Jerry Lewis to get humanitarian Oscar
December 11th, 2008
From Reuters/Washington Post/Hollywood Reporter, BBC, UPI:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors has voted to honor Jerry Lewis with a special Academy Award. The comedian and filmmaker will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award during the 81st Annual Academy Awards ceremony on February 22. He has never been nominated for a conventional Oscar.
Lewis has hosted an annual Labor Day telethon on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1966, and is credited with raising more than $2 billion on behalf of the organization.
In a prepared statement, Academy president Sid Ganis said, “Jerry is a legendary comedian who has not only brought laughter to millions around the world but has also helped thousands upon thousands by raising funds and awareness for those suffering from muscular dystrophy.”
The Academy’s portrayal of Lewis as a humanitarian is strongly at odds with the views of a vocal group of disability rights advocates who have waged persistent protests against the telethon for years. They say Lewis’ portrayal of his “kids” as helpless and pitiable undermines all people with disabilities, denying them public respect.
Among Lewis’ leading critics was Harriet McBryde Johnson, an attorney from Charleston, S.C., who died last summer. Her book “Too Late to Die Young” includes the chapter Honk if You Hate Telethons, in which she said Lewis’ productions raised money by turning children into objects of pity without hope, effectively sentencing them to death on live TV. She says she was motivated to begin protesting after reading a 1990 Parade Magazine interview in which Lewis equated a person in a wheelchair with “half a person.”
Additional resources:
Disability activists demand an end to Jerry’s Labor Day telethon pity party, by Frank Thomas Croisdale, Niagara Falls [NY] Reporter, Sept. 8, 2008
Telethons’ cost is in dignity, by Helen Henderson — Toronto Star, Sept. 6, 2008
Jerry Lewis apologizes for gay slur during telethon — CNN, Sept. 4, 2007 (with video)
No longer one of Jerry’s kids, by Ben Mattlin — Washington Post, Sept. 3, 2007
Foes of Lewis telethon most uncharitable ; Comedian is scornful of activist critics as he prepares for 40th annual muscular dystrophy fundraiser — Chicago Tribune, Sept. 3, 2006 (available for purchase from Tribune archives)
In wheelchairs and on crutches, some disabled protest a telethon — New York Times, Sept. 7, 1993
Frequently asked questions about the telethon protest and Protest manual, by Harriet McBryde Johnson, posted on cripcommentary.com
The Kids Are All Right, a documentary film about efforts by former poster child Mike Ervin and his group Jerry’s Orphans to halt the MDA telethon
(UPI photo)
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February 6th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
There may be reasons why Jerry Lewis is not a candidate for a humanitarian award, but his association with the MDA should be left out of the argument. It is inarguable that the monies raised go for research and to provide medical care, equipment, and support for the victims of many related diseases. Before anyone tries to take the help and hope away from people in grave need, it would be a very good idea for those protesters to first develop an alternative way to raise the money and provide the services.
For some very personal reasons, I am not in favor of the Academy presenting Jerry Lewis a humanitarian award. A lifetime achievement award might be more fitting. Humanitarianism begins at home. But don’t let your angst take the life and hope away from future victims of Muscular Dystrophy who will surely die a terrible death, without the valiant efforts of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, currently led by its National Chairman, Jerry Lewis.
Suzan Lewis
January 10th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Did you know that there is now an on-line petition protesting this award? You can read the petition, and sign it, at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jlno2009/petition.html
There is also a Facebook Group dedicated to the campaign: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4053839
I’ve also blogged about the petition, along with a discussion on the difference between “pity” and “empathy,”; why Jerry’s brand of pity destroys; and why real empathy is more likely to lead to human rights:
http://reunifygally.wordpress.com/2009/01/10/protest-pity/
I hope you will blog the petition, now that it is up and running! Thanks!
December 18th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
The whole idea of using a nationally televised vaudeville show to raise money for a cause or a disease is an idea whose time has come and gone.
The entire MDA telethon process is based on giving people entertainment for the privilege of calling in and hoping to speak to a celebrity. When in fact they call in, they get busy signals for potentially hours but keep calling as the entertainment is reduced by showmanship and exploitation of cute, sick and possibly dying kids.
When a person actually answers, it is generally a regular hard working person who (I would hope) is paid at least minimum wage to sit and answer the phone for hours on end taking “pledges” of $5.00. Exactly how many “pledges” are fulfilled and the $$$$ actually rolls in is anyone’s guess.
The call to MDA should be a wake up call to end this ridiculous vaudeville act, answer the hard questions of who gets what and why “Jerry’s Kids” do not become “Jerry’s Adults” and receive their fair share of treatment, equipment, etc. and why they continue this shameless exploitation when there are myriad legitimate fund raising mechanisms that more readily match the objectives.
Jerry Lewis can indeed legitimately be presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work but a Humanitarian Award for expoliting kids is inappropriate, unwarranted and the very idea is reprehensible. Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt are much more deserving of such an award from the Hollywood Elite, don’t you agree?
Ruthee Goldkorn
Moreno Valley, California
December 18th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Jerry’s Orphans and others are organizing a protest.
Join the Group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=40538392681&ref=nf
For information: Laura Hershey, laura@cripcommentary.com, http://www.cripcommentary.com/column.html
December 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Why honor someone who denigrates others, including people with disabilities and gays? The politically correct are being horribly incorrect.
December 12th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Jerry Lewis and the MDA are out of touch with the current meaning and social implications of disability. The links provided are outstanding. I sincerely hope a protest will be organized by Jerry’s Orphans. The only good to come out of this story is that I hope more people will read Johnson’s book Too Late to Die Young.