If the name Jimothy means anything to you, there’s a good chance you’re among the millions who have fallen under the social media spell of Seattle’s newest mascot: a rascally raccoon with a spinal condition.
Jimothy’s fame stems from a recent viral video that revealed the animal’s unique physical appearance, sparking curiosity and delight in viewers. Something about this little “trash panda” that only vaguely resembles a classic raccoon has made Jimothy famous enough to earn bobblehead immortality, star in a special google result surprise and basically become the world’s newest meme queen and/or short king. (Like so much about this diva, Jimothy’s gender remains an intriguing mystery.)
So goes the internet, but what are the deeper lessons we can take away from the way the world is embracing Jimothy, and what can our collective interest in a raccoon tell us mere humans about ourselves? To find out, we spoke with Helen Deutsch, professor of English and disability studies.
Photo caption: Short spine, big rizz: Jimothy (insert) the raccoon is now world famous. “Even though he’s a raccoon, I think Jimothy can remind us that disability is at the very heart of what it means to be human,” Helen Deutsch said.