From KNBC TV, Los Angeles:

John Paizis, founder of Performing Arts Studio West (PASW) says actors with disabilities are increasingly playing television roles that until recently were played by non-disabled actors.

PASW is an arts program in metropolitan Los Angeles that trains and encourages 50-60 artists with developmental disabilities each day, offering acting workshops, music recording sessions, and career management.

The program prepares actors to audition for available roles. Nick Weiland, an actor with Down Syndrome, appeared in a recent episode of “ER” (above). Nick Daley, who has Prader-Willi syndrome, guest starred on “Saving Grace.”

“ER” casting director John Levey says using actors with disabilities “brings a certain immediacy, electricity and authenticity to the material.” “ER” has employed actors with disabilities for the past 15 years.

See earlier post here.

(Video included)

Woman with Down syndrome inspires families in Washington state – KNDO/KNDU-TV, Yakima, Washington — Karen Gaffney (left) speaks out about her experiences earning a regular high school diploma and a degree from Portland Community College, swimming across Lake Tahoe, and participating in a relay team that swam the English Channel. Says Gaffney:

“I’ve changed all that data.  I’ve changed their doubts. I have improved and inspired so many lives, spread my messages of being fully included in a regular classroom setting.”

Link to video here; earlier video of Karen Gaffney on the NBC Today show here.

People with Down syndrome live fully — letter to the Sacramento Bee from Elaine Linn. An excerpt:

People with Down syndrome go to school, work, have meaningful relationships, make decisions about their lives and live independently. They become dedicated employees and loyal friends.

… There’s something terribly wrong with a society that purportedly values diversity yet places a distinct lack of value on people who aren’t “perfect.” I don’t know one perfect person and it’s hard to understand this willing acceptance of terminating pregnancies based on inaccurate information about potential “imperfections.” Yet it exists 90 percent of the time with Down syndrome.

Avoid Tropic Thunder, a cruel comedy — by Eric Johnson in the Grand Forks, ND, Herald

The fact is that even among the various species of hate speech, ridicule of those with retardation is unique in its brutishness. Unlike racial minorities, religious adherents or the physically disabled, those with developmental disabilities cannot well defend themselves with wit and well-crafted retorts. That’s why the arguments of Downey and Black — that everyone has the right to say whatever they want — are especially hollow.

New system for developmentally disabled is needed — Sheila Romano in the Springfield, IL, Journal Register (institutionalization, housing)

Taking the fear out of difference — Baltimore Sun (education, attitudes)

(more…)

In the wake of the controversy over “Tropic Thunder” Salon.com writer Lynn Harris analyzes the linguistic origins of “retard” and other insult words. Always popular with the playground set, “retard” has grown in strength in the “online snarkosphere,” Harris says, as more people need more words to complain about more things.

Ultimately, Harris says, activists are trying to get people to be aware of their language and think twice about the insult’s real-life impact. She closes with a quote from Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles:

“People are comfortable using ‘retard’ as a dis because in the past no one has stood up and said anything in numbers worth counting. Most marginalized groups come from places of family pride and tradition. They are able to stand strong together out of their heritage and make a statement. But people with intellectual disabilities, scattered through different families, are not part of a celebrated culture.

… I think today’s high-tech world has finally allowed us to take a stand. Perhaps the word has continued to grow in popularity, since there has been no public pressure against it. Until now.”

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Kathy Cox, Georgia’s state school superintendent, found an unorthodox way to beef up the funding for three schools that serve kids with disabilities: She won $1 million on the Fox TV series, “Are You Smarter than a 5th-Grader?”

Winning question: Who is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch? (Answer: Queen Victoria.)

Cox announced that her winnings will go to the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon, the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf in Clarkston and the Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Spring. They are the only schools for deaf and blind students that the state Department of Education operates.

No one is sure how much each school will get after taxes are deducted.

From the [UK] Telegraph, Associated Press, Time Magazine, UK Times and elsewhere. Video from the [UK] Telegraph.

British comedian Russell Brand hosted the MTV Video Music Awards last night and received mixed reactions after encouraging the audience to vote for Barack Obama and calling President George Bush a “retarded cowboy.”

Here’s the exact quote, pulled from video of the broadcast (above):

“Some people, some people, I think they’re called racists, say America is not ready for a black president. But I know America to be a forward thinking country, right, because otherwise, you know, would you have let that retarded cowboy fella be president for eight years?”

The awards show had been hyped as a comeback appearance for Britney Spears, but the [UK] Times reported that she and Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus appeared “horrified” during Brand’s quip about Bush. Brand also joked about chastity vows taken by the Jonas Brothers, a hot young rock band.

