Episode 188: Walk Which Way

This may very well be a situation unique to me, but I have a feeling it isn't.

Transcript

Laura 0:00

I'm prepared to accept that this is just a me thing.

Male VO 0:04

This is Bad Attitudes.

Laura 0:21

Hello, friends and strangers. Welcome to another episode of Bad Attitudes, an uninspiring podcast about disability. I'm your host, Laura.

Laura 0:31

This week's supporter shout out goes to Bea Huff Hunter. Thank you for your continuing support.

Laura 0:38

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Laura 0:50

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Laura 1:05

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Laura 1:24

As always, I want to remind you that disability is not a monolith. My experience as a disabled person is going to be different from the experiences of other disabled people. I am one voice for the disabled community, but I am not the only voice.

Laura 1:41

I have a question for all of my fellow wheelchair users. Honestly, it may apply to anyone, really, but because I'm a lifelong wheelchair user, this is why I'm asking. Do you ever find yourself studying ambulatory people and just watching them walk? Noticing minute details about how they walk or the way they move, trying to understand how the muscles and bones and ligaments all work together.

Laura 2:11

I started thinking about this when I went to see Stereophonic a few weeks ago. The set for Stereophonic is a recording studio, and there are two small flights of stairs on either side of the stage to give the set varying heights. At one point, one of the actresses was walking barefoot from one point to another going down one of those flights of stairs. And I found myself inordinately focused on the way her feet connected with the floor and the way her toes curled over the edge of one of the steps.

Laura 2:43

I've realized this is something I've always done. I've always been fascinated by watching the way people walk, and even get annoyed when they aren't doing it "right." If I see you walking but you're not picking up your feet, just know I'm silently judging you.

Laura 2:58

It's not just walking though, it's any sort of movement involving the legs. The photos of ballet dancers mid-jump fascinate me. Seeing the way their joints move, the way their muscles flex, and how the different elements of their bodies fit together, some of it I can definitely lay at the feet of being an artist. As someone who spent most of my formative years yearning to depict the human figure skillfully, it's perfectly natural that I would want to study the body. I wish figure drawing came easily to me, and it's a skill I've been working to improve.

Laura 3:33

But mostly I'm fascinated by the way the average person's legs work because mine don't work that way. When I was a kid, I used a walker or forearm crutches to sometimes walk, but walking was never natural for me. Of course, that means that activities beyond walking, running, skipping, dancing on two legs, were also beyond me. Most of the time I wasn't overly upset by that fact. It was what it was, a fact.

Laura 4:01

But still, I was fascinated. I can think of no better word by the mechanics of it all. Case in point, White Christmas. White Christmas is my favorite Christmas movie and has been for as long as I can remember. It's a staple in my household where we watch it multiple times during the holiday season. When I was a kid, I watched it year-round. And not just watched it, I studied it.

Laura 4:28

For the uninitiated, White Christmas is a movie from the 50s starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. Crosby and Kaye play famous performers who team up with the sister act of Clooney and Ellen to help save the Vermont Inn owned by their commanding general from World War II. At Christmas, obviously.

Laura 4:50

You're probably familiar with Bing Crosby. He's arguably a legend in movie musicals. And Rosemary Clooney is George's aunt, so you've probably heard of her too. Danny Kaye made a lot of movies, primarily comedic, but his name may not be as recognizable to the average person. Vera Ellen was primarily known as a dancer, and she was often my focus in watching the movie. So when I say I studied White Christmas, what I mean is that there were certain scenes which highlighted Ellen's dancing skills that I watched with extra attention. Mostly, "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" and "Mandy."

Laura 5:29

Because this was the 80s and 90s, I was watching on a VCR. Ask your parents if you don't know what that is. One of the great things about VCRs was that you could play a tape practically frame by frame. You can't do that with streaming, and it's not as easy to do with a DVD or a Blu-ray as it was with VHS, in my opinion. I would watch these numbers on slow over and over again to watch the ways in which Vera Ellen's feet bent or how her dress twirled. I don't care how old you are, there's always something enchanting about a twirly dress. There's also a number called "Choreography," where Ellen taps her foot so quickly that it doesn't even look like it's moving, unless it's slowed way down. Insane.

Laura 6:15

I know now that I was studying anatomy for the purposes of improving my drawing skills, at least in part. But at the time I was simply entranced by the way a woman moved her body and the way her feet looked in high heels, or the way her hips flexed when she did a split. It was the magic of the human body in action.

Laura 6:35

Nowadays, I actually study anatomy. I draw from reference images to improve my skills. I've sketched pages worth of arms and legs and hands and feet and features, but I still find myself watching the way people move. Watching the way they walk, the way they climb stairs. I was obsessed with drawing people going up and down stairs as a kid, primarily because it was something I have never done. To me, stairs seemed the epitome of being able to walk. If you could climb stairs, nothing was beyond you.

Laura 7:11

Ah, youth.

Laura 7:13

So yeah, is this just a me thing? Or are you also a wheelchair user who finds the mechanics of working human legs weirdly fascinating?

Laura 7:23

Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you in the next one.