Disabled take offense at big-budget film release
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By Deirdre Cox Baker | Thursday, August 14, 2008 |
From left, cast members Bill Hader, Ben Stiller, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Downey Jr. pose together at the premiere of "Tropic Thunder" in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
Don’t call Jennifer Pauley the “r-word.” The Rock Island woman with developmental disabilities believes film scripts that include the pejorative term “retard” — such as the just-released big-budget movie “Tropic Thunder” — have no place in today’s world.
“They shouldn’t have made that movie in the first place,” said Pauley, speaking Thursday at a news conference in Rock Island that was organized by The Arc of Rock Island County.
“Tropic Thunder” has spawned protests across the nation from advocates for the disabled, including the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities. The movie opened this week, and objections began immediately.
The concerns center on a verbal exchange between stars Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. In the scene, the two actors’ characters use the words “retard,” “moron” and “imbecile” to describe a third person played by Stiller’s character in a fictional movie titled “Simple Jack.”
Three persons with developmental disabilities met with advocates at The Arc of Rock Island County to make clear that the word “retard” is especially offensive.
It is degrading and gives children the idea that people can be teased via the use of the word, said Nakisha Bragg of Moline. Steve Loete, also of Moline, explained that the disparaging term makes him feel dirty and unworthy.
In Los Angeles, protesters lined up across the street from the movie’s premiere Tuesday night and held signs bearing slogans such as “Call me by my name, not by my label” and chanted phrases such as “Ban the movie, ban the word.”
“I think it’s open to interpretation and that’s the great thing,” Downey told The Associated Press. “You know, if I want to protest something because it offends me, that’s my right as an American, and it’s also any artist’s right to say and do whatever they wanna do.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this article.)
Deirdre Cox Baker can be contacted at (563) 383-2492 or dbaker@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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