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Aug 27th 2009 5:44PM 1 - C
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Jul 30th 2009 1:33PM why not?
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On DVD, 'Miss March' Isn't 'Retarded' Anymore {Cinematical}
Jul 28th 2009 1:08PM As the parent of a child with Down syndrome, I have mixed feelings about this. I agree in some ways with Eric's assertion that there was probably no reason to make this change in a movie like "Miss March" which is basically a race to the lowest-common-denominator bottom as far as offensiveness is concerned.
On the other hand, I'm very tired of the negative connotations and stereotypes that are associated with the use of the word "retarded" or "retard" and the depiction of anyone with a mental and/or physical disability onscreen. If African Americans were ONLY seen onscreen (or not even seen but just referred to) as inner-city gangsters and/or referred to by the n-word, you can bet there would be objections there. Or if the gay Bruno-like stereotype was the ONLY represenation of gay culture in the movies and "stop acting like a fag" was still in wide circulation, again, you'd get some pushback from activist groups on that.
So why not "retard"? Positive views of people with disabilities are few and far between and certainly nearly invisibile in mainstream entertainment.
In response to a few of the commenters above:
-yep, i'm fine with crackhead -- people BECOME crackheads, it's not something that's inherent in a genetic makeup.
-"mental retardation" may be the medical word -- though you'd be hard-pressed to find a person in the medical world who'd still used that outdated concept, but "retard/retarded" are not used in a medical way when they're used as a derogatory statement.
-words like "asshole", "crackhead", "douchebag", etc. do not single out a group of people or an individual -- they're all-encompassing. Again, I wonder how many instances of "nigger" or "faggot" are used in "Miss March." To some members of the community who are involved in disability, using "retard" is as much a slap in the face as either of the above.
I try not to have a knee-jerk reaction to the use of that word, as much as I find it personally distasteful. But I wish more people would think about the usage before they just start calling people names for objecting.
*I'd also say that because "Miss March" was regarded as a bit of a dog, I don't recall their being any kind of outside pressure from advocacy groups (unlike for "Tropic Thunder"), so who knows why Fox made this decision.
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