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Spin 2.0

Fantasy HBO show touches on paralysis

Jun 13 07:43

If you’re not watching Game of Thrones yet, you are missing out on one of the best TV shows currently on-air. The really exciting thing about this show is that it touches on disability like no other show yet. Note: Blog may contain spoilers.

It features a boy with paralysis and a Lord who‘s a Little Person. It’s not everyday you get to see such a lush, fantasy/Lord of the Rings-styled TV show (produced by HBO), that gives screen-time to multiple disability storylines, but Game of Thrones does, and they do it brilliantly.

Games of Thrones was originally a fantasy novel, the first in the fantasy novel series called, A Song of Fire and Ice. Movies adapted from books always have more interesting, full-bodied characters and plots than just straight-up screenplays, so we can thank Game of Thrones author, Georg R. R. Martin, for giving birth to such an epic story.

I don’t want to give too much away, in case you haven’t watched the show and now plan to, but an integral character - a 8 year old boy from an important ruling family - becomes a paraplegic after a fall. And being that this show is set in a world that is very much like a world you’d see in the 1200’s, his situation is extremely limited. So far, nothing resembling a wheelchair has been seen, leaving the poor boy bed-ridden all day, everyday, even though his family is wealthy.

But lo and behold the show turned me for a loop, with the plot unfolding, giving him something much cooler than a wooden wheelchair: He was given the plans, a draft, for an adapted riding saddle, and the story-line just runs from there. While a wheelchair is great, a horse is better in this world. “I’ll be able to shoot a bow and arrow again,” Lord Bran says. And then this is where the show got me thinking. Why haven’t I ridden a horse yet? I bet the horse walking under you feels like you’re walking yourself. How brilliant.

I’ll stop here so you can go watch the show yourself, but just know you’re in for a wild ride when you watch Game of Thrones. It doesn’t hold back, each show is as shocking as they get, and they portray disability in a real, powerful way that deserves your attention.

Game of Thrones official site on HBO

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1. Shark7 | Aug 07 02:01

I'm just now catching up on Spin 2.0 blogs--really like this one. I've had the good fortune to ride a horse a couple times in the 26-years since my T10 complete injury and it is AMAZING. The caveat is you have to have a perfectly trained horse and the proper adaptive cushion (I use a Roho saddle cushion). The connection between you, the horse and terrain feels exactly like walking--an amazing feeling. This has reminded me how cool it is and has me stoked about looking for an adaptive riding program in my area.

Spin 2.0

By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.