DreamWorks newest "comedy" - not funny!

[Joey Liberal]

Let's see what we can do about this, DU!
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You may have already heard about the release of a film called "Tropic Thunder." Special Olympics is moving swiftly to address this issue. We want to engage, inform and mobilize the heart of our movement - our grassroots constituents.

Donna Ham, SOOK PR Director, will be working to help design an Oklahoma campaign to get out our message very quickly and to enlist help from our athletes, families, BOD, donors, sponsors and volunteers.

I wanted you to know about all this so you're not surprised by upcoming events - and to ask you to stand ready to help when we reach out. The movie will premiere Aug. 11th in LA and will be out in theatres Aug. 13th - so things will be happening quickly!


Overview:

“Tropic Thunder”, (www.tropicthunder.com) a summer comedy/action/adventure film, stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. and features a movie-within-the movie called “Simple Jack....Once upon a time there was a retard”. The movie and the movie-within-the movie contain extremely offensive material to our constituents and promotes the idea that a "retard" is funny as a stand-alone concept. See synopsis, script excerpt and New York Times review attached.

The outcry from the disability community about the film is strong and passionate. Over the past several days, Special Olympics along with 17 other disability organizations including American Association of Disabled Persons (AADP), National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC), National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), The ARC of the United States and TASH have been meeting daily to respond to the film scheduled to be released by DreamWorks on August 13th. Special Olympics and AADP have taken the lead in representing this coalition in discussions with DreamWorks.


A list of demands from the coalition of organizations was presented last night at a meeting with DreamWorks. Within the next 24 hours we expect to hear back from DreamWorks on their position regarding our concerns.


In the meantime, we are planning our action as an organization that is committed to promoting communities of dignity, acceptance and inclusion for our athletes and families around the globe.

Actions

As we accelerate our efforts to create a new PSA around the "R"- word we are also pursuing an aggressive media outreach campaign including appearances by Tim Shriver, Loretta Claiborne, Eddie Barbanell and others on national morning shows and national news and entertainment shows. We are also developing a media tool kit for your use with local and state media. The kit will include key messages for you and your staff, a statement of purpose, sample letters to actors/producers/theaters, leaflets, and fact sheets on the R-word campaign


Teri
Teri Hockett
SOOK Program Director
918/481-1234 or 800/722-9004

[davidnc76]

1. Give me a break...

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[pansypoo53219]

2. retard has a new 'definition' now.

don't take retard from me special olympics. differently abled people aren't retarded. bush is.

[MichaelHarris]

3. to me

this seems a bit retarded

[Joey Liberal]

6. If

You had a special needs child in your family, maybe you wouldn't see it that way.

[Kceres]

4. Let's take this seriously, folks.

Obviously, this word is offensive to many and understandably so. Instead of getting defensive about it, let's work to educate people. It never hurts to say, "I'm sorry, I'll work on it." We are a party of empathy, remember?

[Joey Liberal]

7. Thanks

I expected more from DUers. Guess I was wrong.
JL

[Daemonaquila]

9. Pejorative terms vs. humor

While I have a problem with using "Retard" as a pejorative term, just like using words like "Faggot" or "Spic", etc. I think the response is excessive. No subject should be taboo from humor, as George Carlin and Mel Brooks, among others, have proved over and over. They've even shown that the inflammatory words have a place when used to make a point. There's a difference between that and mean-spiritedness.

Having never seen the movie, I don't know how the term or the humor is used here. I'm not going to see it, since it looks pretty dumb from the trailers. Because of their focus I suppose the Special Olympics might feel strongly enough to protest, but I don't think their call is going to have a lot of traction. Unless the movie itself is a lot more offensive than it sounds, it seems more like a opportunistic media play by them than a serious campaign.

[Joey Liberal]

11. That's fair

But remember, the Special Olympics is not known for taking action like this. They have to be pretty upset to do this.