Josie Byzek, writing in The Progressive, says she won’t be joining the boycott of “Tropic Thunder,” but she hopes the controversy will focus attention on “the real pain that slurs cause people with disabilities.” She’d like to see some films that portray people with disabilities as three dimensional people, as well as some with “disabled actors playing roles that have nothing to do with disability.”

An excerpt:

Any person with a disability who has been the target of the R-word knows it is painful. But for decades, many of us have tried to get the media, especially Hollywood, to realize it’s even more hurtful to exploit disability-themed inspiration and pity in order to get a prize of some sort.

… Movies like these depend on nondisabled audiences dehumanizing or infantilizing us.

We don’t want your pity. We want dignity.

Byzek is managing editor of New Mobility (www.newmobility.com), a lifestyle magazine for wheelchair users.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under Tropic Thunder, advocacy, commentary, media, movies, public attitudes, stereotypes, stigma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.