GoodBye Mel Fisher

Growing up Fisher isn’t terrible, is funny, snarky, and in spite of the occasional disparaging quote about disability, the show works. So why is it being canceled?

Mel Fisher is a successful lawyer, father of two, and main focus of the show, who has depended on his family and 12 year old son in particular, to act as human guide dogs, until a divorce forces him to get a real guide dog and honestly face his blindness for the first time. The show is formulated around the family dealing with change, the kids growing up, and the unit as a whole keeping their individuality  and family identity as they branch out from underneath a patriarch who jumps back and forth between being a charismatic and larger-than-life presence, and at the same time a helpless goofball.

So, what’s the problem with the Fishers? I personally had no issues with a show about a half amazing/half clown blind lawyer and his enabling family. For many who haven’t come to well adjusted terms with their disabilities, walking the line between exceptional and comic relief is a daily occurrence. My issue was not the portrayal of disability, it was the show itself.

I was curious to know what others thought of Growing Up Fisher. As a blind person watching a show about another blind person, my opinion felt absolutely   biased, and as such I wanted to take a look at what actual “abled bodied” reviewers and critics had agreed upon before I shared my thoughts. Their issues were as follows: It’s not believable that a successful blind lawyer would be able to hide his disability from everyone for so long; and the show is just too happy, contrived, and seems very classically “sitcom" without any serious plot or character development. Other issues had to do with the parents and their May-December relationship but no one really had an issue with blindness, very likely because it’s not very easy to feel sorry for Mel Fisher. Before we know Mel cannot see, , he is introduced to us as the typical know it all dad as he cuts down a large tree with a chainsaw in his yard, and this sets up the rest of the show, as Mel stubbornly does things  which initially seem to go against society’s idea of the passive blind person. As the episodes progress, you question less and less whether it’s “believable” or not for someone who is blind to do the things Mel does, and you simply take him for what he is: a cocky, stubborn, lawyer.  

Still, let’s address the possibility of Mel Fisher being able to have a successful career while hiding his blindness. He is not an unusual character as far as blind people are concerned. I would say that many of us have faked, use trickery, and deception for much of our lives in order to deal with the stigma that society places on blindness. As a blind person, I would disagree with those which say that this is not a believable aspect of the show: it’s not only believable, it’s how many blind people have managed to be successful. The sitcom is based on writer DJ Nash’s true family life experiences, and the show is meant to be semi-autobiographical.

But the critics and reviewers are right about one thing, and that is that the show is simply too happy, too familiar, and too bland. For the first time in television, a network has the opportunity to explore these unique characters and situations which we have never really come across before in a sitcom or drama, and can bring to light the nuances of disability in a believable and relatable context. Instead of an original show, they gave viewers silly jokes, cuteness, and life lessons at the end of each snarky but forgettable half-hour episode. And of course, the show will not be renewed for another season. This does not come as a surprise.

What’s even more of a tragedy about Growing Up Fisher is that it was the only show which featured a blind individual who didn’t make me cringe or yell at the screen every time he was on, because he only traveled by hanging on the arm of everyone, or didn’t use a cane or dog and this made him superior to other blind people somehow, or could see with their hearts instead of their eyes, or had some strange ability, mystical power or lesson to teach that good intentioned but lost soul of an abled bodied person. I was actually able to focus on the quality of the show, instead of focusing on whether or not I felt misrepresented as a person with a disability.

Mel Fisher had issues, he was divorced, he tricked people for most of his life into believing that he could see more than he could, he used his friends and family to compensate for a lack of basic skills, and at the same time, he was educated, knew enough about driving to teach his daughter how to do so, impressed people through his wits not his disability, and managed to be an inspiration to his ex-wife and children. He was complex but the sitcom didn’t want to explore complexity. His family really had a unique story, but the network chose to focus on quick mediocre comedy. And, when there are popular sitcoms out there like Modern family, which bring to light gender issues, ageism, and cultural differences, and you have dramas out there like Switched at Birth and Parenthood that directly focus on disability through the lenses of social status, empowerment, neglect, culture and characters which go through the full spectrum of human emotion, Growing Up Fisher just seems to offer the same old thing, feels late to the game by about a decade, and comes across as lazy and poorly executed television.

And after all that criticism, I still have to say that a semi-complex blind central character in an outdated and cheesy mediocre sitcom, is better than the usual: no representation on television at all.

Goodbye Mel Fisher.  

 

Strangers Among Us: Wwhy Able Bodied People Refuse To Not Help

While roaming about Facebook, I came across the following blog The Braille Code 

It describes a blind woman’s frustration with being the constant receiver of “help” from the sighted public, and the intricacies of navigating a world which expects gratitude and praise from people with disabilities for providing assistance, even when that assistance is unnecessary and unrequested. Erin Isn’t ungrateful in her post, she is understanding of the able bodied person’s dilemma when encountering someone with a disability and their immediate reaction to want to jump in and be of assistance, and at the same time, she encourages those who wish to be helpful to use common sense and not to grab, drag, and treat people with disabilities as inferior. 

