The Last Acceptable Prejudice?
Regarding this boycott of the movie Tropic Thunder over its use of the term “retarded” and director and star Ben Stiller’s portrayal of “a weak-minded character named Simple Jack” : It’s starting to seem that, really, Hollywood’s got the “developmental delays”—is being “a little slow to get it”—-at least when it comes to understanding why mocking the “retarded” may be the last acceptable prejudice.
And, why they should stop doing it.
Here’s an article on the Special Olympics website about the boycott.
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14 opinions for The Last Acceptable Prejudice?
Jennifer
Aug 13, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I don’t necessarily think it’s the last, but reading some of the comments have convinced me that it’s certainly ingrained.
A lot of people commenting in the articles I have read have been saying things like “get over it,” or, “My coworker and I call each other that all the time but I would never do so to someone who really was.”
That just means to me that people don’t get how truly hurtful a word it can be.
(Also, I’ve taught several kiddos who, at first glance, do not appear to be developmentally delayed. In fact, a couple of them do not appear to be delayed on third or fourth glance (unless you asked them to read something or do math) — how does one know one isn’t inadvertently insulting someone?
Sometimes I worry about those guys even more than my students with more significant disabilities who, at least, are treated with more patience because they clearly have special needs.)
Tera
Aug 13, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Like Jennifer said, I don’t think it’s the last acceptable prejudice. I think you can find a lot of prejudices that are acceptable, and that people in privileged positions aren’t going to be aware of all the prejudices that do exist. (There are a lot of white people who think that racism doesn’t exist anymore, and that the civil rights movement is done).
A lot of people talking about the use of the r-word in “Tropic Thunder say things like, “They wouldn’t have gotten away with this if they’d used the n-word.” Well, the r-word and the n-word, while being equally hateful, have different histories. Also, one of the major characters in “Tropic Thunder” is a white man in blackface.
Although it seems from articles like this one that Stiller consulted with Brandon T. Jackson about Downey’s character, checking with him to make sure he hadn’t crossed the line. (Some black people think he did, however). I haven’t read that he consulted with someone with an intellectual disability about “Simple Jack.” Which is more this film crew’s fault than disablism being more acceptable than racism.
Jennifer
Aug 13, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I think (although I freely admit I may be oversimplifying here) that it is racism that has become (at least overtly) unacceptable. Professing overtly racist views is largely frowned upon, though of course there’s no real way to know how many people quietly hold similar views.
There are a whole bunch of other -isms, though, that people either feel unconsciously (ableism, for instance) or that people don’t see as a big deal.
I hope I dealt with that sensitively enough; no offense meant to any particular group.
I saw an interview with Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics here — he was interviewed with a gentleman with Down syndrome — and Mr. Shriver stated that there had been no consultation with groups representing people with special needs, nor anyone with special needs themselves.
And as far as unconscious prejudices go — I found the way the woman newscaster interacted with the man with Down syndrome to be very interesting. She seemed more hands-on with him than she would be with others. I may be off-base here, but I read her as condescending.
The male interviewer seemed less so, for what it’s worth.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 13, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I think it’s that people just seem very unawareness of how words like “stupid” and “idiot” can feel; stupidity is certainly the basis for a lot of comedy (Dumb and Dumber). I was equally troubled about having a character in blackface—-I understand that comedy likes to “push boundaries,” but think it you’re going to do this, it’s essential to do homework and bend over backwards to explain what you’re trying to do, and before rather than after.
Yes, my 2 cents!
Kate
Aug 13, 2008 at 9:03 pm
And while all of the sheeple laugh and justify insults by inciting Freedom of Speech, and You Are Just Overly Sensitive, I was taking my fifth grade son to a therapist because he was so picked on and bullied (and yes the “r” word was heard often and loudly) because he was threatening suicide —- let me repeat that —- in fifth grade.
In my less than stellar moments, I hope that the actors’ children receive the same treatment to understand, truly, how soul sucking and killing this hate speech can be.
In my better moments, I hope that no one will be subjected to prejudice for intellectual capabilities, motor capabilities or any other capability that deters from “normal.”
Storkdok
Aug 13, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Wow, this whole thing has really hit my husband hard, he is so disgusted. He absolutely hates the R word use outside of medicine, and he is now informing the OR personnel about the use of the R word in this movie, and many are saying they have lost interest in going to see it. He is definitely not a crusader type, but this has hit close to home for him.
