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Random thing I love about Wiseguy
I love the way this show deals with physical disability.
I hadn't really thought about it until their second double-amputee character shows up. But it's kind of awesome, really. One of the main characters is missing both legs from the knees down (the actor is Jim Byrnes from Highlander, if any Highlander people are reading this), and the way they deal with it is wonderfully matter-of-face and casual, where it's neither the defining feature of his character nor ignored completely. It comes up in small, everyday ways -- you'll see him putting on his prostheses, or having a little trouble navigating stairs, and there's the nifty little detail, not remarked upon but visually apparent, that there are no chairs in his apartment (since he uses a wheelchair at home). But in general, he's just *him*, a laid-back ex-hippie-ish sort of guy with a sharp sense of humor and a slow-burning fuse; we've seen him camping, getting into bar brawls, making love to a woman, fighting with his friends and family, and of course doing undercover work, as they all do.
And one of the major recurring characters in the arc we're now watching is a guy with one arm and one leg -- and it's the same deal, really; his character is the nosy reporter poking around our guys' investigation, and that's who he *is*, disability optional.
It's really cool, and awfully sad that it's so rare on TV that I notice when a disabled character isn't just used as a plot point.
I hadn't really thought about it until their second double-amputee character shows up. But it's kind of awesome, really. One of the main characters is missing both legs from the knees down (the actor is Jim Byrnes from Highlander, if any Highlander people are reading this), and the way they deal with it is wonderfully matter-of-face and casual, where it's neither the defining feature of his character nor ignored completely. It comes up in small, everyday ways -- you'll see him putting on his prostheses, or having a little trouble navigating stairs, and there's the nifty little detail, not remarked upon but visually apparent, that there are no chairs in his apartment (since he uses a wheelchair at home). But in general, he's just *him*, a laid-back ex-hippie-ish sort of guy with a sharp sense of humor and a slow-burning fuse; we've seen him camping, getting into bar brawls, making love to a woman, fighting with his friends and family, and of course doing undercover work, as they all do.
And one of the major recurring characters in the arc we're now watching is a guy with one arm and one leg -- and it's the same deal, really; his character is the nosy reporter poking around our guys' investigation, and that's who he *is*, disability optional.
It's really cool, and awfully sad that it's so rare on TV that I notice when a disabled character isn't just used as a plot point.