[Peace-discuss] Article on Tropic Thunder

[Marti Wilkinson]

Parents of disabled kids protest over 'Tropic Thunder' By Julie
Wurth<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/reporter/jwurth/> Thursday
August 14, 2008
Parents of children with disabilities recoil at the word "retard," so  when
it popped up in a movie that opened this week, they mobilized.

Disability advocates protested at the Los Angeles premiere of "Tropic
Thunder" earlier this week, and local supporters held a "Rally for Respect"
at the movie's opening at the Savoy 16 theater on Wednesday afternoon.

"It's concerned parents and siblings and people in the community that just
have had enough of it being socially OK to put down people who have
intellectual disabilities," said organizer Jennifer Schrad of Champaign, who
has a 1-year-old daughter with Down syndrome.

Schrad said she hadn't seen the movie, as it just opened nationwide
Wednesday, but she said Down syndrome organizations in Los Angeles were
allowed to pre-screen it, and transcripts are widely available on the Web.

The movie-within-a-movie is an action-comedy about a group of self-absorbed
actors who set out to shoot a big-budget war movie but are forced to become
the soldiers they are portraying.

Director and star Ben Stiller plays an actor who had previously portrayed a
mentally disabled character named "Simple Jack." Robert Downey Jr.'s
character tells him that he erred in going "full retard" in that role,
adding, "Never go full retard."

In another scene, Matthew McConnaghy, playing a movie producer, complains
about being "stuck" with an intellectually disabled child, Schrad said.

The word "retard" is used more than 15 times throughout the film, she said.

Special Olympics, the American Association of People with Disabilities and
other disability rights groups have called for a boycott.

At the movie's premiere Monday night in Los Angeles, Stiller acknowledged
critics' right to protest but defended the film.

"I did not set out to offend anybody, but sometimes, when you are making an
R-rated comedy, that happens," Stiller told Entertainment Weekly. "That is
not what I set out to do, but I think the movie is good and it speaks for
itself."

The movie's defenders say it's satire, intended to poke fun at Hollywood and
actors who will do anything to get an Oscar.

A joke in Hollywood is that roles portraying those with disabilities – aka
"Forest Gump" – are shoo-ins for Academy Awards.

"The problem is in doing that they are causing undue pain to people with
intellectual disabilities," Schrad said. "They are making fun of people."

Even before the movie was released, T-shirts with "Never go full retard"
were advertised on the Internet, she said.

"It's already become a common phrase," she said. "Teenagers, middle
schoolers, are going to take bits and pieces from that film and they're
going to use it. That language is already in popular culture."

Schrad and others set up an informational table in the Savoy 16 lobby
Wednesday, with informational materials about people with intellectual
disabilities.

Savoy 16 manager Jeremy Curtis declined to comment about the content of
"Tropic Thunder," saying the theater's role is to show movies and let
viewers decide for themselves.

"Almost every movie has something offensive in it to someone," he said.
"We've shown movies from all different viewpoints. We try not to turn any
movie or person away. Whether you're for it or against it, you can express
your feelings."

Schrad hopes her efforts will help people understand that use of the "R
word," even in jest, insults people with disabilities, like her daughter,
whether it's intentional or not.

"I would like to spark discussion about why the word 'retard' is still
socially acceptable in our society as an insult, especially when school is
about to start. I want the hallways to be safer for our kids. I don't want
them to have to go back, with all the challenges they already face, to have
this new Hollywood popular phrase thrown around."

Schrad understands that publicity about the controversy might actually
encourage more people to see the film.

"I'm not naive enough to think that a protest like this, or drawing
attention to this movie, would lead to it being altered or changed," she
said.

She's read the "horrific" comments posted on the Web in response to other
articles about the protests, including one saying, "People with intellectual
disabilities are little more than animals in human form. You need to get
over yourselves."

"A portion of society will be in that hateful camp that we're not going to
be able to reach," she said.

"What I'm hoping to do is reach those in the middle, who don't know what's
happening in the film, that isn't being publicized in the trailers. And
specifically, if I can reach one person who has a loved one or is a person
with an intellectual disability, and let them know what this movie is about
before they've been assaulted in the theater, then what I've done is worth
it."
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Find this article at:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2008/08/14/parents_of_disabled_kids_protest_over_tropic_thunder
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