Jennifer, I think you are right, there are a lot of people who think they are cool using the R word with each other. Problem is, they can’t always tell who has a hidden disability, like my son, or who is a relative or close friend of someone with a disability, so they will offend. Much of it is ignorance, and probably some of the use will be curtailed with informing some people why it is offensive. But there will always be that group who want to be “cool” or who actually do hate people who are different, they are out there.
As Kate has shown the end result of the use of the R word, it is as painful as a physical assault in many ways, maybe worse as the psychological scars can last for years. My heart goes out to your son, Kate, and your family. I was bullied terribly, although the R word wasn’t used as I got very good grades. The effects are still with me after 30-40 years. I have told the teachers at school that I will not allow this to happen to my son, and they have been instituting buddy systems for my son and now the younger kids, which has helped my son tremendously. The kids who have gotten to know him are like little mother hens (most are girls) and they would likely attack someone for bullying him, and would defend him vigorously. It is only the second grade, but my torment started in the first grade, so the earlier the better.
Tera
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Professing overtly racist views is largely frowned upon, though of course there’s no real way to know how many people quietly hold similar views.
True–although it depends on what the definition of “overtly racist” is. If it’s “white supremacist and proud of it,” then, yeah.
It’s easy to air racism publicly if, for instance, you avoid words that most white people recognize as racist. Most white people would recognize “uppity n__” as racist. So during the Democratic primaries in the United States, some feminists argued that the media was more sexist toward Hillary Clinton than they were racist toward Barack Obama, because they freely called her a “b***” but didn’t use the n-word. But the media (and the Clinton campaign) called Obama “elitist” very often. And “elite” is, among other things, an uppity word for “uppity.”
“White supremacist and proud of it” is a very narrow form of racism. And when white people get called on many of the vast other kinds of racism, it’s not uncommon for them to feel that it’s “not a big deal” or that people of color are “overly sensitive.”
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:12 pm
oh, Kate. thinking of him, and of you.
from the NY Times review—this is the first sentence and it suggests that, well, they don’t “get” it:
ok, but not all those who get “hit” were intentional targets.
Amanda
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:15 pm
“White supremacist and proud of it” is a very narrow form of racism. And when white people get called on many of the vast other kinds of racism, it’s not uncommon for them to feel that it’s “not a big deal” or that people of color are “overly sensitive.”
Indeed, I just got accused of doing something wrong just because I told people they were not welcome to say on my blog that black people are loud, obnoxious, and “cry racism” all the time.
(I suppose it’s “crying racist” to point out that’s a racist point of view.)
Another big problem is that people think that “racist” means “nasty evil monster”, so if they don’t view themselves as nasty evil monsters, then they can’t be racist ,and saying that an action is racist is just “name-calling” and “reverse racism” (wtf?).
When the reality is that a racist society puts racist views into everyone’s mind, including people who are the targets of racism. It’s the mark of racism that it’s invisible to most people who hold racist views.
Synesthesia
Aug 14, 2008 at 12:21 am
There’s still homophobia to consider.
Any kind of difference or variation can be a target, and it’s depressing. I wish folks would be a bit more sensitive and polite. Even OSC used that phrase in one of his articles.
It seems rather antiquated and rude to me. And also very limiting.
Jennifer
Aug 14, 2008 at 12:26 am
Homophobia was actually one of the first things I thought of, but as it’s not an -ism, I eventually forgot to add it.
There’s also all the common stereotypes about people of size….
Kristina Chew, PhD
Aug 14, 2008 at 1:20 am
And the Spanish slant-eye controversy in the Olympics……
cripchick
Aug 14, 2008 at 6:36 pm
homophobia is actually an -ism, a lot of people use the word heterosexism [the idea that being hetero is the norm and everything else is deviant] to describe it.
agree with everything tera and amanda wrote. we need to really think about the strategies we use or else we isolate people. i.e. i know a lot of disabled people of color who refuse or don’t feel connected to the disability rights movement because of these strategies.
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Aug 17, 2008 at 3:30 pm
[…] The Last Acceptable Prejudice? Hollywood’s got the “developmental delays”—is being “a little slow to get it”—-at least when it comes to understanding why mocking the “retarded” may be the last acceptable prejudice. […]
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