i don't claim to know it all. i don't claim to be perfect. i just claim to love jesus.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

ban tropic thunder?

wow. i didn't know of this movie unitl a few days ago. but man what a controversey.i know i WILL NOT be seeing the movie. please check out this blog www.myspecialks.com/2008/08/monday-moment-for-down-syndrome-tropic.html
for one mom's view on it. i like her view. she has links to other blogs about it as well. i have always had a heart for special needs kids, today on the news they were talking to some about the movie and i cried. the problem with the movie is this scene: (copied from above blog)

The actor character played by Ben Stiller, Tugg Speedman, has key scenes in the movie which recreate a character he has played called Simple Jack. Jack is a ‘retard’. This element of the movie gives rise to a slew of objectionable phrases slanted directly at the disabled. Take the following, a conversation between Downey Jr’s character and Stiller’s, revolving around Stiller’s decision to play said ‘retard’:

Stiller: There were times when I was doing Jack when I actually felt retarded. Like really retarded.

Downey: Oh yeah. Damn.

Stiller: In a weird way, I had to sort of just free myself up to believe that it was okay to be stupid or dumb.

Downey: To be a moron.

Stiller: Yeah.

Downey: To be moronical.

Stiller: Exactly.

Downey: An imbecile.

Stiller: Yeah. When I was playing a character.

Downey: When you was a character.

Stiller: Yeah, I mean, as Jack. Definitely.

Downey: It’s like working with mercury. It’s how science makes art form.

Stiller: Yeah.

Downey: You an artist.

Stiller: It’s what we do, right?

Downey: Everybody knows you never do a full retard.

Stiller: What do you mean?

Downey: Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, Rainman, look retarded, act retarded, not retarded.
Count toothpicks to your cards. Autistic. Sure. Not retarded.You know Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump. Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and he won a ping-pong competition? That ain’t retarded.You went full retard, man. Never go full retard

wow. huh? the movie industry seems to act like this isn't a big deal. but why not? i want to know if it'd be a big deal if the 'r' word was replaced with the 'n' word. and the african american population was fighting them. would it be let go as easily? it's frustrating we have to live in a world like this. thank goodness this world is NOT my home. oh i just don't know. it's so irritating. freedom of speech? yes. but why do we have to hurt people to have that freedom? i don't understand. not one bit. i think of all the faces i saw on tv, the faces at camp daniel this summer and want to cry at the hurt they must be feeling because of all of this. i want to scream: can't we all just GET ALONG!?! argh. in high school two boys were making fun of a girl from the special ed room...i told them to stop. they looked at me surprised i'd stick up for 'her' and then went on making fun of each other then. i saw that girl this past week at the farmer's market. she's still good ole kari. i said hi. she had no words to say that she remembered me, but i pray she did. wanna know something crazy?! she was born completely 'normal'. then she got hit with a ball on the playground. then she was completely changed and not the same. she can't go to the bathroom by herself, needs to have help all day and night long, but does that mean we're given the right to make fun of her? no. not at all. i'm not going to laught at her expense. i'm just not going to. i find NO humor in making fun of her. argh.

i could go on and on about this. how frustrated, irritated, saddened i am. but i won't. make the decision for yourself. but i'm not seeing the movie. i'm saddened at the actors who took part in it don't see the hurt they are causing, or at least don't seem to realize it.

please keep little gage in your prayers. they found out yesterday he will probably have to have surgery a bit sooner then they thought. probably in october. surgery can be a scary time i'm sure, but ptl for his medicine and technology that we have surgery to 'fix' us while we are here. because once we get to heaven we get brand spanking new bodies and not a problem with them. i look forward to no more aches myself. of course surgery is never fun but what is about drs and hospitals? (babies born i guess...but that hurts too!) i've come to realize that being sick, surgery, even dying never fit into my plans. good thing god knows the plan before i do and they're so much better then mine anyway...why do i bother? i don't know. i've failed everytime i try to do things 'by myself'.

well i'm done. this post has been full of lots of emotion and probably lots of controversy. have a fun filled happy day.

2 loving words from you.:

Mommy to those Special Ks said...

Thank you so much for posting this and getting the word out!

prettybyrdie said...

Let me just say, I really like your blog, so don't take this the wrong way. I am a Christian, and I believe God has created us all uniquely and for His divine purpose, including those of us with disabilities. I think it's appalling that 90%, yes, 90% of all children with Downs Syndrome are aborted. There are real and fearsome obstacles that face the mentally disabled, and I would never take them lightly.

BUT.... This movie has absolutely nothing to do with that. The film is about how dumb Hollywood is. The scene you quoted is not about being "retarded" in any real way, but about how ridiculous the two characters who are having the discussion are. The punchline of the scene is that they seriously think they could play anyone. It has nothing to do with "making fun" of people with real disabilities, and everything to do with how Hollywood and the academy take themselves too seriously.

I wouldn't expect anyone to know this who hasn't seen the movie, and I would also not recommend that you see it yourself, since there it contains a lot of swearing and some violence. But I just had to stick up for the Cohen brothers who wrote and directed the film, because they really are geniuses, and would never stoop to getting laughs with jokes at the expense of people with disabilities. That is just not what the movie is about at all.