Tropic Thunder Press Release

The Arc Rallies against negative stereotype in Tropic Thunder

The Arc of Massachusetts' efforts to create public dialogue about the depiction of people with disabilities in Tropic Thunder is proving successful. See our "In the News" page for the latest stories.

What is the Problem with Tropic Thunder?

We have received some emails asking what is so bad about Tropic Thunder. Noted below is a short summary. For more info go to www.TheArc.org

On the Access Hollywood site, Ben Stiller notes that individuals with disabilities are not made fun of.

To paraphrase from the quotes, Stiller and another scriptwriter state that the jokes are aimed at the actors and they would NOT want to make fun of the individuals with disabilities.

You judge for yourself from this information from the film or its promotional materials. We report two examples.

The Arc US (thearc.org) reported in early August that Dreamworks was promoting the “Simple Jack” website and posters. Simple Jack is a fictional movie that the Stiller character starred as a person with a disability and regrets missing out on an Oscar for the role. The subtitle in a poster was, “Once upon a time there was a retard.” Additionally, Simple Jack has an institutional bowl haircut in the poster. (The website has been terminated by Dreamworks).
An exchange from the dialogue in Tropic Thunder reported by Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics CEO at The Washington Post Company

Ben Stiller's character: "There were times when I was doing Jack when I actually felt retarded. Like really retarded."

Robert Downey Jr.'s character: "Oh yeah. Damn."

Stiller: "In a weird way, I had to sort of just free myself up to believe that it was okay to be stupid or dumb."

Downey: "To be a moron."

Stiller: "Yeah."

There is more in the movie. But these two examples make it clear to us that individuals with disabilities are the focus of the joke. How does the line, “once upon a time there was a retard” make fun of the actors? Further, to have an intellectual disability is to be “stupid and dumb” according to the script.

Of course this is what our friends and/or family face sometimes or all too often in their surroundings when they are not invited to birthday parties or as adults don’t get the opportunities for employment that they should. This is why we have lent our voice to those of others boycotting “Tropic Thunder”.

Now you decide for yourself.

To see more information from The Arc US, go here.

See R-word fact sheet.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN OUR RALLIES

Waltham – The Arc of Massachusetts, in collaboration with other disability groups, rallied Friday Aug. 15 to protest the depiction of a person with disabilities in the recent release “Tropic Thunder.” In addition to the biggest rally in Randolph, there will two others in Bellingham and Framingham.

Our partners in taking a stand against the film’s hate speech included The Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, Work Inc., Grow Associates, Inc., Brockton Area Arc, Charles River Arc, Greater Waltham Arc, North Shore Arc, The Arc of Franklin and Hampshire Counties, Advocates Inc., Vinfen Inc., Special Olympics of Massachusetts and other Arc Chapters, self-advocates, people with intellectual disabilities, their families and other concerned citizens.