From the International Herald Tribune:

Portuguese author Jose Saramago (left), who won a Nobel prize for a body of work that included the novel “Blindness”, says protests about a film version of that book are unfounded and misguided.

He was reacting to a pledge by the National Federation of the Blind to picket the film at more than 80 theaters across the United States when it opens today.

In an interview with a Portuguese radio station, Saramago dismissed the threat as “a display of meanness based on nothing at all.”

“Stupidity doesn’t choose between the blind and the non-blind,” Saramago said.

NFB advocates have said the movie portrays blind people as incompetent, filthy, vicious and depraved, and that it will fuel popular misconceptions that blind people are incompetent.

See also:

Los Angeles Times:

“Any movie that angers people automatically gains a couple of points in naughty, forbidden cachet. By attracting the ire of the National Federation of the Blind, ‘Blindness’ has proven that it’s more than a well-respected book and a lot of award winners. It’s something you shouldn’t see. Which, of course, makes it all the more watchable.”

New York Times — ‘Blindness’ movie stokes protest

Defamer.com — Outraged activists suggest ‘Full Blindness’ is the new ‘Full Retard’

[Salem, Oregon] Statesman Journal — Blind people deserve more credit — Op-ed by Carol McAlice Currie

Nobelprize.org — press release on Saramago’s 1998 Nobel Prize for literature

A recent novel adds appreciably to Saramago’s literary stature. It was published in 1995 and has the title “Blindness: a Novel”. Its omniscient narrator takes us on a horrific journey through the interface created by individual human perceptions and the spiritual accretions of civilization. Saramago’s exuberant imagination, capriciousness and clear-sightedness find full expression in this irrationally engaging work. “Do you want me to tell you what I think, Yes, do, I don’t think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.”

(Photo from nobelprize.org)

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under advocacy, blindness/visual impairments, entertainment, movies. 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.