Disabilities in the media.

More people in today's day and age are being portrayed with disabilities in television and news media. With the runaway success of the show Family Guy over the past 7 or 8 years, one character in particular, Joe Swanson, really catches my attention.
If you don't know already, or don't watch the show, Joe is a hot shot police officer in the town the show takes place in who supposedly had an accident on the job that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He is confined to a wheel chair from the very first episode.
If you're looking for classy humor in a show, Family Guy is not for you, as sometimes Joe's disability is made fun of, however Joe never seems to mind too much. Joe never misses a beat with his buddies because of his disability, whether its being wheel-barrowed around with skates on his hands at the roller rink or being strung like a marionette for a dance number, it may look degrading, but Joe is always having fun.
And let's not forget Joe is still a cop. He prides himself on never loosing a "perp." In several episodes his police siren pops out of his wheel chair and he wheels down the bad guys, showing great agility and upper arm strength.
While this doesn't necessarily provide inspiration to thousands of disabled people in this country, it does provide an outlet for people to laugh without feeling like they should be condemned for it. In the long run it may create a more comfortable environment for people with and without physical disability to not only talk about it but to be unashamed about having one themselves. I realize that a great many people in this world with a physical "disability" do not consider themselves disabled at all, and feel no shame for their misfortunes. Joe is pop culture's shining example of this type of person. Joe is paralyzed and doesn't let it slow him down in the slightest, all the while keeping an open mind to a few tasteless jokes. People can learn a lesson from Family Guy about "tolerance." There are appropriate ways to portray and even laugh about a disability in this world. We've all got to find something to laugh about, including ourselves once in a while.