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Disabled Identify With Heroes at Comic-Con
'You have legs, you can become a warrior,' says fan at SD convention
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted Jul 25, 09 5:30 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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It’s no accident that some of Comic-Con's most popular heroes are X-Men’s wheelchair-bound professor and Daredevil’s blind avenger. Many of the San Diego convention’s 125,000 guests say they relate to the struggles of their favorite superheroes, the Los Angeles Times reports. “You feel like you can be one of them,” said one 62-year-old. “You have legs, and you can become a warrior.”
Attendees praise convention organizers for rental wheelchairs and stand-ins for people unable to wait in long lines. Director James Cameron's Avatar added to the convention theme, depicting a paralyzed soldier who inhabits the body of an able-bodied alien. “I underestimated how resonant it would be," says Cameron. "You see the guy in the wheelchair. You see him get his legs, and you see him walk in the world. It’s powerful.”