Starkid Heritage Post (Date of origin: July 31, 2011)
World Enough and Time + Disability Representation
Warning: Spoilers
I expected World Enough an Time to be an amazing episode because, hey, two Masters and Mondasian Cybermen. I did not expect this episode to be amazing because of disability representation, but it was. In fact, I might call this episode one of my favorites, not because of the story, but because it was the first time I have seen myself onscreen.
I don’t talk about my disabilities on this blog since my main blog @spoonieswimmer is my platform for that. I am chronically ill. I am disabled. I have been sick for four and a half years. My illness was actually what got me into fandom in the first place, and it effects every second of my life. In all that time, tonight was the first time seeing someone like me on screen. And the character is the co-star on Doctor Who, my absolute favorite show.
Now don’t get me wrong. Disability representation has been getting better. (Class, anyone?) In the past two seasons of Doctor Who, we have had 2 disabled characters. (3, counting World Enough and Time.) That’s great, but still a little weak. And, disability is not one size fits all. As a person with an invisible illness, my life is very different from someone who is D/deaf. So, tonight was not the first time I have seen disability on tv, but it was the first time I have seen someone with a disability like mine.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am talking about Bill Potts. Up until this episode, Bill was not disabled. I am not even sure she was written to be disabled in this episode, but that does not change the fact that she is disabled. In the absolute broadest terms, a disability is a condition that causes limitations in a person’s life. Now, it is actually much more complex than this, but Bill’s fake heart definitely posed limitations on her.
I’m going to break down aspects of the episode and how they relate to me as a disabled person. We’ll start with some superficial comparisons between Bill and myself and get deeper as we go.
- Bill has a large device (her artificial heart) sticking out of her chest. This is what keeps her alive.
- I have a device implanted under the skin of my chest called a portacath. A thin tube connects this device to my aorta and the tube ends just above my heart. Every week, I have a needle inserted through my skin into the port and it can be used to deliver lifesaving medication. Although my port is much smaller than Bill’s heart, it is still noticeable and uncomfortable.
- Bill spent a significant portion of the episode dragging around an IV pole.
- As part of my treatment, I get IVs done twice a week, though it used to be daily. I spend six to ten hours a week hooked up to an IV, and, let me tell you, those things are really hard to drag around. I actually spend most of my time watching Doctor Who while the bag drips.
- At one point in the episode, Bill sat down into a wheelchair. She could still walk, but it was on hand, which means she was likely a part-time wheelchair user.
- Mobility devices are part of my life. I have used a cane for some time, and lately I have been thinking of getting a wheelchair for part-time use. I can walk, but it is painful and takes a lot of strength and energy that I don’t often have.
- Bill cannot leave the hospital or her heart stops working.
- Due to my disabilities, I am effectively housebound. I leave my house about once a week, and get extremely sick every time I do. I have had to quit school, sports, and all social activities because of it.
- Bill has one friend for her entire stay in the hospital.
- It is very alienating to have a disability. This is not only because it takes so much energy to go out and often you aren’t able to, but it is extremely hard to make and keep friends when your lives are so different.
- Bill’s one friend betrays her.
- When you get sick, you quickly learn that friends don’t stick around. Once they realize you won’t get better, they slowly stop talking to you one by one. Four and a half years later, I have no friends left. I thought that they were true friends, but they betrayed me, just like Bill was betrayed.
- Bill spends the entire episode waiting for the Doctor.
- When you are disabled, you spend a lot of time hoping, praying, and waiting for someone to help you.
- Bill gets turned into a Cyberman.
- Help does not come fast enough for the disabled.
I’ve cried over this episode. I have spent a long time writing this, and I still have not managed to convey how important it is to me. How important it is to have representation. I could probably spend days pointing out metaphors for disability in this episode, and I sincerely hope that this is not the only time I will ever see myself on screen. Representation is so important for every minority, but please, please, do not leave the disabled out of your activism.
I like having companions who are unfamiliar with present-day Earth. We don't get that in the new series except a tiny bit with Nardole in Doctor Mysterio (by the next time we see him he's been on Earth for what, 70 years?). Jamie and Victoria both not knowing what the tube is is really neat.
tigerstar poll
how do You refer to the tigerstars
?
tigerheart/tigerclaw
tigerheartstar/tigerclawstar
heartstar/clawstar
tigerstar the first and second
i call tigerclaw tigerstar and use some kind of epithet for tigerheart
i call tigerheart tigerstar and use some kind of epithet for tigerclaw
i refer to them both with a dumb joke name
i call them both tigerstar
tigerstar (tpb) and tigerstar (modern)
other (tags)
See ResultsTBH most of the time I just use Tigerclaw, but I still use Tigerheartstar because Tigerheartstar is such a shitty character I don’t wanna give him the glory of being leader. Tigerclaw was an awful cat, but he was a really good character (retcons notwithstanding) so I just use the name he had for most of the time in the original series.
Also I have my theories about Scourge’s “one claw rip killed him 9 times in a row” like Starclan wouldn’t’ve been able to heal that. They sent him back. #Hottake, I know
I had this idea for a looping animation in which a single dot has a pretty long loop, but the animation as a whole is much shorter. Because of the repetition this animation is only 1 second long!
doctor who is like goncharov to me. i’ve heard and seen the name of the show on tumblr but i could not tell you a single character from it besides my best guess of someone named Doctor Who. i’ve never seen a clip of the show, or even a screenshot, at least to my knowledge. i think i’m going insane
This is doctor who btw
Can confirm this is Doctor Who they say it right there why would they lie about it?
I love the doctors use of John Smith bc like it really hits home just how much that the doctor is shaped by the people they love. One of their companions uses the fake name when the doctor is unconscious and It's such a small little thing but centuries upon centuries later the doctor uses it without even thinking!! Like they carry their companions memories in every single action they do, every word they speak. the doctor is just a hodge-podge of memories and traits from their past companions and I'm sobbing!!!
aa-terf