Watching Babylon 5 With Prosopagnosia
I've been working my way through Babylon 5 over at Krynne's place. We are currently a little more than halfway through Season 1, and no, I had never seen a single episode before this. Shocking, no?
I'm enjoying the show immensely, but I do have a problem watching it. Sometimes I can't quite tell what's going on, or I miss key plot points as they happen. The reason is the fact that I have prosopagnosia, which means I don't recognise faces very well. So when a character is introduced in one setting, then pops up again in a significant manner - like the tasering thug being introduced as the new lab assistant - I miss it. I'm also slow to figure out which major character is being featured if they've changed clothes or hairstyle - but they usually talk enough so that I can get it before the scene ends.
The amazing thing is that this is the first time this has ever really been a problem (although I do recall having the occasional difficulty with DaVinci's Inquest). I'm not fully sure why this is, but most TV shows keep their characters in particular outfits and hairstyles, and have them use easily identifiable mannerisms and expressions that make pure face recognition unnecessary. Also, I think most other shows manage their plots in such a way that you don't have to "hang on" to information - including character recognition - from one scene over several intervening arcs before getting to apply it in the next related scene.
I would also have to say that Babylon 5 is the first show I've ever seen where spaceship recognition played such a role. In the episode I watched last night, I was very pleased with myself for recognising a Vorlon ship without any clues, but then totally missed the point of a brief space-battle scene by not figuring out what kind of ship was being shown. In order to have known, I would have had to recognise the type of ship from several episodes previous. This is being inflicted on somebody with visual processing disorder who can just about tell a sedan from an SUV.
It helps greatly to be watching the show on DVD, so it can be paused if necessary, and to be watching with people who've seen it before, so aren't bothered by my needing to ask questions periodically. And then of course any show is made better by good company. :)
I'm enjoying the show immensely, but I do have a problem watching it. Sometimes I can't quite tell what's going on, or I miss key plot points as they happen. The reason is the fact that I have prosopagnosia, which means I don't recognise faces very well. So when a character is introduced in one setting, then pops up again in a significant manner - like the tasering thug being introduced as the new lab assistant - I miss it. I'm also slow to figure out which major character is being featured if they've changed clothes or hairstyle - but they usually talk enough so that I can get it before the scene ends.
The amazing thing is that this is the first time this has ever really been a problem (although I do recall having the occasional difficulty with DaVinci's Inquest). I'm not fully sure why this is, but most TV shows keep their characters in particular outfits and hairstyles, and have them use easily identifiable mannerisms and expressions that make pure face recognition unnecessary. Also, I think most other shows manage their plots in such a way that you don't have to "hang on" to information - including character recognition - from one scene over several intervening arcs before getting to apply it in the next related scene.
I would also have to say that Babylon 5 is the first show I've ever seen where spaceship recognition played such a role. In the episode I watched last night, I was very pleased with myself for recognising a Vorlon ship without any clues, but then totally missed the point of a brief space-battle scene by not figuring out what kind of ship was being shown. In order to have known, I would have had to recognise the type of ship from several episodes previous. This is being inflicted on somebody with visual processing disorder who can just about tell a sedan from an SUV.
It helps greatly to be watching the show on DVD, so it can be paused if necessary, and to be watching with people who've seen it before, so aren't bothered by my needing to ask questions periodically. And then of course any show is made better by good company. :)