Commenters to the MTV site criticized Brand’s insertion of political themes into an entertainment event, but few challenged his use of language. Comments can be seen here. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.)

Writing in the [UK] Guardian, David Tolleson says the movie “Tropic Thunder” sends the harmful message to millions of moviegoers that discrimination against people with disabilities is socially acceptable.

For a population that has been subject to millennia of discrimination and abuse, even to the point of death, it is a major setback, courtesy of Hollywood.

Unfortunately, the damage doesn’t end with the frequent use of the word “retard” and the shockingly awful images of Simple Jack. More troubling is a segment of the film involving Stiller and Matthew McConaughey. When Stiller’s character says he wants to adopt a child, McConaughey looks at a photo of himself with his arm around a boy vacantly staring into space — clearly meant to have an intellectual disability — and says: “At least you get to choose yours. I’m stuck with mine.”

The message is clear — avoid having a child with a disability at all costs. For parents worried about bringing a child with a disability into a world where they may be taunted, or worse, Tropic Thunder may provide one more reason to terminate a pregnancy. Sad for many reasons, but particularly since studies show that overwhelmingly parents and siblings of individuals with disabilities actually rate the experience of having a loved one with special needs very positively.

… we still have work to do before widespread discrimination ends and all people are valued for the diverse and wonderful attributes they bring to our world.

Tolleson is the executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress.

See also:

• Why is Ohio retarded but Connecticut isn’t? — Kim Stagliano, Huffington Post
• Going full insensitive: Movie’s humor is flawed by careless insensitivity – Winston-Salem [NC] Journal
• Plot no excuse for taking potshots— Tamara Dietrich, Newport News [VA] Daily Press
• Letter: A heightened awareness of how a word can hurt — Chicago Tribune
• Letter: Special people don’t need hurtful words – Quincy [MA] Patriot-Ledger
• Letters: Bid to ban use of ‘r-word’ — Houston Chronicle

(Photo from Hartford Courant)

Lots more about the continuing “Tropic Thunder” controversy. We’ll be following it throughout the day. Let’s start here.

Stiller defends “Thunder” on the CBS Early Show. With video. Stiller says the movie is a comedy, and that people should view it in context and lighten up. (Note: Robert Downey Jr. also appeared on ABC Good Morning America, but didn’t discuss the controversy over the word “retard.” He says the filmmakers made a conscious effort to avoid offending people with racial humor involving his character, which he played in blackface.)

I appeared yesterday on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, a national Fox network program, along with David Tolleson, executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress; Eddie Barbanell, one of the stars of “The Ringer,” and Gitesh Pandya of Boxofficeguru.com. David, Eddie and I talked about why the disability community views the word ‘retard’ as hurtful. Gitesh said that protests add to the film’s appeal at the box office. Eddie’s comments definitely provided the high point of the segment. With video.

Eddie also appeared with Tim Shriver on Fox & Friends. (With video.) An excerpt from Shriver’s remarks:

We’re not questioning Ben Stiller’s intent. We’re questioning and challenging the content. We don’t know what he was thinking when he was writing. We didn’t have people on the set. Nobody invited people with intellectual disabilities to screen the film in the early days. Nobody asked us to see whether this movie crossed the line. They did ask other groups. They did not ask for the voice of people with special needs.

Film critics stand firm against ‘Tropic Thunder’ protests by advocates for the disabled in the Los Angeles Times. In a wrapup of reviews from 11 media outlets, John Horn notes: “Quite a few film critics appear to be agreeing with the studios and the filmmaker, not the protesters.” Includes excerpts from reviews in Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, MTV and elsewhere.

Disabilities just aren’t funny, an op-ed by Jim Flanigan in the Albany [NY] Times Union. The executive director of the Rensselaer Arc says the movie is a “turkey” and urges people to stay home. An excerpt:

The people responsible for “Tropic Thunder” claim that they were equally offensive to many groups. The movie does make fun of actors, egotistical producers, farts, agents, war movies filled with explosions and drug dealers, all of which could be considered fair game. By adding people with disabilities to this mix, Stiller, Dream Works and Paramount are sending a not too subtle message to their young audience that they, too, are fair game.

Funny or offensive? Blackface, ‘retard’ jokes may shoot down ‘Tropic Thunder‘ — Q&A with Slate.com reviewer Dana Stevens on washingtonpost.com

Also:

Protesters speak out against ‘Tropic Thunder’ film – Hartford Courant blog

‘R-Word’ sets off protests — Chicago Tribune

Letters:

• The R-word isn’t funny — Let’s give it a rest –in the Tallahassee Democrat
• Slurs are unacceptable — in the New Orleans Times-Picayune