As I noted here I am a bit of a Stephen hawking fan. His surprise appearance singing The Galaxy Song at Monty Python Live ruled, as did his appearances in Star Trek, the Simpsons and so on. I just think it’s good to see a communication aid user being so prominent. On the other hand, you could say he has become a stereotype, an absolute self-publicist keen to trot himself out whenever anyone needs a token crippled genius. Indeed, when I first read a couple of days ago that Hawking would like to be in a Bond film, I thought it was an excellent idea: he’d be perfect, say, making a cameo in Q-branch. But then I read on, and thought a bit more. In fact, Hawking would like to be a bond baddie, and that is highly problematic. Is the guy deliberately trying to reinforce stereotypes?! Does he like being used as a human cliche? It would be so crass, so obvious; no wonder the disability community hates the idea. A small, unobtrusive cameo would be fine, but please, prof, don’t degrade yourself like that – don’t become your own caricature!