a superbeing with that kind of limitation is terrifying. On the other hand, I have to recognize that some of them were among the nicest people I've ever met.

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20 Jan 2020 12:58 - 20 Jan 2020 13:19 #66497 by shadar
Replied by shadar on topic Disabled superwoman
When I started to write the recent episode of Little Krypton (Episode 5) that featured Dumb Bunny, an old character from DC comics who had been portrayed in the comics as having remarkably low IQ, I just couldn't do the "she's as strong as an ox but just as dumb" thing.

I tried, but it looked and felt all wrong. Maybe that worked for DC in the 1960's, and it was the perfect setup for some jokes, making fun of her dumbness, but I couldn't do it. So I wound up showing her as having been poorly educated and socialized back when she was young, which people took as being stupid, but that after 150 years of hard living, she was now pretty normal when it came to intelligence. Her ignorance had been fixed by experience. 

It's very hard to pull off the strong but dumb thing without being exploitive or obnoxious. I tried to go there, but I couldn't do it in a respectful way. Maybe someone else can, but I have my doubts.   

Between the Eugenics concepts of the US in the 1920's/30's (forced sterilization) that the European Nazis then adopted as an excuse for a one-way ticket to the gas chamber in the 1940's, there is no humor left in the scenario. The world has come a long ways from the days when it was OK to publicly shame and laugh or dehumanize someone for being mentally limited/disabled.

Shadar
Last edit: 20 Jan 2020 13:19 by shadar.
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20 Jan 2020 13:28 #66498 by HikerAngel
Replied by HikerAngel on topic Disabled superwoman
This is an amazing idea! I absolutely love it! :)

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20 Jan 2020 16:02 - 20 Jan 2020 16:03 #66499 by The Highlander
Replied by The Highlander on topic Disabled superwoman
I would be very wary about righting a story like this, particularly given the stigma around mental health and disabilities. It could very easily end up going in a very unpleasant direction.
 
However I do think there could be scope for interestingstories  about a superwoman withsomething like Autisum, Dyslexia/Dyscalculia, depression, anxiety or PTSD. It could be interesting to explore their struggles to deal with the world around them especially the difference between their superhero life (which would be largely unaffected) and their civilian life. It could even explore other conditions like anorexia and body dysmorphia with the conflict between what they perceive their appearance to be and reality (especially if their powers include transformations). A story about a character who happily storms bad guy bases without a second thought but sometimes is too scared to leave their house because of what's going on in their head could be fascinating.  
 
I'd also mention stmercy2020's'On the Rebound' story (www.deviantart.com/stmercy2020/art/On-the-Rebound-72880309) which has shades of this. A super strong women who struggling to deal with a break up caused by her strength which has left her with a very low opinion of herself.
Last edit: 20 Jan 2020 16:03 by The Highlander.

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20 Jan 2020 17:26 #66500 by Woodclaw
Replied by Woodclaw on topic Disabled superwoman

The Highlander wrote: I would be very wary about righting a story like this, particularly given the stigma around mental health and disabilities. It could very easily end up going in a very unpleasant direction.


According to some source, this was a very real concern at Marvel Comics when they greenlighted Daredevil back in the 60s.
 

The Highlander wrote: However I do think there could be scope for interesting stories about a superwoman with something like Autisum, Dyslexia/Dyscalculia, depression, anxiety or PTSD. It could be interesting to explore their struggles to deal with the world around them especially the difference between their superhero life (which would be largely unaffected) and their civilian life. It could even explore other conditions like anorexia and body dysmorphia with the conflict between what they perceive their appearance to be and reality (especially if their powers include transformations). A story about a character who happily storms bad guy bases without a second thought but sometimes is too scared to leave their house because of what's going on in their head could be fascinating.


I'm not saying that this is not an interesting idea or perspective, but I fear of what might come of it, especially in the case of Autism. Writing about a character with a mental problem, without going into pitying or normalizing territory, is extremely difficult.

