Geordi's Engineering Log

Zine
Title:	Geordi's Engineering Log
Publisher:	fan club, Geordie's Engineers
Editor(s):
Type:
Date(s):	1992?
Frequency:
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Next Generation
Language:	English
External Links:
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Geordi's Engineering Log

One of the itmes I picked up while visiting OktoberTrek '92 (along with the advertisements seen in this issue) was a newsletter called Geordi's Engineering Log, produced and distributed by Geordi's Engineers, a "Lt. Commander LaForge/Le- Var Burton Fan Club.

As I read the newsletter, I was fascinated by the discussions contained within it about Geordi's image (or lack thereof) as a role model for the blind, as well as observations about television's and other mainstream media's presentation of blind characters. As the daughter of someone who is visually impaired as a result of an ongoing battle with glaucoma and cataracts, it always amazes me that TV still tends to depict the blind/visually impaired as "helpless" when I know for a fact that my mother is anything but "helpless" and can do anything at her job that someone with 20/20 vision can, as long as she has the proper equipment to work with (oversized computer screen, brighter lighting, obstruction-free workspace).

That's why I found the debate in this issue on whether or not Geordi as truly "blind" engrossing (Bryan Williams: "Geordi is in fact blind. It would be simpler to state that a paralyzed person is immobile without the wheelchair -- Geordi is blind without his visor." Ron Meyer: "I think your analogy is oversimplified. The wheelchair doesn't give a paraplegic anywhere near the range of mobility that the magic visor gives Geordi in vision. It doesn't matter that without the visor he's 'blind', unless you equate blindness with helplessness --which Geordi certainly is without the visor.") and why I enjoyed the discussion on the portrayal of the blind in the media in general, from Marvel Comics' Daredevil to L.A. Law's blind lawyer who seduced C.J. Lamb last season (played by David Rasche and advised by the National Association of Blind Lawyers).

If you're a fan of ST:TNG's Chief Engineer, if you're interested in how the visually impaired perceive Star Trek and much of the other mass media, or if anything else you've read thus far in this review interests you, this zine is worth a read.

Issues are 4 for $6.00 and are available in print or on cassette.