tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post3133833523882766509..comments2024-03-01T03:37:20.420-05:00Comments on I'M SOMEWHERE ELSE: WhyyyyyAmanda Foresthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200794053287551087noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-52140667711783470412010-01-05T21:57:02.562-05:002010-01-05T21:57:02.562-05:00I also LOVED, loved, loved Animorphs as a kid, up ...I also LOVED, loved, loved Animorphs as a kid, up to and a little bit beyond their end. I made my boyfriend read most of them; that's how much I still have an attachment to them.<br /><br />I interpreted this story as *Yeerks* not thinking that people with disabilities make good Controllers. Which is just their own messed-up perceptions, not reality. Since the Yeerks, especially Visser Three, weren't exactly very efficient or effective most of the time, I don't think we're to see this decision as good or natural or anything.<br /><br />While there are certainly some problems with KAA's presentation of disability issues, I think she actually has a lot of good things to say about how humans segregate and devalue people with disabilities. We're shown that the Andalites have highly bigoted views about disabilities (#40), but in #50 she does a good job of showing how humans aren't really much better, despite our claims. There are certainly some problematic aspects of that storyline, including the magical cure, but there are also a lot of really cool things there. And *not* all of the new Animorphs with disabilities were cured. Just those who had become disabled since birth. Admittedly, KAA doesn't have a very good grasp of what a lot of these disabilities actually are, including the fact that congenital does not always equal genetic. But I mostly attribute that to bad or nonexistent research, either on her part or the ghostwriters'. But the story do have characters with disabilities fighting. Unfortunately, though, they aren't really there very much in #51-54.<br /><br />I think there are some other interesting ideas about disability in Animorphs--the descriptions of the Yeerks' natural state, the Hork-Bajir, etc. I could go on for a while about most of this stuff. And I admit that I have a tendency to try and read KAA in a favorable light, because she is (IMO) awesome. There are certainly problems with Animorphs and disability, but I'm not sure Yeerks' dismissal of PWD is one of them.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313619400997453196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-76226957710987232672010-01-03T10:15:48.025-05:002010-01-03T10:15:48.025-05:00R.L. Stine is awesome. I wrote this really long do...R.L. Stine is awesome. I wrote this really long dorky novel where half the plot is about the main character rediscovering her joy in life by reading Animorphs and Goosebumps books.Amanda Forest Vivianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06284158336100298682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-61056195149606628552010-01-03T01:43:30.528-05:002010-01-03T01:43:30.528-05:00Ettina (Abnormal Diversity) was/is quite an Animor...Ettina (Abnormal Diversity) was/is quite an Animorphs fan, and she mentions it a lot on her blog, especially in her <a href="http://abnormaldiversity.blogspot.com/2008/05/letter-to-kid-like-me.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Letter to a kid like me</i></a>, which she wrote back in May 2008.<br /><br />Another interesting book uses the idea of the Sharing. It is Brian Caswell's early masterpiece <i>Cage of the Butterflies</i> which is essentially science fiction with a lot of human interest between Micki and Mike, and Susan and Eric, and the six Metamide Babies and the eight from the thinktank.<br /><br />And yeah! Grrr and argh! Though I never did read <i>Animorphs</i>, when they were popular or later on. I would sometimes read <i>Goosebumps</i> and R. L. Stine novels in Point Fiction.Adelaide Duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490123934889071074noreply@blogger.com