
Why Are Spaces in Science Fiction Not Wheelchair-Accessible? - ssfrr
https://io9.gizmodo.com/staircases-in-space-why-are-places-in-science-fiction-1827966642
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Freak_NL
> The Mos Eisley cantina appears as interested in serving disabled patrons as
> it is in serving droids […]

I would guess that disabled people wouldn't live long on Tatooine in any case.
A bar owner in what is literally a wretched hive of scum and villainy,
probably has bigger issues than installing a wheelchair ramp.

But in all seriousness, in a lot of the examples where Ratcliff mentions
wheelchair accessibility it just doesn't make any sense from a narrational
perspective. In Star Wars the majority of ships are military in nature; it
doesn't make tactical nor logistical sense for an army to facilitate
wheelchair accessibility on a warship (anyone in a wheelchair would be a
liability in emergencies).

The USS Enterprise (NCC 1701 D) was more of a science vessel by design then
the pioneering USS Discovery (NCC 1031). The former might have facilitated a
visiting scientist in a wheelchair, the latter wouldn't.

There is a point to be made that civilians with disabilities should be seen in
civilian settings in a sci-fi universe, but it has to make sense in that
setting. In most of the examples Ace Ratcliff provides there are excellent in-
universe reasons for not having a wheelchair confined character show up (not
least of all because of the presumed medical advances msh mentioned in this
topic).

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Fjolsvith
Star Trek did have Captain Pike in a wheelchair.

~~~
Freak_NL
Certainly, but not as an active-duty officer of Starfleet. The Enterprise
picked the invalid Pike up on a starbase in 'The Menagerie' for that specific
story; Pike in a wheelchair suited the narrative.

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msh
The author have some good points but ignores that some or many of the sci-fi
universes he mentions have medical technology that seems to make wheelchairs
unnecessary.

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perl4ever
Duplicate of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17663502](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17663502)

