No disrespect but she was a rude ass little girl. I don't know why in every episode she was so bitter. I understand that everyone was nice because she handicap but sometimes I wish someone rolled her off somewhere. I dislike her character for how rude she was made out to be.
My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather
I was flipping through the channels today when I saw her on there, and I just had to stop. I remember first seeing her on the show when I was around 7 or 8 and the first thing I thought about was how rude and mean she was. Back in the day kids would get in trouble for calling other kids "turkeys" and talking with that much sass in school, and I was amazed she could talk like that without getting in trouble. Sure times have changed, and her behavior is mild, but seeing her today brought back memories LOL.
shareShe even insulted Willis by telling him to take a hike or something. I mean she was straight up ignorant in other people's house. I'm happy she only lasted 4 episodes. Arnold tired to hard to kiss up to her.
My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather
She was spunky for sure. I like the way she kept Arnold and his buddies on the straight and narrow. My favorite Kathy episode is Hall Monitor from season 5 where she rats on everyone but Arnold who catches crap from the other kids because of it. I love when Miss Chung reads her "bad" list and what the kids did to get on it. Some boy even got on there for belching!! Kathy explains that you haven't heard so and so after he's had a chili dog!!
shareYou'd be pissed too if you were disfigured and stuck in a wheelchair for life!
Jesus NEVER existed! He is Judeo Christian MYTH!
I work around people who are wheelchair bound and a lot of them seem far from bitter.
My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather
But you're also working around people after 1990....when they can access public places etc, have the right to vote work attend college if they want. That's the difference. This wasn't the case in the mid 1980's. She's not upset about "the wheelchair" she's upset bc right now her guaranteed opportunities end after graduating 12th grade. That's it as far as she knows. So yes, she's upset.
shareShe's not disfigured. She has a disease called osteogenesis imperfecta (O.I.) It's where the bones are very brittle. I agree w/the poster that said she's spunky.
"Soft Kitty, Warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy Kitty, sleepy kitty purr purr purr!"
But her bones were smaller than normal.
Jesus NEVER existed! He is Judeo Christian MYTH!
Spunky? Spunky implies they are being lighthearted. Spunky implies their behavior is appropriate. Kathy was bitter and angry. Running over Arnolds foot with a heavy motorized chair isn't "Spunky" it's just mean. 90% of what tumbled out her mouth was angry insults and negativity. She was just an angry jerk.
shareExactly, Punky Brewster was spunky. Kathy was bitchy.
I'm straight...applaud me for my bravery!
Lol. I just saw that episode the other day. She actually told Willis to "Go suck a brick" haha.
Kathy, like another handicap star from a sitcom, Cousin Geri's unfunny ass from The Facts of Life, annoyed the crap out of me.
I'm straight...applaud me for my bravery!
At least Geri wasn't rude and nasty like Kathy, but I wish both shows didn't make the characters always kiss their ass because they were handicapp.
My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather
Kathy was a very rude ass kid, she was also self entitled. And you're right, I hated how people were supposed to kiss both Geri and Kathy's asses. "Oh wow, look what Kathy can do!" "Oh wow, Geri is the funniest person since Lucille Ball, hey, even funnier"... 
I'm straight...applaud me for my bravery!
Both shows look superdated because our ideas and expectations of/for people with disabilities have so radically changed. We did not have ADA on the books in early 1980's. It was still actually completely legal to deny employment, public accommodations, public transit, voting to people just bc they had disabilities. This is why it is also now really hard to get social security, a disability itself now does not mean you automatically cannot work.
shareI think NBC wanted to cash in on 'special ed' because kids with disabilities were entering public schools and they had this show about a girls private school. Well, the network never understood that the education rules back then meant 'private' did mean the school could admit who met it's standards and 'admission tests' would exclude some disabilities (special ed was established so no child was excluded regardless of type severity of disability). If they had waited until the ADA was passed....that could have worked.
shareI agree!!! She was a JERK! She freaked me out when the show was originally on and I was about 8. Not so much because she looked like a head on wheels with GIANT glasses that magnified her eyes, but because she was such a JERK! And god forbid anyone ELSE even look at her wrong!! I'm glad her mom yelled at her a few times when she was out of line!
And Ms. Chung was such an enabler! When Kathy was Hall Monitor and wrote people up for RIDICULOUS reasons (Singing in the halls? belching? "Booing???") Ms. Chung LET her do it and punished the rest of the class!