In fact, I would like for all of us to make a bit of brainstorming and try to come up with a list of good media representation of mental problems, bonus points if they involve superpowers as well. One of my go-to reference is the episode of Static Shock "Where the Rubber Meets the Road", which portrayed some of the problems of dyslexia. The PSA at the end felt very preachy, but the episode was really good.

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20 Jan 2020 18:31 #66501 by Thefirstone
Replied by Thefirstone on topic Disabled superwoman

Woodclaw wrote:

The Highlander wrote: I would be very wary about righting a story like this, particularly given the stigma around mental health and disabilities. It could very easily end up going in a very unpleasant direction.


According to some source, this was a very real concern at Marvel Comics when they greenlighted Daredevil back in the 60s.
 

The Highlander wrote: However I do think there could be scope for interesting stories about a superwoman with something like Autisum, Dyslexia/Dyscalculia, depression, anxiety or PTSD. It could be interesting to explore their struggles to deal with the world around them especially the difference between their superhero life (which would be largely unaffected) and their civilian life. It could even explore other conditions like anorexia and body dysmorphia with the conflict between what they perceive their appearance to be and reality (especially if their powers include transformations). A story about a character who happily storms bad guy bases without a second thought but sometimes is too scared to leave their house because of what's going on in their head could be fascinating.


I'm not saying that this is not an interesting idea or perspective, but I fear of what might come of it, especially in the case of Autism. Writing about a character with a mental problem, without going into pitying or normalizing territory, is extremely difficult.

In fact, I would like for all of us to make a bit of brainstorming and try to come up with a list of good media representation of mental problems, bonus points if they involve superpowers as well. One of my go-to reference is the episode of Static Shock "Where the Rubber Meets the Road", which portrayed some of the problems of dyslexia. The PSA at the end felt very preachy, but the episode was really good.


I once read a story on Reddit about Rocket Raccoon suffering from OCD.  I think that could make for an interesting story here, but even as someone who deals with it myself I’m not sure how to do that.

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20 Jan 2020 19:47 #66503 by HikerAngel
Replied by HikerAngel on topic Disabled superwoman

Woodclaw wrote: I'm not saying that this is not an interesting idea or perspective, but I fear of what might come of it, especially in the case of Autism. Writing about a character with a mental problem, without going into pitying or normalizing territory, is extremely difficult.

This is exactly the appeal. :)

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20 Jan 2020 20:20 #66504 by Woodclaw
Replied by Woodclaw on topic Disabled superwoman

HikerAngel wrote:

Woodclaw wrote: I'm not saying that this is not an interesting idea or perspective, but I fear of what might come of it, especially in the case of Autism. Writing about a character with a mental problem, without going into pitying or normalizing territory, is extremely difficult.

This is exactly the appeal. :)


I can see that and I do believe that there's an appeal, but I can't shake the feeling that out of a thousand attempts maybe one will work.
To be completely honest I tried twice to write a story about a character with PTSD, but really couldn't bring myself to produce something that didn't looked terribly cliche and unpalatable.

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20 Jan 2020 22:02 - 20 Jan 2020 22:04 #66506 by lfan
Replied by lfan on topic Disabled superwoman

Woodclaw wrote: .....I'm not saying that this is not an interesting idea or perspective, but I fear of what might come of it, especially in the case of Autism. Writing about a character with a mental problem, without going into pitying or normalizing territory, is extremely difficult..


Expanding territory......Pixar is getting ready to feature their first Autistic animated character in one of their newest projects, Loop

ElF
Last edit: 20 Jan 2020 22:04 by lfan.

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21 Jan 2020 07:14 #66510 by Thefirstone
Replied by Thefirstone on topic Disabled superwoman
Speaking of autism, it occurs to me that super senses would make that very hard to live with.
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21 Jan 2020 07:48 #66511 by HikerAngel
Replied by HikerAngel on topic Disabled superwoman

Woodclaw wrote: I can see that and I do believe that there's an appeal, but I can't shake the feeling that out of a thousand attempts maybe one will work.
To be completely honest I tried twice to write a story about a character with PTSD, but really couldn't bring myself to produce something that didn't looked terribly cliche and unpalatable.

