#Representation in Tech

[dgspeaks]

Pioneering Paths: Lupita Nyong’o, Tope Awotona, and the Impact of Black Excellence in Tech

Welcome to DG Speaks, your portal to an in-depth exploration of the dynamic world of technology, where the transformative impact of Black excellence in tech stands as a guiding force. In this extensive journey, we delve into the pioneering paths of innovation, diversity, and excellence, illuminated by the remarkable figures of Lupita Nyong’o and Tope Awotona. Navigating Pioneering Paths in…

[tangents-within-tangents]

As much as I love sweet headcanons and found family fics about the Batch accepting Echo and supporting him through his adjustment and PTSD/trauma, gotta remember that what we were actually given in canon is this:

Hunter: Me and the boys will tag along anyway, if only to say I told you so. Crosshair: I would have left him for dead too. Besides, he's just another reg. (his rescue was just a mission for them, wouldn't have done it otherwise)

Tech: To be blunt his mind belonged to the Separatists until we unplugged him. We don't really know where his loyalties lie. Rex: Yeah? Well I know. Hunter: Alright Echo what are you trying to pull? Tech: How do we know that's what you're really going to do? Hunter: Well I guess you actually are on our side. (They openly doubt his loyalty even though they saw what he went through, and he already fought alongside them on Skako. Feels kinda victim-blamey to me, and it's odd that it goes straight from this to him joining them, like he had to prove himself worthy first? It's just the opposite of fanon which usually has the Batch be immediately sympathetic/protective and assume the regs would distrust him)

Tech: You are more machine than man, percentage wise at least. Echo, a triple amputee: *sigh* lucky me...

Palpatine: ...the attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed Wrecker: You can say that again! Echo, a physically disabled person:

Echo, who was medically experimented on: *injured and having a panic attack in the medbay* The Batch: *off somewhere joking/betting about if he’s dead*

Tech: -from the Citadel rescue when you... how shall I put this? Wrecker: Blew up!! :D Crosshair: And turned into that Echo: *sigh* yes

Random stranger: *mistakes Echofor a droid* Hunter: *smiles and goes along with it for the credits* Echo, who was SOLD and dehumanized as a pow: *visibly uncomfortable* Hunter: Echo, go to your new owner.

Echo, who was treated like property by the Techno Union: *explains why slavery is wrong* And we are gonna stop it from happening to that kid. Tech: As well as earn a decent amount of credits once the job is complete. Echo: (bitterly) yeah, that too *leaves the room*

Tech: The client being a Separatist is not relevant. Echo, who was imprisoned and tortured by Separatists for over a year: It is to me! Hunter: Forget politics! We're here to do a job.

Tech: This squad existed before Echo was a part of it, and it will exist after.

For the record, yes people can and do joke about their trauma and disabilities

But look at Echo’s reactions/tone/body language in these scenes. It’s downcast sighs and discomfort, while the others are smiling, sneering, or dismissive. And because it's animated that means that every facial expression was intentionally designed.

What really clinches it for me is this moment:

Omega, a child who he just met, comforts him and helps him through his panic attack. But when the Batch, his squad who he's been living with for at least ~6 months, comes into the room he visibly closes himself off and hides his vulnerability :(

There are good moments too (though tbh i can't think of many)

I don't wanna discount that, but that doesn't discount this either. And it's just really weird when you think about it. Like half of these were in the first episode, which is the first time we are actually seeing how these characters interact together as a squad. And this is coming from the "defective" clones who supposedly know what it's like to not fit in? Who offered Echo a place with them specifically because they thought he wouldn't be accepted by others?

As with anything, there are ways we can read into or explain these moments (like honestly 'selling' your brother or betting that your brother died by lunch tray is very accurate sibling energy (And my personal headcanon (to reconcile it for myself bc the show didn't) is that Wrecker was worried about Echo so Crosshair jokingly exaggerated that he was dead and turned it into an argument/bet to distract him (which is also why I think he turns battles into a game/competition with Wrecker)) but Echo is very traumatized and there's a complete lack of consideration there). But that doesn't excuse it nor does it change the fact that this is what was presented to us in the writing. Characters aren't actually people (shocking I know lol), so any of their 'choices' are actually made by a real-life writer. And whether the implications of these moments were fully considered/intended or not, it still portrays the characters and their attitudes/relationships in a certain way.

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

As much praise as The Bad Batch is getting for improved writing and increased stakes, it's important to remember #UnwhitewashTBB and the valid critiques that fans of color and Jewish, disabled, and ND fans had about the series and the ways it's harmed them.

