“What? Like, a disabled protagonist? How would that even work? How could someone with a disability be the hero in an action show?” local anime trash boy wonders while sitting next to his box sets of Full Metal Alchemist, showing no hint of irony or self awareness.
but is Ed really disabled? sure I get he lost his arm and leg
but he’s still able to move and do things perfectly
He has prosthetics. Having prosthetic limbs (that more than once break amd need repair) doesnt make him not disabled
It should also be noted that Ed:
-had to undergo very painful surgery to get automail
-had to relearn how to write because of his prosthesis (there’s a post going around showing he had to switch hands etc) and his handwriting is likely a lot worse due to that. This means automail isn’t super good for delicate work, unsurprising, considering what it’s made of.
-experiences phantom limb pain and therefore other associated stuff (this was only really shown in the manga)
-cannot go anywhere too cold without changing his automail or he’ll get really bad frost bite and it will stop working
-cannot go anywhere too hot, period, because the metal attached and under his skin will overheat and he will be badly burned
-Reattachment is painful, but needs to be done frequently if he breaks or outgrows his automail
- it’s HEAVY so much so that the strain has the potential to cause stress on his body, enough that it’s even theorized as possibly stunting his growth.
-it requires regular maintenance or it will break down, as shown when he forgets to do that and it…breaks down
-when it does need to be repaired, it takes time to do that, during which Ed uses regular prosthetics (that usually don’t quite fit him).
-costs a lot of money (not a problem for Ed due to high state alchemist salary/having mechanics as surrogate family, but explicitly noted to being the reason why most people in the fmaverse stick to regular prosthetics along with the painful surgery)
So Ed can’t actually do everything perfectly and experiences a lot of extra hassle, problems and pain people without automail don’t have to deal with! And any advantages he does have are more suited to fighting than day to day life (being able to incorporate weapons/fake out people who want to blow up his arm).
Arakawa did her research and thought it through. Automail is by no means a magic cure that solves all problems associated with losing a limb.
Why wouldn’t they? Hiccup is missing a leg
But he doesn’t struggle.
Disability isn’t defined by” struggle” or suffering. Having a useful prosthetic doesn’t make them not disabled. Get the fuck out of here with that.
DISABILITY ISN’T DEFINED BY SUFFERING OR STRUGGLE
I will also point out (quietly, because that last point was SO important) that choosing not to show it on screen does not necessarily indicate a lack of either adaptation or difficulty. It might simply be none of our business.
Reblogging for that last comment…it’s really creepy how voyeuristic people act about it sometimes. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean they’re not struggling…and their apparent struggle or lack thereof isn’t what “grants” them disabled status. It’s the fact of having a disability.
Also that’s just… not true. Hiccup DOES struggle sometimes and there’s a couple instances of them showing it. The Christmas special Gift of the Night Fury (which I am not even kidding, is canon, they reference it in the third movie) shows him having trouble on ice (you know, metal leg) and the movies do occasionally show him having a little trouble getting around.
A struggle because of a disability doesn’t have to be the most extreme thing. It can be a little extra annoyance that just makes things a little harder, or makes someone not able to do things like others would. Like a movie not having captions so a Dead/HoH person can’t watch it.
“But they have functional prosthetics so are they really disabled?”
Do you know the definition of the word disabled. Have you ever looked up what a disability is.
What the fuck is even happening here.
Hey, you wanna know what another incredibly common disability is?
Glasses.
And yet they are ubiquitous. Glasses are relatively inexpensive, and there are opticals everywhere.
No one pities or tries to suggest that myopic or presbiopic people don’t actually need their glasses. No one says they should “toughen up” or “try yoga” to fix their vision. People with glasses aren’t asked “what happened” to them by strangers on the street.
Needing prescription glasses is the gold standard of how all disabilities should be treated.
So, why aren’t they?