Secondly, by forcing artists and studios to self-censor, like you are, you not only violate their right to express themselves freely in this country; you also participate in creating an environment of walking on eggshells around issues, which may be ‘hurtful’ to a certain demographic (those without a sense of humor).

I for one do not want this country to revert back to the puritanical mind police world of the 50′s, and that is what I see you doing in collaboration with the MPAA.

Stay out of the business of controlling the flow of expression in America, no matter how you may feel about it in your easily bruised hearts. Censorship is evil, and so is political correctness. It is the tool of control freaks, used in the broad underlying desire to force your own trite opinions on the rest of the world.

That’s nazi Germany. That’s stalinist Russia. And that’s unwanted here!

Regarding the starting points, you are right. Paramount and Dreamworks should employ those with special needs. In fact, they should be in the movies. No comedy is truly complete without one. How about this… imagine a reality TV series with the mentally challenged. A house full of Corkys with tons of beer and all the jello they can eat. Now thats a show.

Tropic Thunder was nothing. Ever heard of Slo Mo the Rapping R—-d? Check this out. http://www.iamlost.com/features/slomo/

It’s a comedy movie that is rated R. If you don’t like the adult content (humor) don’t pay $$ to see it. No one is forcing you to watch anything! Pretty simple…

There are bigger fish in the sea to worry about!
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I heartily disagree. When people with disabilities are treated as “lesser” citizens or as sub-human… this encourages a degrading of their existence. This is similar to a film ENCOURAGING racism or ENCOURAGING rape.

I have a special needs child so I don’t have time to review all of the responses. But it saddens me to think a film may come out that encourages people to look down, and in some cases look down further than they already do, at my child. He is a terrific human being just as he is.

To the producers of this film – I have seen the actors in the film “Tropic Thunder” in other bodies of work. I do not want to see them in this body of work and it will affect how I view them and those who support them and those who have made this film possible if anything is shown to degrade my child. A slow mind, crooked teeth, big ears, unique stride etc. are things that people can’t always control. Elevate your thinking and your work and you will elevate the human race.

Sincerely, Ali in Poplar Grove, IL

There are bigger fish in the sea to worry about!

Who can ignore a moron flipping out and parroting some slogan s/he can’t come up with or even explain?

Of course, we all hear that some folks are insisting that movie makers employ morons or retards, but the leaders of ARC are all non-retards. Let’s take a look at that.

Please keep it up. It’s a hoot.

There is something very basic here; something fundamental that we are missing and which makes us who we are and explains why we do the things we do. Some argue that “everyone is offended by something” and I believe that is absolutely true. The key here is that we are only offended by that which we have a personal relationship with, something that has impacted our lives personally. We though don’t care much about the other fellow. This makes us very self centered. Some are offended by racial slurs, some ethnic jokes, some by gender prejudice, some by smoking, some by drinking, some by child abuse, some by animal abuse, some are offended by the lack of concern for the environment; everyone has an issue, a concern, a hot button, something they are closely connected to and care deeply and passionately about. If I make fun of your kid, your wife, your mother you might not think it funny. If I make fun of your weight, your economic status, your job, your home, your intelligence, you might not think it funny and that’s because their yours.

The key word here is empathy; to care for someone else as much as we might care for ourselves. I think that this culture lacks empathy and compassion. There are those who care more about their right to laugh at someone then how that someone might feel.

If only we were all equally capable and able to put ourselves into the body and mind of another human being and see the world through their eyes we would never hesitate to do the decent and kind thing. Unfortunately it is only those of us that have someone close to us who suffers from a disability that care about this issue. It is our love for them that builds the bridge of empathy and compassion and makes it possible for us to feel in every cell of our bodies the pain that this can cause.

It should not be hard for a Jew to understand the racial hatred perpetrated on the blacks, or a black man to understand the 2nd class citizenship placed on women; but it is. For each of these groups of human beings sees their issue in an isolated perspective and for some reason their issue doesn’t readily translate to the other; so all of these people may be at the movie and laughing heartily at the retard. Some of these people are good people in every other respect and have no idea of the pain they are causing.

His holiness the Dalai Lama says that Compassion for all things is the key to resolving all the issues that face humanity. Then there was a man once who said ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Yes, everyone is offended by something and we need to care if we want to be civilized and decent fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, neighbors and human beings.

I have a Special Needs child, he has autism and have felt the heartache and left many playgrounds with clenched jaws holding back tears so my children wouldn’t see my pain, as my son is being called a ‘retard’ or ‘hey is he stupid or something’. It’s not a big deal for those who don’t have special needs children, but for those of us that do, each day is a challenge. Special needs children have to work harder than all ‘typical’ or ‘normal’ children and have hours of therapies. They are ostracized and so are their siblings and family. You with normal children, will never have to sit your six year old daughter down and explain that your older brother is autistic and thats why he tunes you out and ignores you all day. And that’s why the other kids make fun of him.

So you with a ‘NORMAL’ family can laugh and/or justify these simply words by saying it’s just a movie, but it’s more than that – it’s a slippery slope that says on a grand big budget scale “HEY IT’S OK TO MAKE FUN OF THESE PEOPLE”. As adults we can see the satire of the movie, but teenagers and younger children will not, they will simply see “hey adults call other retard, I guess I can too. And instead of teaching compassion and understanding of others who are different that ourselves, we will go backwards in spreading and accepting ignorance and indifference.