The happy circumstance... that this flick is also apparently turning into a lightning rod for the politically correct "meat is murder, hug a dolphin" crowd... is simply ice cream...
Everyone thought the lightning rod in Tropic Thunder would be Robert Downey Jr.'s comic turn in blackface.It seems the fact that this is a completely over-the-top, self parody of the movie-making industry... has just lofted right over these ninnies' heads.
Instead, the American Association of People With Disabilities, the National Down Syndrome Congress, the Arc, Best Buddies, and a few other groups are up in arms over the film's perceived disrespect toward the mentally retarded.
It pokes fun, not at people with disabilities... but at Hollywood's arrogance and fascination with itself and its obliviousness to that self-same navel gazing.
It is hyperbole on steroids... and it takes no prisoners.
I'll go as far as to say that, if these folks were really worried about someone's "hurt feelings"... they'd be way further ahead sending kisses and kind thoughts to Sylvester Stallone.
But don't tell that to the protesters.
The coalition has put together an 11-page action kit (excerpts below and on the following five pages) urging supporters to "actively picket" movie theaters "with signs of protest urging patrons not to attend" in a nationwide "Rally for Respect," Aug. 13 through 17.Of course, mentally disabled people aren't just gonna "be present"... there will have to be some sort of organised (for want of a better word) roundup.
It's suggested that mentally disabled people acting as "self advocates" be "present to meet and greet theater patrons."
Rather than any sort of self-advocacy... this will be a cynical, manipulative exercise designed solely to embarrass anyone who tries to attend this movie.
And that's who I'm talking about in the title of this post... the "very special" people who are putting this politically-correct shindig together.
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P.S. -- Watch for the usual suspects, Canadian Cynic et al... to try turn this post into some sort of slur against the... what's the term we're using this week... differently abled?
Because they're that
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UPDATE: Retard boycott fails miserably
-- LOS ANGELES -- “Tropic Thunder,” a controversial movie industry spoof from Paramount and its disbanding DreamWorks unit, took in an estimated $26 million at the weekend box office, knocking “The Dark Knight” out of the No. 1 spot after an extraordinary monthlong run on top.**********
RELATED: In other "differently-abled" news
Twenty years after his infamous race at the Seoul Olympics, Ben Johnson has filed a $37 million lawsuit against the estate of his former lawyer for allegedly looting his wealth and failing to protect future earnings.Geez, Ben... call me wacky... but I'm not sure that's something I'd be shouting from the rooftops.
Among the allegations in the amended statement of claim filed in court yesterday are:
Futerman ought to have known that Johnson was incapable of understanding complex legal documents since psychiatric experts hired by the lawyer – and paid for by Johnson – concluded in February of 1989 that "there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Johnson is intellectually retarded."
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