Dear Community, Dear Friends,  

As a parent of a child with a cognitive disability as well as a relative to another, I consider the word "retard" very offensive. As a child, my mother was quick to educate us on how offensive this is to our family and others.  

Today it is a word that is tossed around thoughtlessly, few people even understanding the true meaning of the word.  It is through education that we can stop this from happening.    

I'm forwarding information to you for you to share with everyone you know regarding a new movie called "Tropic Thunder" that belittles people with cognitive disabilities.   Please do your part to help put a stop to discrimination and abuse of people with disabilities. Boycotting this movie offers a great opportunity to share information about individuals that have developmental abilities and to put a stop to the "R" word

Christine Garton

FSN of the Sandhills

Program Coordinator

Mother of a child with a disability

910-246-8059 ext.25  

 --- On Thu, 8/14/08, Irene Zipper wrote:

From: Irene Zipper
Subject: Re: [fsn_programs] FW: The Arc of the United States calls for national boycott of film Tropic Thunder
To: "FSN Affiliated Programs Mailing List"
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 8:49 AM

 

Parent to Parent USA is among the many groups that has been involved in discussions with Dreamworks, and FSN of NC staff have reviewed a draft of a letter that is to be published in the New York Times.  One major concern is that this film not only makes use of an offensive term, but denies the valuable contributions that individuals with disabilities make to our society.  One of the discussions has been about whether letters should be coming from advocacy organizations or from individuals with disabilities themselves.  I think they should come from both, and it is important to emphasize the valuable contributions that all individuals are able to make to the society.   This movie seems to undermine that message, unfortunately  

Irene Nathan Zipper, MSW, PhD
Director
Family Support Network of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
CB #7340
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7340
(919) 966-6395
http://www.fsnnc.org/

    -----Original Message-----
From: Sue Price [mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ]

Subject: The Arc of the United States calls for national boycott of film Tropic Thunder

Dear Friends,  

I am writing this in response to several phone calls and emails we received about the movie Tropic Thunder, which hits the theaters today. Here is some information we received from The Arc of the United States which describes the movie and it's impact on individuals with intellectual disabilities.

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 film features popular actors Ben Stiller, Robert 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 Oscar 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 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 David 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, Matthew 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://capwiz.com/thearc/utr/1/LLMRJBOBNK/JPDRJBQIYG/2272335441 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 Peter V. Berns attended a screening of the movie and state that it is even worse than they imagined. As a result, Arcs across the country, in collaboration with other disability groups, are calling for a national boycott of the file.

What can you do? Join us in boycotting this offensive film. Forward this email to your colleagues, friends and family asking for their support. All of us have friends and relatives spread out across this country. Our voice will be more powerful if we join together. Consider sending a letter to Dream Works expressing your outrage at the hurtful language used in the movie. (I have attached a sample letter to use if you wish)  Please consider that this is also a great opportunity for us to educate our community about People First Language! As educators, families and professional in the field, we all how damaging and hurtful this derogatory language is. Now is our chance to speak about this important issues to our children, friends and neighbors. We have an opportunity to make a real difference here, and I hope we can count on you to do whatever you can to help. Thanks so much.  

Sue Price
Executive Director
The Arc of Cabarrus County, Inc.
P. O. Box 1367
Concord, NC 28026-1367
704-788-1616  

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead, Cultural Anthropologist and Author