You're probably right. Here's to Spectacular Failure. She and I are BFFs. :)

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21 Jan 2020 07:57 #66512 by Woodclaw
Replied by Woodclaw on topic Disabled superwoman

HikerAngel wrote:

Woodclaw wrote: I can see that and I do believe that there's an appeal, but I can't shake the feeling that out of a thousand attempts maybe one will work.
To be completely honest I tried twice to write a story about a character with PTSD, but really couldn't bring myself to produce something that didn't looked terribly cliche and unpalatable.

You're probably right. Here's to Spectacular Failure. She and I are BFFs. :)


Cheers!

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21 Jan 2020 21:58 #66513 by erikphandel
Replied by erikphandel on topic Disabled superwoman
This is a story I will write someday (tm). A woman with multiple personality disorder, each one with a different superpower. It's probably been done before but I think I would be able to put an interesting spin on it

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21 Jan 2020 21:59 #66514 by erikphandel
Replied by erikphandel on topic Disabled superwoman
Also, a girl wheelchair-bound who suddenly gets the ability to fly. Could be a emotional story if done right

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21 Jan 2020 22:34 #66515 by slim36
Replied by slim36 on topic Disabled superwoman
Glass (2019)
has 3 male mental patients  suspected of having superpowers en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_(2019_film)

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21 Jan 2020 22:47 #66516 by shadar
Replied by shadar on topic Disabled superwoman
As mentioned earlier, I'm not hopeful about anyone pulling off a sensitive and reasonable story with an autistic or with someone with diminished intelligence. I agree with Woodclaw that there are a lot of ways for that story to go wrong and very few ways to go right. 

But Erikphandel's ideas of multiple personality disorder (with a different power for each personality) or a wheelchair-bound girl gaining the ability to fly are excellent. 

The wheels are already spinning in my head.

Shadar

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21 Jan 2020 23:07 - 22 Jan 2020 13:27 #66517 by lfan
Replied by lfan on topic Disabled superwoman

erikphandel wrote: This is a story I will write someday (tm). A woman with multiple personality disorder, each one with a different superpower. It's probably been done before but I think I would be able to put an interesting spin on it


that is the premise of Crazy Jane of the Doom Patrol who has 64 different personalities, each with a different power. 

She is played incredibly on the TV series by Diana Guerria (sp)
Last edit: 22 Jan 2020 13:27 by lfan.
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21 Jan 2020 23:08 #66518 by lfan
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erikphandel wrote: Also, a girl wheelchair-bound who suddenly gets the ability to fly. Could be a emotional story if done right


Fantastic idea! 

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21 Jan 2020 23:14 #66519 by Thefirstone
Replied by Thefirstone on topic Disabled superwoman

lfan wrote:

erikphandel wrote: Also, a girl wheelchair-bound who suddenly gets the ability to fly. Could be a emotional story if done right


Fantastic idea! 


If her powers involved transformation I could see there being a temptation to give up on her normal identity entirely.
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22 Jan 2020 01:33 #66520 by HikerAngel
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Nice idea, Thefirstone! You have half the writers on the site in a tizzy! ;)

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22 Jan 2020 05:17 #66523 by algae2k
Replied by algae2k on topic Disabled superwoman
... kinda like a Captain Marvel, Jr. type deal?

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22 Jan 2020 05:18 #66524 by algae2k
Replied by algae2k on topic Disabled superwoman

Thefirstone wrote:

lfan wrote:

erikphandel wrote: Also, a girl wheelchair-bound who suddenly gets the ability to fly. Could be a emotional story if done right


Fantastic idea! 


If her powers involved transformation I could see there being a temptation to give up on her normal identity entirely.


... kinda like a Captain Marvel, Jr. type deal?

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22 Jan 2020 05:45 #66525 by jumperprime
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erikphandel wrote: This is a story I will write someday (tm). A woman with multiple personality disorder, each one with a different superpower. It's probably been done before but I think I would be able to put an interesting spin on it


Sounds like Legion from Marvel Comics.IIRC, he's Charles Xavier's son and has multiple personality disorder with each personality having a different power. Telekinesis, telepathy, I'm not sure what else.

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