Action Alert

[Guest guest]

Thought this was important enough to not wait until I get back

tomorrow.

Marie

BEWARE ... it is vitally important for parents and advocates to

realize the

content that this movie shows offensive portrayal of people with

Intellectual Disabilities and thus it would be wise to entirely

boycott the

viewing of same. Anyone who has (or knows) a child with a cognitive

impairment would surely not see ANY " humor " in the potential summer

blockbuster that offensively makes a comedic satire out of someone

else's

shortcomings! See the message below from Executive Director,

Berns

from the ARC ...

SmartQuote ____________ _________ ___

http://www.smartbri ef.com/images/ briefs2/common/ 666666_quotes.

gif A man only

learn in two ways; one by reading,

and the other by association with smarter people! "

--Will

_____

_____

The Arc of the US <https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/

view.image? id=397>

Contact

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ Page.aspx? pid=216 & srcid=

4901 & srctid= 1 & e

rid=56073> Us | The

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ Page.aspx? pid=183 & srcid=

4901 & srctid= 1 & e

rid=56073> Arc Website

1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 650, Silver Spring, MD 20910 | 301.565.3842

ACTION ALERT - Offensive Portrayal of People with Intellectual

Disabilities

in Movie Scheduled for Release on August 13, 2008

August 5, 2008

State and Local Chapter Leaders

From: V. Berns, Executive Director

The following is important information about a movie - Tropic

Thunder - that

includes a very negative portrayal of a person with intellectual

disabilities as well as extensive use of the R-word. Release of this

movie

was discussed at the NCE meeting last week, as well as The Arc Board

of

Directors meeting on Sunday & Monday. We now want to make sure

everyone has

the most current information available.

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ smtp.mailopen? id=56073>

Background

Tropic

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ page.redir? target=http% 3a%

2f%2fwww. imdb

..com%2ftitle% 2ftt0942385% 2f & srcid= 4922 & srctid= 1 & erid=56125>

Thunder is a

comedy/action/ adventure scheduled for release on August 13 and

promises to

be one of the blockbusters of the summer. DreamWorks is the film's

producer

and Paramount is its distributor.

The film features popular actors Ben Stiller, Downey Jr. and

Jack

Black as self-absorbed actors filming a big-budget war movie on

location.

Through a series of freak occurrences, they are forced to become the

soldiers they are portraying.

Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a fading action star who earlier failed

in his

bid for an as " Simple Jack, " a man with an intellectual

disability.

" Simple Jack " is featured as a film-within- a-film, with Stiller

sporting a

classic institutional bowl haircut and bad teeth. The film within-a-

film' s

promotional poster (below) bears the subtitle " Once upon a time

there was a

retard. " Elsewhere is the slogan " What he doesn't have in his head,

he

makes up for in his heart. " A satirical plot synopsis quotes a

critic as

saying that Speedman's Jack was " one of the most retarded

performances in

cinema history. "

retard, retarded, intellectual disability

<http://i209. photobucket. com/albums/ bb180/anniemacos

ta/SimpleJack. jpg>

While we have not yet seen the movie, from what has been publicly

available

it is clear that the film is a very negative portrayal of people with

intellectual disabilities. There has been mounting outrage from the

disability community. For excellent coverage of the issue, you may

want to

visit the website www.patriciaebauer. com

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ page.redir? target=http% 3a%

2f%2fwww. patr

iciaebauer.com & srcid=4922 & srctid=1 & erid=56125> and review her

posts and

responsive comments over the past week. Hundreds of comments have

been

posted on the blog expressing outrage about the movie.

Promotional materials for the movie included an offensive website

www.simplejakemovie .com

<https://www. thearc.org/ NetCommunity/ page.redir? target=http% 3a%

2f%2fwww. simp

lejakemovie. com & srcid= 4922 & srctid= 1 & erid=56125> that now appears

to be no

longer operational since since The Arc and other disability groups

started

asking questions about the film

I am flying out to Los Angeles on Wednesday August 6 to meet with

DreamWorks Chief Executive Officer and studio executives from in Los

Angeles, California on Wednesday, August 6. I will be joining Joe

Meadours,

The Arc board member and executive director of People First of

California,

as well as representatives of other national disability

organizations. The

purpose of the meeting is to express our concerns, request a viewing

of the

film, and discuss possible solutions.

Call to Action Will Follow

The Arc national staff will be back in touch with you later in the

week to

provide an update about the meeting. Depending on the outcome of the

meeting, one option being considered is to call for a national

boycott of

the film and to urge state and local chapters of The Arc to go to

the movies

on August 13, 2008 with protest signs as well as appropriate

informational

literature.

As events unfold, we will send you additional information via email

alerts.

Also watch the hompage of The Arc website where we will plan to post

talking

points and other information to help you organize and take action. In

particular, we will soon be posting to the site talking points about

why the

R-word is hate speech.

In the meantime there are a few preparations you can begin to make:

>review your communications options (email lists, etc) and think

about how

you will get the word out about this movie,

>compile a list of local media that you will want to reach out to

about the

issue,

>identify parents and self-advocates that you would like to have

speak out,

>begin to draft op-ed articles and letters to the editor about the

issue,

>identify other organizations that may be allies (e.g. ACLU, NAACP,

other

civil rights groups, other disability groups) that have networks you

will

also want to mobilize,

>talk to younger staff about how some of the social networking sites

could

be used to take action.

In short, please do your best to begin preparations for a massive

action.

Again, we will be back to you with further information after the

meeting.