Representations of Amputation and Prosthetics in Popular Culture

Amputation and prosthetics are depicted pretty frequently in pop culture, and the ways in which this is done both says a lot about how we view amputees, and explains some of our preconceived notions about the capabilities of prosthetics. Recurring themes in these stories are the struggles between man and machine and good and evil, which they usually represent respectively. Of course the most obvious application of these themes to prosthetics and amputation are as a physical representation of these parallel struggles within the same person. Here is a list and brief discussion of some of these representations. Please add any that you know of that are missing, or to the discussions:

This is one of the best examples that I can think of. George Lucas appears to be obsessed with amputation, and is using it as an un-subtle metaphor for the various degrees of humanity in Luke and Anakin's respective struggles with good and evil and the respective portions of their humanity that they retain at different points in the struggle. The major amputations of these characters occur in Episodes V, 2 and 3, in order of production. Also see this site for a more thorough accounting of the "Chopped-Off Hands of Star Wars."

Steve Austin, the original Bionic Man, was one of the first pop representations of amputation that Generation X was aware of growing up. The show's title sequence, in which the voice over claims that Steve will be "better than he was before... better, stronger, faster," is really the sticking point for those involved about the use of the word "bionic" to describe advanced prosthetics, and why many responsible researchers cringe when the word "bionic" is used to describe what they are working on. While strictly true, in the sense that bionic literally means "life-like," The Six Million Dollar Man is really the source of the notion that bionics or prosthetics could result in the augmentation of human capability, forgetting how far we are from even replacing it.

Fred Johnson might be the name of the "one-armed man" from "the Fugitive" TV series, while he is Frederick Sykes in the 1993 Harrison Ford movie. There is some debate about what the character's name actually was in the TV series, but the take away here is that he was really just the "one-armed man," as this was his defining characteristic, and the only thing that audiences or even the other characters remember about him. Secondly, he was the guy responsible for all of Dr. Richard Kimble's troubles. Why? Who knows, but I'll bet it has something to do with that arm.

This movie is unique in that the machine/man conflict is not primarily a one of good and evil within the cyborg himself, but in terms of outside perception. Indeed, the robot was conceived as a Christ figure by the director, Paul Verhoeven, and his restoration and augmentation is his resurrection. Robocop is only prevented from apprehending his evil programmers by a directive not to act against them, although a sort of "man vs. machine/good vs. evil" moment occurs at the end of the movie when this protection is removed, Robocop shoots his maker, and calls himself by his original name, Murphy, for the first time.

Although not an amputee movie, we are right in the thick of the conflict between man and machine and good and evil here. The scene in the movie (1984) where the Terminator repairs his endoskeletal hand is at least as memorable as the similar scene in which Luke gets his prosthetic arm in "The Empire Strikes Back (1980)," and certainly informs what we think ought to be possible in prosthetic arms. Despite the fact that there is almost nothing human about the terminator, we get a full dose here of the idea that machines are evil and the antithesis of humanity and good. This gets clouded in the next few terminator movies.

Captain Hook is the villain of the original play by James M. Barrie, as well as the novel, 1953 animated movie, and other remakes of the story. The Captain was apparently an afterthought, but has remained an integral part of all of the stories, and is in fact the title character in the 1991 live-action film Hook. As with the one-armed man in the fugitive, Captain Hook is defined by his amputation and its replacement more than anything, and his hook represents his lost humanity and his evil nature.

Captain Ahab, the tyrannical whaling ship captain who lost his leg because of Moby Dick, is also obsessed with the creature who caused his limb loss. The whale, like the crocodile in Peter Pan, apparently also swallowed a timepiece. Ahab is yet another example of a mostly evil character whose physical deformity seems to be a literary device used to make him seem more menacing and less human.

Sgt. Hook