#this is a sign from the universe to work on one of my wips
Hey so. Look.
I’m just gonna go ahead and address it again because it’s really bothering me. And as someone with PTSD/TBI who has struggled with PBA in the past, and someone who works with people who have PTSD/TBI, I think I’m plenty qualified to speak on this.
The Gregor tag is still absolutely rife with ableism and misunderstanding of the condition he is portraying. I’m not exaggerating when I say almost every single post. And the reasons given for his unpopularity are just…yikes. From people claiming to be anti-ableism no less? Yikes, guys. C’mon.
Education time.
If you didn’t know already from my posts from last year, regardless of writer’s intention, Gregor is portrayed as someone with Pseudobulbar affect or PBA. PBA is neurological syndrome that can be caused by brain trauma. It is characterized by involuntary, uncontrollable, exaggerated, and often inappropriate outbursts of crying and/or laughing that can cause severe distress, embarrassment, and social dysfunction. It’s condition of emotional expression — crying and/or laughing that’s exaggerated or doesn’t match how you feel. Crying and/or laughing spells are uncontrollable and can last seconds to minutes. They are sudden and frequent. Your mood will appear normal between the episodes, which can occur at any time. They not at all connected to your true emotional state.
For example, you might laugh uncontrollably when you meant to just chuckle in response to a mildly amusing comment. Or you might laugh or cry in situations that you don’t actually see as funny or sad.
- Just because Gregor laughs a lot does not mean he is “stupid” “goofy” “a silly character” or inherently has a silly personality. The guy has a good sense of humor. That’s it. He can have different traits.
- Describing Gregor as (and these are words I’ve seen used repeatedly) “crazy” “annoying” “grating” “unhinged” “insane” “childlike” “a sterotypical crazy person”“a crackhead” etc. is…I shouldn’t have to explain.
- If him laughing or acting differently from other clones makes you “uncomfy” you might want to take a moment to examine that
- Variations on “why am I STRANGELY attracted to him”…dude just be attracted. Treat him the way you do all the other characters. “I wasn’t into him before but his laugh is so sexy” “I don’t know why but his crazy voice and laugh is so hot” Okay great. Laughs can be sexy. But due to the nature of his disability, this is just…not it. Saying this reads like the only reason you’re into him is because he has PBA. I shouldn’t have to explain why that’s not okay. Imagine if you could not control your laughter. Something that is very embarrassing and stressful for you. A daily struggle. And someone comes up to you and says “I wasn’t attracted to you before and I don’t know why but your crazy laugh is so hot. I’m strangely attracted to it.” Yeah. It wouldn’t feel good, that’s what the correct answer is.
- Conversely, those screaming “don’t write/draw anything sexual about him at all” because he’s visibly disabled- STOP. Stop it with the weird benevolent ableism (please look up that term, I beg you) that’s rampant on Tumblr. I’m so tired of this. On here and in real life. He’s not a child. Having PBA and PTSD/TBI (or any disability) does not take away your humanity, sexuality, or romantic needs/inclinations. Acknowledge, research, and respect the character’s condition and needs, but treat him like everyone else for fuck’s sake.
- Just because you are personally uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s “bad representation”. Stop deciding what’s good and bad representation for people if you don’t have the disability/condition. TBB Season 1 representation was just fine and exciting to see for many people who have TBI. Rebels is pretty obviously really pushing it representation-wise, but that’s not the character’s fault. His body is much older and brain injuries can deteriorate over time and symptoms can worsen. Give him a break.
Gregor has been shown canonically to be resilient, competent, courageous, respectful, compassionate, intelligent, independent, resourceful, and good humored. His character has one of the richest backstories in TCW. He is more than a silly character. He was a highly trained and competent Commando. He was in one of the the worst battles of the Clone Wars. His experience was so traumatizing he mentally blacked out upon seeing so many of his dead brothers. He was trafficked during the blackout. He was emotionally abused and gaslighted. He was exploited for labor and who knows what else. He lived in poverty. He sacrificed himself to save the thousands that would have been killed with that stockpile of rydonium. He sustained life-changing head trauma. He was held captive by an Empire that violated his humanity and principles. He fought and died in the rebellion.
Yet all some of you have to say is that he’s goofy and annoying.
Now, I can’t make my fave your fave, and I’m not trying to. But people bend over backwards to give literally every other clone love and attention, love interests, oc friends, serious fics, character studies, fix-its, headcanons, metas, redesigns. Despite the fact he’s a fairly significant character, Gregor is suspiciously absent in fandom. People don’t make or reblog Gregor art. They don’t write Gregor fics. He only gets these comments. Because he giggles.
You tell me what that sounds like.