Frankly, fans' concerns over bigoted writing and portrayals should have been taken seriously and taken into account when writing + designing the second and third seasons.

In a perfect world, there never would have been whitewashing. There never would have been ableism and antisemitism, either. The creators would have seriously examined the Bad Batch from ALL angles, not just the ones that make the show fun or look good.

Unfortunately, the series has its glaring issues, and they were not corrected by the time the final season was set to air.

However, other creators in #StarWars can learn from this. They can examine their own unconscious biases and avoid, for instance, making a genius a white man with a British accent, while his brawns over brain counterpart can only be read as a man of color.

They can look into harmful tropes for the marginalized people they do want to represent and head in a different direction. They can change. They can improve. They can guarantee that when they say #StarWarsIsForEveryone, they mean it.

[r0b0t1me]

resistance base floor plan/layout! i do not know what i'm doing nor am i shooting for total realism, but all of these ideas have been rotating in my head for ages and im having issues creating concept art for the setting without some kind of baseline to work off of so tada

[travalerray]

me when my code doesn't run like it should

[do-u-know-this-autisticcharacter]

Do You Know This Canon Autistic Character?

Evidence below the cut!

“I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean that I feel any less than you”

He is heavily implied to be autistic in canon (though the Star Wars universe doesn’t use that particular term). In this line, he is explaining to his sister that his neurodivergence doesn’t mean that he loves her or their family any less.

[kitkatt0430]

Breanna - I've never conned someone cute before.

cut to imagine spot of the girl she's supposed to con flipping her hair free and winking at Breanna

I love this disaster ace lesbian so much

[highfantasy-soul]

So as we're thinking about the casting of Toph in the Netflix adaptation, please please please remember that Toph isn't REALLY blind representation. Like so many other 'blind' characters, the narrative gives them superpowers that let them operate in the world in ways an irl blind person can't (Daredevil is a good example of this too). So let's not put those expectations on irl blind (or visually impaired) actresses and say "well, they're blind, so they'll actually move like Toph does!!" No. They won't. And to expect them to interact with the world like a fictional, superpowered blind person does is, in my opinion, pretty abelist.

It's a disability - shying away from the fact that blind people don't have perfect echolocation isn't putting them down. Refusing to acknowledge that they need aids to help them get around the world isn't helping anyone, it's dismissing what they deserve to have provided for them.

I'm not saying no visually impaired person could possibly play Toph well, what I'm saying is that I've been seeing a lot of posts claiming that a blind actress would be the only one able to accurately (and safely) portray the way Toph interacts with the world completely forgetting that Toph uses vibrations in the earth to see....pretty much everything - something irl blind people CANNOT DO.

We of course need to see more visually impaired representation on screen, but I think the best way to do that is to write characters that don't have superpowers that negate their disability. Have characters be strong and badass without declaring that 'well it they were REALLY blind, then they would be weak - they're strong because their superpower NEGATES their blindness to a large extent' or god forbid 'irl blind people develop superpowers, so if they need aids of any sort, they're just lazy and not working hard enough to compensate for their lack of sight'.

Just something to keep in mind when thinking about casting - if they don't cast a blind actress for Toph, unless I see otherwise, I'm not going to assume it's because they just don't like blind people. I'm going to assume they took into account the entirety of making the show and what was a realistic way to portray Toph and what was reasonable to expect the actress to do.

[casp1an-sea]

anyone want to join me in crying over lost Star Wars potential?

[duckyfann9871]

Idc what the ER wiki says Dr Doug Ross is a DO because I said so

[shellminded]

Words cannot describe how much this character means to me, an autistic nerd.

[adamparrishdyke]

glenn wearing his iatse union shirt the whole movie..... everything to me

[ellie-the-oracle]

The Crossing - TBB s2e9 Review and Thoughts

Spoilers Ahead!

Okay, so this episode was absolutely fantastic. The character development for Tech was just wonderful and I honestly felt so seen as a fellow neurodivergent person. I also really appreciated the bonding between big little brother Tech and little big sister Omega.

But let me be real for a second. If the reason why Tech is getting so much screen time and development is because he's going to die by the end of this season, I'm going to be mortified. I know many folks fear this, as do I, but looking at it from a literary standpoint, I find that it would be highly illogical for the writers to kill any of the main cast...at least in this season. I'm also so devastated that the marauder was stolen, I hope they get it back because Lula and Gonky are on there!!!