There is so much going on when these interactions take place that it is difficult to really get a handle on the root of the problem. And, while much has to do with society’s expectations for people with disabilities, which are not very high, I suspect that it has to do in greater part with how the brain processes information.

Not too long ago, we were wowed by the discovery of Mirror Neurons (check out the clip)

These neurons fire up when an animal watches another animal perform a task, but more importantly, they also fire up when an animal performs the task itself. Observations led scientists to the belief that for these neurons, there was no difference in the animal performing an action, and the animal watching another animal perform the same action. Studies led to investigations into empathy, consciousness, and how we perceive, understand, and interact with others around us. After all, why is it that if you see me hit my finger with a hammer, you wince at my pain, or why is it that if you had tears in your eyes, and are sniffling, I’d probably ask if you were ok and assume you were crying? Our interactions however, are more complex than reading into others pain and emotions.

Imagine you’re watching a street performer. She begins to break dance and you can understand the movement, as it relates to the music, and you are amazed by the skill and flexibility of the performance. But you’re not a dancer. All you see is amazing athletic ability, and feel that the dancer is doing something with their body which you cannot do.

In the three minutes of the performance, are you thinking about how many months or years she has spent developing her skill? Do you consider the exercise and physics which allow her to spin on her head? How about the fact that the head spin is one of the most recognizable moves in that style of dancing, and that while mastering takes much practice, the basics can be grasped by most beginners, which makes it impressive, but not extraordinary.  Most of us would not.  We just see something pretty awesome which is recognizable and complex.

Of course, if you were a break dancer watching the same performance, there might be different things on your mind. You would relate not only to the movement and music, but you would know in much greater detail, how it would physically feel to have performed. You would know which moves take more power, which ones take more skill, which ones take a long time to master, and for you, amazing would have a very different definition. You are experiencing the performance differently, both physically and psychologically than the non-dancer would.

When that sighted person sees someone blind walking across a street, they might as well have covered their own eyes and have attempted to find a bench, or a car, or to cross themselves. Of course they cannot do it, so it’s obvious that you could not do it either; not unless they themselves have some experience or exposure to blind people and how they navigate the environment without sight. They’re reaction will probably be panic, immediate assistance, wonder, and basically a lack of true empathy. It’s like asking someone with two left feet to do a head spin on their first try.

Most able bodied persons have little or no way to relate to people with disabilities. Unlike break dancers, we are not on TV, we are not in the workforce, and we many times hide from disclosure, acceptance and solidarity out of fear that we will face discrimination.

However, here is the societal twist: now imagine that you are watching a street performance of a man dressed in full ninja gear. I mean the works, he’s got a sword, the hoodie, and even those cool ninja boots. He places a blindfold over his eyes, picks up his sword and begins to chop watermelons, walk around and interact with the public, cross a busy intersection, block objects thrown in his direction, fight off attackers, climb a tree, ride a bike, shoot arrows at a target… Are you amazed? Is this an awesome and mystical street performance?

Is the point too subtle? What is it about the performance of this ninja mentioned above, which makes it extraordinary? He is using non-visual techniques to enhance his perception of the environment while his eyes are not being used. In other words, he is using techniques in his performance which most blind people use on a day-to-day basis to accomplish extremely ordinary things. All he has done is made a spectacle out of something which for many people is typical.

Yet we don’t see it that way. The man in ninja gear is a martial arts master, he has extra sensory perception, and he has reached this incredible state of being through the knowledge of forbidden ancient secrets.

The societal twist is this: while we are positively amazed at the martial artist for covering his eyes and giving us a great performance, we are filled with pity and unrequired sympathy for the blind person.

And as  envision the martial arts master as someone who has reached such a level of expertise that he can apply his skill with  his eyes closed, the general public imagines a blind person to be clumsy, feeble and in a constant state of helplessness.

We can’t read each other’s minds. This is the problem. Non-visual techniques are an every day thing for me, but for someone who is sighted, these techniques do not exist, they just perceive darkness and confusion. While these mirror neurons might be responsible for empathy, the feeling is a projection of our own understanding of the other person’s world. We recognize that when someone else eats, we are not the ones that are eating, but we understand the relationship that the other person has to food, through our relationship to food, our society’s relationship to food, and our openness to new experiences.

So, will that able bodied person ever stop hounding us to use their assistance? Not as long as we are not visible in society. The mechanisms are inherently in us for true understanding and communication among ourselves.  Now, we just have to work at becoming nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Into The Mouth Of The Beast

A radial arm saw, is a DEVICE WHICH CAN GRAB YOUR SHIRT, PULL YOU INTO IT AND SAW YOUR BELLY WIDE OPEN... Well, it’s just a wood cutting machine which has a circular spinning saw attached to an arm which you pull in your direction. This cuts across a piece of wood quite nicely, and I happen to have used the machine while blindfolded. Now, this is some scary, no other word for it but shit! It’s a non-modified, industrial machine which can have quite a bit of bite. All students are required to learn the use of most of the devices in the industrial arts shop, and they are required to use them safely. Our instructor is often under sleep shades so this is a definite, blind teaching blind class which is not for the purpose of creating carpenters, but for creating confidence.