She got all pissed at Arnold for simply ASKING why she doesn't use her crutches, yet she treats everyone else like garbage. The writers made her a horrible example for handicapped people! (oh wait, she got FURIOUS when she was called "Handicapped!")
I remember the episode where the girl with Lukemia was a brat until Arnold showed her kindness...Wish Kathy had learned that lesson.
(oh wait, she got FURIOUS when she was called "Handicapped!")
(oh wait, she got FURIOUS when she was called "Handicapped!")
She probably waited the word "handicapped" because she didn't want people talking down to her or feeling sorry for her.
To the person who posted "handicaple" I agree!!! 100%
"Soft Kitty, Warm kitty, little ball of fur. Happy Kitty, sleepy kitty purr purr purr!"
The reason that person wrote "handicapable" wasn't something they come up with on their own, THAT was the actual line in the episode. Kathy says it herself. Arnold, in a really nice way, uses the word "Handicapped" and she puffs up and screams "I'M HANDICAPABLE!!! Don't EVER call me Handicapped!!!!" as if Arnold meant to "insult" her. Which he didn't. he was being nothing but sensitive to her and she just screamed and yelled at him all the time.
Cathy was nice much of the time too. You can understand Cathy being upset considering the hand she was dealt.
Jesus NEVER existed! He is Judeo Christian MYTH!
Yes, that's why I said handicapable. If you grew up watching this show like I did, you'd never forget that annoying little jerk yelling that at Arnold
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You have many question, Mr Sparkle. I send you premium -- answer question, hundred percent!
I love that your screen name is Mr. Sparkle. Complete with the pic of him! Love that SImpsons episode!
shareHer mom made her apologize to Willis.
shareShe was a bitch.
shareI'm watching the episode now and what people getting mad at her really don't understand is that Kathy--and likely her parents realize is that Kathy probably won't have opportunities after 12th grade.
She is 'mean' by our standards only bc she is frustrated by limited life opportunities--compared to Arnold etc who can readily go out and about their city.
Kathy merely has guaranteed access to her own private house (which would have to be not an apartment/not a rental) bc her parents had picked it out, and the k-12 public school she is now attending.
This is not really a 'big world' to be excited about. This is 1983 (when the episode is originally airing) and ADA was not passed yet. Much different world than we have now (2020).
IF Kathy gets into a building or job before ADA, it will be as a 'favor' so yeah it probably is frustrating.
She realizes the building management of an apartment...etc can remove the ramps, eliminate elevators...etc and there is nothing she can actually do. She cannot sue them for violating her civil rights--she doesn't have those right now.
I hope that people watching the episode understand how civil rights are much better and far more permanent than favors.
Favors for people with disabilities can be removed at any time and there is nothing people who had 'a favor" can then do.
This is why she comes across as bitchy etc. There are no laws guaranteeing her access to anything besides public k-12 school in 1983.
please watch/re-watch the episode with all of this now in mind. Then the episodes will make much more sense.
Her attitude sucked. They should have brought Laura Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie" in for a crossover, so she could have pushed Kathy's wheelchair down a steep hill, same way she did with Nellie Oleson.
shareshe told Willis to suck a brick!
I couldn't stand her character when I was young. the past month I been looking at diff'rent strokes & um, she wasn't bad as I thought. lol.
___________________
he left u NAKED in a DITCH!
She was a bitch.
shareThere were times she was nice. The actress made appearances on Sesame Street as well. Snobby Lisa got on my nerve too. I sometimes wonder what the minor characters are doing now. I recall the actress that played Lisa also played the kid sister with sickle cell in the movie " Body and Soul"
shareMaybe it would have been better if Kathy had been manipulative instead of bitter.
sharelook @ it from perspective of back then ( early 1980s) instead of today
the only laws on the books were laws requiring access to public schools and Reagan was even challenging those--which her family (and others had to constantly fight to keep). Really time consuming
Was not like today....nothing required access to public places period. No civil rights laws existed. Nothing requiring access to sidewalks or polling places!!
So yes of course she had a chip on her shoulder. Lots of places were inaccessible. Or they could remove her just for who she was.
And there was nothing she and her family could do about it. There were no civil rights laws for her and her family to use to challenge that inaccessibility!!
It looks odd....like a lot of the episodes bc our expectations for ourselves and each other have changed.
We would be mad now if we, our friends and/or family members could not go certain places just bc we/they had a disability. Or if we woke up and could not vote just bc we had a disability.