From the New York Times:

DreamWorks and Paramount executives have agreed to screen “Tropic Thunder” for members of disability-advocacy groups around the country. The executives also told representatives of several groups – including the Arc of the United States and the Special Olympics – that they were revising some advertising materials to change references to a developmentally disabled character, Simple Jack, who is played by Ben Stiller in a portion of the film. The groups had objected particularly to the repeated use of the word retard in the film and promotional materials. “We think that’s hate speech,” said Peter V. Berns, executive director of the Arc.

More recent post here: Disability rights group prepares for boycott, protests

See also: Readers — What’s your opinion?

Chip Sullivan, head of publicity for DreamWorks Pictures, confirmed today that studio executives will meet next week with disability rights advocates to hear their concerns about the representation of a character with intellectual disabilities in the upcoming film “Tropic Thunder.” The exact date and time of the meeting have not yet been set.

Among the groups expected to send representatives to the meeting, he said, are the Special Olympics, The Arc of the United States, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, the National Down Syndrome Congress, the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, the Media Access Office of the state of California, and TASH.

Don’t miss earlier posts here, here and here.

Update here: Rights groups prepare for boycotts, protest

A national coalition of disability rights organizations has formally requested a meeting with executives at DreamWorks/Paramount to express concerns about negative portrayals of people with intellectual disabilities in “Tropic Thunder,” an R-rated raunchfest that is set to open August 13.

(Earlier posts here and here.)

Ben Stiller plays two characters in the big-budget comedy: a fading action hero (above left with Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black), and “Simple Jack,” a kind-hearted dolt with bad teeth whose onscreen presence prompts frequent use of words like “retard,” “moron” and “imbecile.”

At a hastily convened conference call yesterday, advocates voiced dissatisfaction over studio promotional materials that feature the slogan “Once upon a time … There was a retard,” as well as worries that the Simple Jack character reinforces hurtful stereotypes. The ad-hoc coalition also requested an advance screening of the film.

Among the organizations represented were the American Association of People with Disabilities, The Arc of the United States, Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Congress, United Cerebral Palsy, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, TASH, and the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.

While the group was optimistic that the meeting and screening would take place next week, it also discussed possible organized efforts to attract negative attention to the film.

In a New York Times article this morning that references this website, studio executives brushed aside questions about the way the film portrays people with disabilities. Here’s a comment from Stacey Snider, chief executive of the DreamWorks unit:

Ms. Snider acknowledged the risks inherent in the film. It is the first from DreamWorks, she said, to use a so-called red band trailer, which attempts to limit access to online viewers 17 or older. (Visitors to tropicthunder.com can view it only after clicking on “Restricted” and entering name, ZIP code and birth date.)

But the film’s humor, she said, comes at the expense of its own heroes, a corps of knucklehead actors, rather than of the handicapped or anyone else. “The star-studdedness of it, and the absolute playability of it, trumps it all,” Ms. Snider said.

And from the film’s star, director and lead writer Ben Stiller, there was this:

“It’s hard for me to tell people how to react,” he said. “The whole point of the movie is about actors, and the length actors will go to to advance their careers.”

For disability rights organizations, the stakes are high. “Tropic Thunder” is among the summer’s biggest films, with major stars, a production budget of about $90 million and a promotional budget of tens of millions more.

Whatever messages are embedded in the movie will soon be seen by millions of people, and could help to define how people with apparent disabilities are viewed by the public. Current figures from the U.S. Census Bureau put the number of Americans with cognitive disabilities at 14.3 million, or 6 percent of the population 15 and older.

There will doubtless be statements from studio executives who say the film is an equal opportunity offender. It pokes fun at racial stereotypes, with Robert Downey Jr. dressing in blackface and citing the theme song of “The Jeffersons.” Jack Black does fart jokes. Everybody’s offended, right?

Let’s answer that with some questions. People of different races surely were involved in the making of this film, and were able to express opinions about which references were humorous and which might have gone too far. So were people with different sexual orientations.

