Monday, September 03, 2012
Labour Day Special
Today is Labour Day and I've decided to share a video that was shared with me in a comment by Nan a couple days ago. I thought the video attached to the article she mentioned was astonishing and want to simply share it with you. You have a choice, of course, but I'd recommend you simply watch the video and ignore the comments which follow, I wish I had. Anyways, react to the video in the comments section if you are of a mind to ... see you other side of the holiday.
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24 comments:
So beautiful - in so many ways. I've always admired folks brave enough to dive - be dependant on air like that. I'm too chicked - and I know I miss out on a lot. My first thoughts were of a mermaid - especially with the gorgeous hair streaming behind her. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful video. It's been a long time since I last dived. Such a feeling of freedom... It's great that these wheelchairs make it accessible to more people.
Dave Hinsburger I hate you more than you could possibly know. Your blog is intellectualy dishonest and you pedal lies for truth. Disability should be eliminated not celebrated. This video is bullshit and you are a fat sack of bullshit. People who read your blog are being fed lies.
Gorgeous...
Anonymus,
you are so not nice! Bigot and dumb!!!
Julia
Dave,
The video is wonderful and made my morning. Two things came to my heart and mind (and I am petrified of water);
1) scuba diving is indeed like flying and gliding....I wish I had the nerve to try it...love the hair!!
2) and, yet again this is a glorious example in which there a few limits to human beings who happen to use adaptive devices for mobility
I think we would all like to see the anonymous comment two before mine removed. Whoever it is does not deserve to comment given their attack... please remove it if you can....
I don't know what you're angling towards here, so I'll just say I thought this was like a kind of miracle. The rudders so looked like a mermaid tail!!It was just gorgeous, the music, the hair flowing, the grace of the diver. I wish I could do that!!!!!
I am so sorry about the other comment;that soul must be in pain and in need of compassion to be filled with so much angst and hate. Hugs to you and to them as they try to travel life like that.
Like a few others I was put in mind of a mermaid. I wish I could have seen the expression on her face as she gracefully flowed through that universe. She looked like the only human in the world and she could create her own reality. What an awe inspiring feeling. I envy her grace and feeling of freedom and wish I wasn't such a chicken.
It is unfortunate that the one anonymous commentor was only able to give out bitterness in response to such a beautiful post. While the post generates a joyful experience, their post seems to indicate a life filled with rage and sadness. How unfortunate for them
Was simply beautiful, thanks for sharing. Very disheartened to read such a written attack a few posts above. Absolutely sinful!!
There's a real beauty to this video. I love the fins on the wheelchair. It's more about art than practicality, but it's still beautiful.
Did you ever notice that the people who most crudely and rudely attack other people online do it anonymously?
That's not a reason to remove anonymity on the internet. It's a reason to recognize that cowards are cowards and always will be cowards. If you cannot be bothered to stand up and state your opinion publicly, as yourself, you are a waste of space. I also think you should get off the internet, sell your computer, and go live in the deep forest with the rest of cowards who go there not because they love nature, but because they want to hide from others and themselves.
There are bigots online and people I call out for their bad behaviour. I do and always will do so as myself.
I wonder, with the anonymous attacker above... when I try to imagine what would prompt someone to say something like that, what comes to my mind is pain. Deep emotional pain, which that person in some way blames on disability. Maybe anonymous has a disability and has been made to feel inferior because of it. Or maybe anonymous has a loved one with a disability and perceives that loved one to be suffering - either because of unresolved grief, or because that loved one truly is suffering physically or emotionally.
I don't like anonymous' comment anymore than you do, but I don't think responding with hurtful comments of your own is the right way to respond.
Now, back on topic. What I found myself wondering is 'why is she in her wheelchair?' It seems to me that underwater, a wheelchair would be more of a hindrance than a help. You can swim using only your arms - I've tried it. And some people have enough use of their legs to use them for swimming even though they can't walk.
Oh, and to anonymous directly,
I have a disability myself (autism) and I've personally known many people with a variety of different disabilities, ranging from very mild subtle difficulties to one kid who basically couldn't move and communicated by eye gaze. And I can tell you that very few of these individuals felt that disability was a bad thing. To most, it was simply a fact of life, to many, it was indeed something to celebrate. Myself, personally, if I were offered a cure for my autism, I would reject it, because I would no longer be myself if I wasn't autistic. (And yes, I don't see myself as a 'person with autism', I see myself as autistic. It's not something attached to me, it's an intricate part of me.) I have met a few who clearly wished they did not have a disability, but they were uncommon. I also met several who couldn't tell me how they felt about their disabilities, but who clearly enjoyed their lives and only acted unhappy when something was directly upsetting them.
I don't know what your experience is of disability. But I do know that in my experience, it's the tragedy and pity model of disability that is dishonest. It does accurately describe a few people's experience of disability, but the vast majority are done a huge disservice by the monolithic portrayal of disability as tragedy. (And I do say monolithic, because I have only seen two TV show characters and a small number of book characters, out of all the different characters I've seen with disabilities, who do not seem to see disability as a bad thing.)