Anyways, great episode. 9/10☆

[kiramarien]

TECH IS AUTISTIC

Can someone explain to me why it took TWO SEASONS for me to realize this? Seriously?! How dense am I?

^ Those words were not said to reassure her or reprimand her, but they were said with honest confusion.

To be fair to myself and my obliviousness, I did start to suspect long before this conversation, but I should have SEEN the SIGNS long ago this and not made assumptions about him.

Beautiful.

This episode was so wonderful though 🙏 I'm so glad to understand him better. Tech has instantly jumped higher on my list of favorite characters.

I've learn that I need to check my thoughts and always give people the benefit of the doubt. Even fictional clone boys.

Love you, Tech.

(Also can we talk about the Voice Acting? WOW! They know how to do their job!)

[tuttle-did-it]

STOP USING BIOMETRICS TO UNLOCK YOUR TECH BEFORE GOING TO A PROTEST, RALLY, OR ACCESSING BIRTH CONTROL OPTIONS

Encrypt your tech. If you are US based, or in a country that does not protect your rights when it comes to cops, please read these article. There are not currently laws stopping the police from using your thumb or face to unlock your phone without consent or a warrant. Especially if you are taking any part in any protests throughout America, or accessing birth control needs.

Or you're, you know, queer, disabled, a person of colour, a woman, or generally just know how horrible the cops and government can be. They can pull you over for no reason, unlock your phone, and look for something to charge you with later. They can and will and have.

Cops will do ANYTHING they want, and chances are, the courts will let them.

(this might be relevant for other countries, too-- the protest rights are completely fucked here in the UK, so please be careful out there!!)

Helpfully, there is also a cop-proof your phone article as well:

[eelfuneral]

Tech speaks very differently from other clones. He has a different accent, avoids contractions and informal slang, and uses precise wording to describe things. He also tends to gesture a great deal and utilize almost exaggerated facial expressions, which makes his communication style stand out. As an autistic viewer, this is all very interesting to me because these can all be autistic traits, and since Dee Bradley Baker went on-record saying that Tech reads as autistic to him, I think that we can assume that some of this was intentional autistic coding. Let’s take a closer look at Tech’s wonderful (and very autistic) communication style.

Tech’s many hand gestures and exaggerated body language make sense in combat situations since his face is covered and he still needs to physically communicate with his squad mates, but this behavior also persists outside of active combat and is paired up with intense facial expressions, so I think that there might be more going on. When you are autistic, you are basically born without the innate social skills that most non-autistic people have, and facial expressions and gestures are among these skills. Some autistic people may come across as having a “flat affect” because they don’t instinctively move their faces and bodies in a way that people expect, but others overcompensate for their difficulty with neurotypical-style nonverbal communication by turning the nonverbal communication cues up to eleven. Tech strikes me as someone who has to consciously choreograph his facial expressions and body movements, and due to his intense focus, they come off as a bit exaggerated. He was raised in a culture where everyone is literally a clone of the same person, so his communication differences likely stood out to his peers early on, making him feel a needed to mask them to fit in.

Tech’s formal, precise speech is known in medical literature as “pedantic speech”, which is a terrible name in my opinion because it implies intentional condescension. As someone who speaks a bit like Tech, I don’t do it to make people feel small or intellectually inferior, but I do it because I have a hard time knowing what comes off as “overly-formal” or “stilted”. While Tech can certainly be pedantic, I don’t think that the way that he speaks comes from a place of arrogance. He just sees it as the way he naturally speaks and he likely never picked up on the levels of formality and that exist in human speech. Tech also spends a great deal of time buried in research, and I imagine that he spent more time buried in holobooks than socializing with his peers as a child, so he may not have picked up on their register and slang. He may have gotten his accent from interacting with instructional and research materials where the presenter had a similar accent, and being socially isolated (as both a “defective” clone and autistic child) meant that he didn’t develop the same accent as his peers.

There are a lot of really subtle, cool things going on with Tech’s characterization in terms of his communication style. I’m not sure how much of this is intentional autistic coding or the writers adding general “nerd” character traits (which I suspect originate from people’s observation of “nerdy” people that they had no idea were autistic), but it’s weirdly affirming to see social behaviors that I have and relate to in one of my favorite characters. While other characters get annoyed with Tech (which is entirely realistic, since non-autistic people don’t always “get” why we communicate the way that we do), no one tries to change the way that Tech communicates. They just accept him for who he is.