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Protests at Premieres of Offensive Film Coincide with Launch
of "R-Word" Campaign
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Special Olympics International Global Messenger Dustin Plunkett takes part in a Los Angeles protest against the film "Tropic Thunder," which includes offensive material about people with intellectual disabilities. |
Special Olympics, along with a coalition of national disability organizations, has mobilized a grass-roots campaign against "Tropic Thunder," a DreamWorks production that will be released 13 August. (Read the coalition's statement of support.)
Special Olympics athletes joined protestors at demonstrations in Los Angeles, California, site of the premiere of the film. (Read Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver's remarks at the protest.)
In addition to the protest in Los Angeles, Special Olympics organized similar demonstrations in Delaware, Massachusetts, Missouri and Texas. Special Olympics also participated in protests in Washington, DC, and New York City. All these events have attracted significant media attention.
"Tropic Thunder," marketed as a satire about Hollywood actors and the movie industry in general, contains scenes promoting the idea that a "retard" is funny, material the coalition and its constituents found offensive. The coalition engaged in conversations with DreamWorks to address the content, asking that they delete the objectionable scenes, but the studio refused to do so.
In conjunction with the protests, Special Olympics is leading an effort to address the negative attitudes and behaviors associated with the use of the pejorative “retard” by launching the “R-word Campaign.” Learn more about the campaign and take the pledge to not use the R-word at www.r-word.org.
Brock Wright, a Unified Sports partner from Missouri, was "concerned" that so many of his friends were using the R-word and it was really bothering him, so he decided to invite them all over to watch the movie "The Ringer". His friends never even realized that the R word could be very hurtful and offensive.. |