Many of those people who attend these training centers, have lived what one could call “
a “normal” life, and after blindness, have given up that life because they thought that such things were not meant for them. Being blind meant sitting home, getting paid not to work, often just being “humble and still” while life moved all around them, in all directions, leaving them behind to only remember the life which they had previously lived.

A woman in my class, intelligent, witty and with a great job left her work behind because she was going blind. It did not occur to her that having two masters, and having almost finished a PHD, she might have only needed to adapt to the new situation as opposed to walking away from it.

I had never thought of my fear as a barrier before, but when the instructor said, “I can feel the fear in you, you’re very nervous.” It really hit me that the reason why I was afraid was that I could not see what was going on in front of me, and this fear, was probably what kept me from ever playing around with power tools.

“Now you know how to use the machine,” the instructor said, “you’ll be cutting your own wood from now on, I’m lazy.”

So, that’s what I’m doing from now on, relying on myself.

This was not the only experience which would of made most people question their personhood. For the past week and a half or so, I’ve been walking around, learning travel skills under sleep shades. Now, I thought that the coolness of the cucumber was always with me, as it turns out, I was simply feeling safe because the travel instructor was paces behind me. The first time I crossed a street with 4 intersections, the crossing took about 5 minutes. The second time about 40 seconds.

The instructor, who, whether he knows it or not is known all around as one of the best in the business, is also blind. He gave me a call while I was in a home management class making biscuits from scratch and told me that I should do my first route alone.

This meant going from the training center to the student apartments alone, under sleep shades, and when I mean alone, I mean the instructor was eating lunch at Sonic’s.

I thought I was brave, cool, awesome, and then I started stalling… The route was finished and it took me 40 minutes: It’s a 15 minute walk each way.

So, now, conversations only heard in Louisiana, while preparing to use the radial arm saw….

M: I’m telling you, Ima gonna hurt you.

W: now, you do that but listen up, you remember that law don’t ya? For every action there is a what?

M: hmm, an equal positive and negative reaction?

W: uh hum…. You got it…

M: Oh, I see. now who was it that said that?

W: Oh, that was, hmm, what this boy name?

M: What is, that boy name?

W: Boy name is Neuton…. Yep, that him.

The first day

There are two reasons why I will write this blog: I want to keep a record of this unusual journey, and I want to see the progress which 6 to 9 months of intensive "ninja-like" training will bring about.

Ruston Louisiana is not New York City. This sounds obvious, as geographically they are indeed two different places, but it is not only location which makes these two places different. Ruston is a slow-moving sort of town, friendly, everyone drives, no one walks; and what ever your heart desires, exists in drive-through form. And for the curious minds, drive through form does not necessarily translate to being expedient. This is a college town, with LA tech being the town's life force. This is a place were Jesus is not a word which makes people cringe, and prayer is common. So far, this seems to be a sweet town.

What I am doing here in Ruston, has often been described to friends and family as Ninja training. I will not leave here a couple of months from now with the ability to climb walls or catch throwing stars between my teeth, instead, I'm here to learn how to do everything that up to now has been done under the dependency of light, in complete darkness.

This means that I will travel, cook, clean, dine, read,swim, climb, canoe, in short, live every day from 8 am to 5 pm, with out the use of sight.

Why am I doing this?

Glaucoma is one of those diseases which can be treated, but not eradicated. It affects the eyes by making the ocular pressure too high or too low. Either way, the chance for total blindness is always looming about. One's sight can go gradually throughout their lifetime, or it can quickly vanish in a period of weeks, or days: A frightening thought really, unless you happen to be well, someone who can function in complete darkness.

That is the goal here. I was born with Glaucoma, and slowly, my vision has deteriorated. The concern which I have is not weather or not I can keep the vision I have or improve it, which would be sweet, the thought I am concerned with is having the skills and ability to function as someone who is totally blind.

The premise is simple, If I can function as a totally blind person, there really wouldn't be much to functioning as someone with some useful vision. In other words, Why do something half-assed which is based on half-assed vision, when you can do something correctly using more efficient alternative techniques which do not rely on your half-assed vision?

So here I am in Ruston Louisiana, taking on this training.

I've met most of my fellow students and tomorrow I get a housemate.

What where the highlights of today?

1. Ruston is not NY. an intake session which would normally take about 1 hour in NY, takes about 2 in Ruston.
2. Old friends, "good", old friends will swing by their friends job while they are doing your intake. They will hug, and share some heartwarming moments as you sit and strangely enough, understand that this 2 hour intake summary, is waisting no one's time or patience.
3. Strangers say hi to each other at K-mart.
4. I am really looking forward to taking on these classes.
5. Walking around without the use of sight, paints the landscape in sound, not images. I am confident in my goal, confident in what I must do, but shaky at walking about in the dark.