#real question is will there ever be a portrayal of disability that isn't insulting

[luna-rainbow]

So I finally caught the full episode of What if. I mean...I didn't dislike it, but I didn't particularly care for it either. I think the problem is that the 3 central characters were still Steve, Peggy and Bucky, except with the plot and lines reshuffled...so the whole thing felt kinda superfluous. It didn't really add anything to any of their narratives, put itself in the awkward position of affirming the gayness of CATFA while trying to brandy the heteronormative narrative, and really didn't break any new ground.

You know what would have been nice? Make the serum receiver Isaiah. But I guess that requires too much thinking on the part of the scriptwriter.

The exchange that really bothered me was this one though:

Steve: I gotta ask, how does it feel? Peggy: To get the serum? Honest truth, not as different as you might think. Steve: Wow, you’ve always been a fighter. In a way, the outside finally matches the inside.

Okay, wait, hold up.

She's flaunting her able-bodied privilege in front of a man plagued by chronic illness and disability with, “Not as different as you might think.”

Let's remind ourselves of what Steve has to live with:

There’s a different list showing also colour-blindness, diabetes and anaemia.

You know what getting the serum means? He doesn't have to get short of breath walking up a flight of stairs, he doesn't have to get palpitations after a short sprint, he doesn't have to get sick every time the weather changes, he can hear people sneaking up on him, he can see the world in colour, he doesn't have to spend most of his income buying insulin (which was only invented in the 1920s so who knows how much they cost) and medications. He can finally do the stuff that able-bodied people, like Peggy, take for granted.

Peggy says it's not as different as he thinks, because she has no idea what he's living with.

And guess what, in true MCU ableist style, they then have Steve reply, "You've always been a fighter."

No Steve, the true fighter is you. Everyday was a fight for you. Sometimes in the midst of an asthma attack or an exacerbation of your rheumatic heart disease every breath and every heartbeat. Every winter when you come down with colds and sinusitis. Every time you get knocked back because of your deafness or colour-blindness or your small stature. Every time you're struggling to put a penny together because you've used it up for your medications. Every time the doctor shakes their head and wishes you luck.

Steve fought through all of it. In one timeline, he got the serum, and the outside finally matching the inside was you, Steve. Not some woman who has no appreciation of what she already has.

Good job MCU showing your ableist colours again.

(PS: I did not spot any pics of Sam in the opening sequence. Are they serious?? They've left out the next Captain America, one of the characters who will be expected to carry a franchise in their phase 4? What are they smoking??)

#what if #what if... #steve rogers #tfatws and then this #like legit i was starting to think peggy's portrayal was kinda cute #then i got hit in the face with this #well well well #a few sardines short of a can #is there ever going to be an iteration of peggy that isn't problematic #real question is will there ever be a portrayal of disability that isn't insulting #ptsd is not a joke #amputation is not a joke #ableism is not a joke