Stop the Stereotypes

I've been encouraged by how society is slowly changing when it comes to people with disabilities, stereotypes towards them, and just general respect. That is....until this.....

Please DO NOT contribute to this movie in anyway by going to see it in theatres, renting it from Blockbuster, or reserving it on Netflix. This is very demeaning and a sick portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities. And to go as far as use the "R" word on the title cover is an ignorant and shameful way to promote a movie. The movie is called Tropic Thunder.

On a personal note....before having Ryan, I would have been somebody who would have probably gone to see this movie just by the actors that are in it. I would have probably laughed at the joke lines and the making fun. But now that I have a son who some would (have probably already called) call the "R" word, it is no laughing matter. I got my education the hard way when it comes to accepting and seeing people with disabilites through different eyes. Ryan and others with intellectual/developmental disabilities have a heart and soul just like we do. They are no more less of a person just because their brain works a little differently, or because of their disability. They are entitled to live with acceptance, respect and dignity. A movie like this sets all of that back for them. Ryan has a tough road ahead of him as he grows. By movies like this coming out, that road could potentially be harder. My hope would be that everyone that personally knows Ryan, or somebody else with a disability, that they would spread the good things about him/them and stop the stereotypes.

SHOCKING! Summer Movie: "Once Upon a Time...There was a Retard"


SOURCE: Pat Bauer, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001HF0gZ9CRScxedeLDH-j8fNLlpQuUDVAoTMAdo0TCxv2risLee4F3muPm84FGHBssvaURp23HdAKG1AS1ww4mglj1BkA2cbNJVecMNIZ1NAz4SN9UEEf9sQ==Trailers for "Tropic Thunder," a big budget summer comedy/action/adventure movie due out August 13, don't make mention of Ben Stiller's role as the lead actor in "Simple Jack" - a movie-within-the-movie that makes prolific use of the word "retard" and plays into hurtful stereotypes.

Created by DreamWorks Pictures, "Tropic Thunder" features performances by Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., and Ben Stiller as actors who are filming a war movie on location. Stiller's character plays Tugg Speedman, an action star whose fame is fading and who failed in his bid for an Oscar starring as "Simple Jack," a man with an intellectual disability who can speak to animals.

"Simple Jack" is featured as a film within "Tropic Thunder" in which Stiller wears an institutional bowl haircut and bad teeth. The movie within the movie has its own marketing website, featuring the "movie" poster slogan "Once upon a time...There was a retard" and the overall slogan of "What he doesn't have in his head, he makes up for in his heart." One of the fake "critics" of the "movie" on this marketing site critiques Speedman's performance as "one of the most retarded performances in cinema history."

While the studio may claim this is all meant as comedic reference to Hollywood films that starred non-disabled actors in disabled roles (Forrest Gump, Rain Man, etc.), lots of folks aren't laughing, including the 14.3 million Americans with cognitive disabilities, their friends, and families.

A clip of the movie and an unofficial transcript is available on the JFActivist blog.

(WARNING: Much of the dialogue contains offensive language)