You know, the part where it says 'ANY Paralympian' would probably offend most Paralympians who let's face it are no more badass than other sportspeople, especially in their own eyes. Shouldn't we keep these examples to just being people who are badass by the standards of normal badassery and not just because they're doing stuff with a disability, and people whose inherent badassery is enhanced by the fact that they're disabled?
albino-ottsel
04:16:51 PM Aug 21st 2010
I've moved that section from the main page to here, pending discussion on it.
Any Paralympian.
Of special note: Polish Paralympians consistently perform better than regular Olympians.
Also of special note: Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius (the 'fastest man on no legs', as some have called him), who snagged a bronze medal - in an able-bodied event in Switzerland.
And Aimee Mullins. Double amputee. Sprinter (ran for Georgetown while in college). Runway model. Actress. Author. While in college, earned an internship at the Pentagon.
Australian comedian Adam Hills (himself born without a right foot) went to Beijing to help host the Paralympics. He describes (in his stand-up show "Inflatable") seeing an athlete born without arms, who was a freestyle swimmer. The initial miracle was that he got his jacket off. The secondary and tertiary miracles were that this guy was the fastest thing in the water that anyone had ever seen (despite not having hands to touch the wall at each turn, instead actually having to headbutt the wall without slowing down each time), and that he won gold. Adam described it as the most inspiration thing he has ever witnessed in his life.
I, myself, agree with giygasattack, though I don't have much to add to this particular topic.
albino-ottsel
topic
04:26:16 PM Aug 21st 2010 edited by albino-ottsel
I'm not sure if this should go here or in the forums, but what exactly is the difference between this and Inspirationally Disabled? Is it merely in the portrayal? For example, a Handicapped Badass is shown to be a badass who happens to be handicapped versus how a Magical Differently Abled Person is shown to be a handicapped person who happens to be badass?
giygasattack
07:09:54 AM Nov 14th 2010
Inspirationally Disabled is disabled people used to be an inspiration by doing mundane things that anybody can do but is somehow considered amazing because the person doing it has some sort of disability, usually turns out very stupid and probably offends a lot of disabled people. There's no badassery involved.
Judging by how the 'badass' tropes seem to work, Handicapped Badass is meant to be any badass who is also disabled, but a few examples on the page seem to have this trope confused with Inspirationally Disabled.
(I know and have known quite a few disabled people so I like to think I know how they see this type of thing)
Gooring
topic
12:43:15 PM Jun 3rd 2011
I'm not sure about the entry about Kaiser Willhelm II. Calling him a diplomatic genious (or badass for that matter) seems rather strange since all he really did was to destroy most of what Bismarck had built up and clumsily helped to bring about WWI.
Horticulturist
08:04:32 AM Aug 1st 2011
I agree completely and for that reason have cut this example:
* Kaiser Wilhelm II had a withered arm yet still managed to be a diplomatic genius and ran the German Empire almost single-handedly.
The fact is that Wilhelm was born into the imperial family and lived in the lap of luxury, being supported by the state. The actual running of the government was primarily the responsibility of the Chancellor. To the extent Wilhelm influenced foreign policy, it was almost entirely in a negative way.