Animal and Alien Bodies as Prostheses

Abstract

Studying the prosthesis in science fiction and fantasy allows us to con-sider problem bodies as a range of potential futures for the human body that critique our culture’s narrow understanding of able-bodiedness. I address the role of disability and the prosthesis in two recent fantastic films, Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD), through theorizing the prosthetic embodiment of the films’ respective protagonists: Jake Sully and Hiccup. Prosthesis is commonly defined as a body or mechanism that joins with one’s natural’ body to correct a perceived deficiency or to fill a perceived absence. In a disability reading, prosthesis should be recognized first as a functional or cosmetic bodily replacement part expected to have a rehabilitative function, either physical or psychological, for a disabled individual.² The most common and significantly theorized prosthetic technology is the artificial limb,³ and each of the movies discussed features a replacement body or body part. However, prosthesis can be productively applied to a larger range of assistive devices from wheelchairs to gas masks.⁴ While not all are traditionally associated with disability, these technologies, like artificial limbs, allow a body to function in an environment for which it is otherwise unequipped. This larger category might be more accurately described as “the prosthetic”; while these technologies may or may not correct a perceived deficiency or fill a perceived absence, they are bodies or mechanisms that join with the natural body.