Living With Severe Disfigurement on Talk of the Nation.

This is a fascinating segment inspired by Connie Culp, the first recipiant of a face transplant in America. They talk to a man who was born with a facial disfigurement who now performs as a motivational speaker, and he points out something very simple, which I paraphrase:

All of us feel disfigured, and those that are obviously so carry the weight of that fear for everyone else.

Now, I don't mean to belittle the experience of real people by comparing it to the obvious fictional situations you know this made me think of. It makes me a little uncomfortable that the first thing I think about when I hear about operations like this is a pulpy post-gothic horror novel. I feel like a fangirl I saw once on a board saying "ZOMG JUST LIKE ERIK!!11!" about something that was clearly a personal tragedy. However, I think it's especially important for those of us who spend a lot of time thinking and writing and caring about characters like Erik or Quasimodo or even those less afflicted to understand the experiences of real people--and that there are real people. The above statement gives us a clue about why we respond the way we do, in real life and to fiction, though I think most of us probably have slightly different reactions to each. And I thought a few of you might be interested in this piece.