And so often, the experience of disability is a matter of the supports you are given. If you are paralyzed to the point of only moving your eyes, and you are living in a nursing home with people who don't realize you're aware and don't see you as a person, your life is pretty tragic. If you have the same disability but use a text-to-speech device that detects eye movements, and live out in the community and have your own friends and have support workers that you hire yourself and have the power to fire if they don't respect you, life can be pretty good. So often people look at all the environmental associations of disability and treat them as if they result inherently from the disability, such as when ABA proponents claim that an autistic child who remains low functioning will be institutionalized (as if institutions are the only option for lower functioning autistic adults). In reality, many of those things are no more a part of disability than slavery is a part of being black.
Beautiful.
I 'understand' the question of "why the wheelchair", but I see the video as #1 art
and #2 The feeling that she is alive. She is being propelled through the water, she is guiding the propulsion with her arms. It's freedom of a different sort. The wheelchair IS important here, a part of her. Why drop a part of her whole just so/just because she CAN swim with her arms?
(I am able-bodied, my daughter has a disability of a different sort. No wheelchair experience personally.)
I came to read the comments warily. I'd gotten a phone message from a reader in Europe and an email from a friend who'd been upset by what she'd read. I've decided, after, much thought not to remove the comment because then others who come along won't understand the nature of the dialogue. I am not unused to people disliking me because of what I say or what I write. I will admit though it does sting to be told by a stranger that I am deserving of hate. I don't know why the idea of celebration or pride makes some so angry - but it does and it will. Even so, I write what I write because it is true for me, it may not be true for others, but it's true for me. So, I'm not erasing the comment. I am, though, thankful for all the support ... a startling phone message from far away ... an email from close by ... that support amazes me, I feel undeserving.
I too am sad that someone chose to comment in such a cruel manner. One thing I have found in all the time reviewing this blog is how open Dave is to other ideas and thoughts. That doesn't mean he has to agree - nor does he expect others too - he just puts it out there with only good purposes. What a shame.
I would like to address the anonymous issue though. I choose to comment anonymously. I choose so on purpose. I don't do it because I am a coward - I do so because I don't want to mix up who I am with what I say. And who is to say people use their "real" names anyways? I noticed someone called "moose" - or just initials. Let us not label.
It is encouraging that so many are reading Dave's blog and that he is obviously having an affect. Let us hope that all who choose to respond in this forum do so with respect.
As Thumper said in Bambi - "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Excuse me, anonymous person, I am looking to legally change my name to Moose, and it is the name I am known by. Do not assume that this is some kind of anonymous badge. It is MY NAME. Shame on you.
As for anonymity always equaling cowardice -- that is not AT ALL what I said, and double shame on you for twisting my words to say so.
Personally I was disappointed it was all a commercial, at the end get your tickets now only two shows a day. After watching in awe, jealous so few would ever get this opportunity. I think I know why she was "chosen one" the video would not have been so artistic or appealing with a short haired woman, or bald man guiding that chair. Took me from awe to cynical in 2 seconds.
I watched the video a couple of times, and shared it with a photographer friend. We had a discussion about whether or not the video had been digitally altered, and decided it had been, as a promotion for the show. Probably the fish background had been added. (Note the lack of shadows underneath the moving wheelchair.)
However, what I came away with from that conversation was a sense of triumph, of the triumph of making one's own art, of being proud of it. The idea was hers. The choreography is probably hers, at least mostly. That hair, that beautiful hair, is hers. It is HER wheelchair, it is HER art, and it is wonderful.
I'm really excited to see this video on your blog Dave!
Sue is a member of the charity I work for. She's a really lovely person - and we're all really proud to have her on board. Her artwork is amazing.
She's writing an article about her experiences and the paralympics which will be featured in our magazine in the Autumn/Winter. If you'd like I'll send you a link to it once it's published.
And to the Anonymous who went from awe to cynical - Sue worked really hard alongside the designers to create the underwater wheelchair, and travelled regularly to Egypt to test it. I can assure you that she wasn't 'chosen' based on her appearance.
Faery ... yes please!
Dear Moose - Moose is not your given name. Therefore I am correct. No - the statement about cowardness is not the only thing you said - but you did say it. So - is it Moose or Bull.
Hi faery
Is she really rich? Who is paying for all this?
Your magazine? A grant? I reapeat, if she did not have that hair she would not be the person in that chair, Cynical maybe, but looks are what sells.
I get the feeling I'm being trolled here.
Sue is a diver. She decided to see what would happen if she put her scuba equipment on her chair and went from there. Is it so unbelievable that a disabled person could have the idea?
The current performance was funded through Unlimited who funded all the Paralympic performances, and fund a lot of projects involving arts, culture and sport by Deaf and disabled people.
It's funny that you think she was chosen for her looks though in a world where the media so often avoid disabled people because they don't have the 'right' look.
I feel a little like we can't win eh?
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