LOS ANGELES - "Tropic Thunder" is pushing the envelope too far for groups representing the mentally disabled.
Dozens of citizenry from organizations such as the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities protested the film industry spoof across the street from the film's Los Angeles premier at Mann's Bruin Theatre on Monday. The protesters held up signs with slogans such as "Call me by my nominate, not by my label" and chanted phrases like "Ban the movie, forbidding the word."
The groups are outraged over scenes featuring the liberal usage of a derogative term used to distinguish the mentally disabled. In the motion-picture show, director and co-star Ben Stiller plays a fame-hungry actor purge in a war motion-picture show who previously had a role as a mentally disabled character named Simple Jack. The DreamWorks cinema, which opens Wednesday, as well stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black.
"When I heard close to it, I felt truly hurt inside," said Special Olympics world-wide messenger Dustin Plunkett. "I cannot believe a author could write something like that. It's the non the way that we want to be portrayed. We possess feelings. We don't like the word retard. We are people. We're hardly like whatsoever other people out on that point. We desire to be ourselves and not be discriminated against."
Andrew J. Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said he and other representatives from advocacy groups representing the mentally disabled met with DreamWorks co-chair Stacey Snider and watched a private showing of the film Monday morning. Imparato called the movie "tasteless" and aforementioned it was "offensive start to finish."
"I have a sense of humour," said Imparato. "There were parts of the movie where I laughed, but it seems to me that the moving picture tried in truth hard to go too far and then pull back on everything that was offensive except the issue of people with intellectual disabilities. I only think Ben Stiller and the people involved in this flick just didn't think it was sledding to be offensive."
Following the original complaints from the advocacy groups, DreamWorks pulled some promotional materials, including a site that promoted the film-within-a-film starring Stiller's character which contained the tag origin "Once in that respect was a retard." DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan antecedently said in a statement that "no changes or cuts to the plastic film will be made."
"If you want to pick on people, as the old playground saying goes, pick on hoi polloi your possess size," aforesaid Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, wHO is career for a boycott of "Tropic Thunder" along with the other groups. "This population struggles too often with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We're sending a message that this hate speech is no thirster acceptable."
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