How many people with cognitive disabilities were involved in the making of this film? Were any people with cognitive disabilities involved in focus groups for this film? How many are employed by Dreamworks, or by parent company Paramount?

See Dave Hingsburger’s essay on one girl’s reaction to the word “retard”:
http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2008/05/that-word-this-girl.html

See also: Update: Meeting set between studio, rights coalition

(Paramount Pictures image from the New York Times)

By Pam Vetter in New Mobility magazine:

The ad features a simple yet radical idea: a typical day in the life of a wheelchair user. She fixes her makeup, wheels out to her car in the rain, gets in. The car won’t start. She gets the chair out of the car, wheels to the bus stop, gets on, rides, gets off at a school. The gate is locked. She ducks under, wheels up to a polling place and — casts her ballot.

Voiceover: Every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. There’s an insurance company that does that, too. Responsibility. What’s your policy? Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The 60-second spot is part of a national ad campaign by the insurance giant, and features Teal Sherer, an actress who uses a wheelchair in real life (above). A positive message about civic responsibility is teamed with an authentic representation of a person with a disability, living a productive life in the community. No pity, no suffering — and no excuses not to vote.

“I think what Liberty Mutual is doing is groundbreaking,” says Sherer.

Check out Sarah Reinertsen in the new Nike women’s catalog. Yes, her blade is clearly visible but you have to scroll down. Reinertsen was the first female above-knee amputee to complete the Ford Ironman World Championship. Here’s a Nike interview with her.

Her website is here, earlier post here.

From the Portland Oregonian, [Eugene, Oregon] Register-Guard

“BEER WITH STEVE”

Opening voiceover: “U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick fought corporate polluters and defeated Bill Sizemore. But would you want to have a beer with him?”

The visual: Oregon primary candidate Novick is talking politics at a bar while the man on the next stool struggles to open a beer bottle.

The action: Novick uses his left hook to wrench the top off, then returns to his political message.

Closing voiceover: “Steve Novick — he’s always found a way to get things done.”

_______

“Beer with Steve” is part of a broader advertising strategy to weave a serious message of progressive change with humor about Novick’s unconventional physical appearance. The candidate is 4-foot-9 and was born without the lower part of his left arm and the leg bones between his knees and his feet, the result of a drug prescribed to his mother during pregnancy.

The candidate says the decision to go with a “politics as unusual” theme is a natural, since he’s spent his life using humor to put people at ease. So far, the strategy seems to be winning lots of attention for the previously little-known Novick.

The ad has been viewed more than 70,000 times on Youtube, and won him a fawning interview on the Fox network.

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Kenneth Cole models include people with disabilities, an injured American soldier, a woman covered with tattoos, a Sikh, a gay married couple and their daughter, an HIV-positive woman and others

From Women’s Wear Daily, Fox Business:

When you look at the photo at left, what do you see? An attractive young woman in a short skirt who seems to be thrusting her hips in the universal language of sexual come-on. Only later does it hit you. Those high heels she’s teetering on are attached to prosthetic legs.

Aimee Mullins (left) is president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a Georgetown University graduate with dual degrees in history and diplomacy. But the reason she was chosen for the cover photo of the Kenneth Cole spring ad campaign is that she challenges conventional wisdom: She’s an accomplished woman who is also a double amputee, the result of being born without fibula bones in her legs.

The campaign, called “We Walk in Different Shoes,” carries the tagline “25 years of non-uniform thinking.” It features 11 people who “live their lives in non-uniform ways, either by choice or circumstance,” and will be carried in magazines such as Vogue, Men’s Health and Vanity Fair.

The juxtaposition of a double amputee with a Sikh, an athlete in a wheelchair and a woman covered with tattoos is thought-provoking indeed. What do they have in common (other than selling shoes, that is?) Here are some excerpts from their personal statements, found in video on the Kenneth Cole website:

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