BellaOnline Forums Family Special Needs Children Protest - Tropic Thunder Disability Stereotype

Oh, drat.

It's not just words, it's an actor portraying a stereotype that is demeaning to individuals with developmental disabilities that will give school bullies and impressionable mainstream peers plenty of new ammunition to use in humiliating children who have learning challenges.

Surely we can expect better than this in 2008.

Pam W
SE of Seattle

People First Language Sensitivity
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Disablity Rights Groups Organizing Over "Tropic Thunder"

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I think it's far too easy to look at a movie like Tropic Thunder and jump on its various "hot button" issues, dismissing them as insensitive or offensive. To me, however, it's far more important to look at what the movie is doing as a whole. The entire premise of the movie it that it is a mockery of Hollywood; it doesn't just make fun of movies, it makes fun of actors, directors, storyboards, premises, the whole thing. The trailers aren�t calling �Simple Jack� the best movie ever, they come right out and say that it was an unsuccessful venture. Tropic Thunder isn�t making fun of the mentally disabled � it�s poking fun at those who would use disabilities or race for Hollywood blockbusters. The makers of Tropic Thunder are taking the films that actually disrespect these issues and are stepping back one more degree, to mock their mockeries.

To people who have disabilities and their families, it is more important to look at what the movie's portrayals and 'catch phrases' create or solidify in the minds of classmates, neighbors and thugs.

If you had ever seen a child you love flinch when hearing the offensive language used so casually in the marketing of this movie, you might have a better understanding of the power of words to inflict pain, shame and anger.



So portraying the mentally disabled in that way for the right reason is ok, in your opinion? I do not agree. Encouraging a climate of hate towards vulnerable people is wrong and denying responsibility for promoting stereotypes that seek to demean and dehumanize the population is wrong.

See:
Mar 1, 2008 - 'UK gang sentenced to life for murder of disabled man'
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[quote=SNC_Editor_Pam]
So portraying the mentally disabled in that way for the right reason is ok, in your opinion? I do not agree. Encouraging a climate of hate towards vulnerable people is wrong and denying responsibility for promoting stereotypes that seek to demean and dehumanize the population is wrong.

See:
Mar 1, 2008 - 'UK gang sentenced to life for murder of disabled man'
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I think the true bottom line isn't that the movie is a satire. The true bottom line is that its target audience is middle school boys who will latch onto the disrespectful language and take it to the halls and classrooms and locker rooms.

That's the reality of it, and I think Hollywood is well aware of it.

What frustrates me is that so many people want to ignore the consequences of films like this in the name of "art". I think that's a total cop-out.

Filmmakers need to admit they're just going for the buck and really don't care at whose expense they make it. It isn't about art or free speech or anti-censorship. It's all about greed.

And when my son, who is entering middle school in a few short weeks, is surrounded by boys who have seen this movie, is Ben Stiller going to be there and explain what his movie was really about? Nope. He's just going to be spending the cash while my son is being made fun of.

That's the reality. I don't really care if it frustrates anyone that I don't watch that kind of garbage and still protest it. I know what it does.

And what bugs me is that parents blame the behavior of children on the media. Not only is it up to the parent to not let an impressionable child see the film (it's rated R for a reason), it's up to the parent to teach their child how to be a decent and moral human being intrinsically, not rely on television and movies to educate their child about the world.

It's the same argument as the video game thing -- a child acts in a violent manner, and therefore it must be blamed on something, a violent video game or movie. It can't possibly have anything to do with a lapse in parenting, because it would force the adult in the situation to take responsibility for the life or lives they're supposed to be guiding.

DreamWorks has never marketed this movie toward the preteens and teens your son will be going to school with. A child who sees this movie (either illegally or with the help of his or her parents) and starts using the word "retard" was always going to be the type of child to make fun of another kid, for whatever reason he or she could manage to find. The fault doesn't lie with Tropic Thunder, or any other movie for that matter. The fault lies in parenting, to allow such bullying to take place. It has nothing to do with the media.

It doesn't frustrate me (or anyone else for that matter, I'd imagine) if you choose not to watch the film. It's your decision what you do or do not watch, just as it is everyone else's. What frustrates me is how fervently people are speaking about this from such an uninformed perspective. It'd be like (to cite an earlier example) seeing trailers for Bamboozled, and the black face involved, and calling it a racist movie, without going to see it and discovering that it's a movie about a statement about racism, and a movie about two PEOPLE. Not two black people, not two black people in black face, but two human beings and their struggles. Not a racist film in and of itself by any stretch.

I've been reading both sides of this debate with a lot of interest.

My oldest son has Asperger's syndrome, and although he is extremely high functioning and has an incredibly high intellect as far as book knowledge goes; the way he acts in society sometimes makes people think when they meet him that he might be mentally disabled. He has been called "retard" before - which infuriates him and will normally cause him to attack the person who did so. (Not the best way to convince the other person that there is nothing wrong with him.)

Overall I am not a Ben Stiller fan. The only movie of his I have ever liked was "Night at the Museum" (which I absolutely LOVED! and my kids did, too) so did not even pay much attention to this film, because I just generally dismiss anything he does - same with Adam Sandler.

But then I saw the controversy come up - so I started checking into it.

From what I understand the film is making fun of people who demean others. Meaning it is not making fun of the mentally disabled, it is making fun of the people that pick on them and bully them. It is actually showing that people who would abuse and make fun of disabled (or black or other minorities) are the dumb ones.

Also, I think the reason they have not displayed the mentally retarded character in the commercials is because they cannot explain this difference in the commercials without giving the plot away - and it would be irresponsible then. It would be advertising making fun of SNC, and so they haven't done so.

Thank you for hanging in here and helping me understand your perspective and the arguments of others who seem to share it. Some good that has come of this movie is that it has brought us together to talk about disability issues, the power of words, and disturbing issues in youth culture and media. These certainly are matters that need much more discussion than we usually see in our everyday lives.



We will have to agree to disagree on that one. Dreamworks created a marketing website at tuggspeedman.com that was cut after disability advocates protested. They tried to justify that they even put the equivalent of an "R" rating on it as if consumer group studies and their own marketing research had not already taught them that teens (and younger kids) are more likely to want to see movies with a restricted rating, and respond to the challenge of parental controls by learning early how to access inappropriate websites.



You have only to visit the courts or local police station to become aware that great kids make terrible mistakes in the spur of the moment, and wonderful kids in groups take on mob mentality when just one person with poor impulse control or a very bad idea asserts himself (or herself) in a leadership role.

You seem to be unaware of the culture of bullying that has developed in our schools, no matter what the economic status of the neighborhood or good intentions of parents, teachers and administrators.

Many adults do not realize the negative influence of teasing and sarcasm on their relationships within their own families. Parents may not realize that their son or daughter is identified as a bully by their peers, and bullies may not realize that they were feared and hated until many years later when their friends or victims mention how miserable they made others. Youth advocates work with bullies as much for their own sake as for their victims.

At lease as far back as Phil Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Project we discovered what happened to otherwise outstanding and accomplished teens and young adults when put in a position of power over vulnerable peers.

Our sons and daughters with developmental disabilities have mainstream brothers and sisters who are well aware of the effect movies and other media have on the way their siblings with disabilities are talked about and treated by classmates who are otherwise gifted and accomplished.

[quote=raleigh][quote=SNC_Editor_Pam]

...See:
Mar 1, 2008 - 'UK gang sentenced to life for murder of disabled man'
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Thanks to Colleen on the down-syn list for bringing to our attention the Facebook resources below:

Campaign to Ban the "R" Word (Donations benefit Special Olympics)
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