PB Cty: Help The Arc Fight Offensive Portrayal of People with Intellectual Disabilities

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From: Randee

Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 9:12 AM

To: Randee

Subject: Help The Arc Fight Offensive Portrayal of People with

Intellectual Disabilities

Help The Arc Fight Offensive Portrayal of People with

Intellectual Disabilities

More Info

in soon-to- be-released film " Tropic Thunder "

NEWS & INFORMATION

Contact

Us | The

Arc Website

1010 Wayne

Avenue, Suite 650, Silver Spring, MD 20910 |

Help The Arc

Fight Offensive Portrayal of People with Intellectual Disabilities

August 8, 2008

Background

Tropic

Thunder is an action/adventure/comedy scheduled for nationwide

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 premier will be held in Los Angeles, California on

Monday, August 11.

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 (see poster below). The film within-a-film's slogan

is " 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. "

Status

A small number of disability advocates was able to screen the film on

Friday, August 8. Their assessment of the film was that it was far

worse than anything they could have

anticipated. According to Tolleson, the Executive

Director of the National Down Syndrome Congress who attended the

screening, " it provides real ammunition for cruelty " especially

for the film's target audience of adolescent males. " Not only

is the Simple Jack character highly central to the film's

plot, it is portrayed in the most demeaning way, " according to

Tolleson.

In perhaps the single most offensive scene in the film,

McConaughey, who plays a Hollywood agent, speaks to the film's main

character who wants to adopt a child. " Well, at

least you still have a choice. I'm stuck with mine, " states

McConaughey while pointing to a photograph of his teenage son who appears

to have an intellectual disability.

There has been mounting outrage from the disability community as the

film's content is gradually becoming known. For excellent coverage

of the issue, see http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/08/01/once-upon-a-time/ and

related posts. Hundreds of comments have been posted on the blog

expressing outrage about the movie.

Representatives of a number of national disability organizations,

including The Arc's Executive Director V. Berns, met with

DreamWorks and Paramount studio executives in Los Angeles, California on

Wednesday, August 6. The purpose of the meeting was

to express concerns, request a viewing of the film, and discuss

possible solutions.

Take Action

Depending on negotiations with the studio executives over the weekend,

The Arc and its coalition partners may be calling on its membership to

take appropriate action. Such action includes a protest

at the premier in Los Angeles on August 11 and/or national boycott when

the film is released on August 13. Stay tuned......

Randee

Program Coordinator

The Arc/Family to Family

1201 Australian Ave

Riviera Beach, Fl.

33404-6698

(561)842-3213 *Fax

(561)863-4352

rgabriel@...

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