Stiller's 'Thunder' Under Fire From Disability Groups

Although the studio has held 250 screenings of the film since April, objections to Simple Jack first surfaced about a week ago on writer Patricia Bauer's blog about disability issues. Bauer posted a studio promotional image that highlighted Simple Jack and carried the slogan "Once Upon a Time There Was a Retard," and invited readers to comment.

Groups boycott Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" for its portrayal of disabled individuals, and for using the "r-word."

(Paramount Pictures)
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As soon as the studio got wind of concerns being raised, it ditched Simple Jack marketing materials and a mock promotional Web site called simplejackmovie.com.

Last Wednesday, Shriver and representatives of other disability advocacy groups met in person and by phone with Stacey Snider, DreamWorks chief executive, and presented a list of demands, including asking filmmakers to cut any "retard" references or jokes. DreamWorks left the film as is.

In his statement, Sullivan said, "we have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations, and look forward to working with them closely in the future. However, no changes or cuts to the film will be made."

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The studio arranged screenings around the country for disability advocates yesterday and last Friday. "I came out of it feeling like I had been assaulted," said David Tolleson, executive director of the Down syndrome group, who saw it last week. "I counted 16 uses of retard, not counting imbecile, moron and idiot."

Many of those uses come in a scene where Downey, whose character Lazarus explains to Stiller's Speedman that his film "Simple Jack" bombed because he did the "full retard" as opposed to the "half retard" that Dustin Hoffman did in "Rain Man."

Tolleson says that, even in the context of the film, which is an "equal opportunity offender," he did not find the scene humorous. He added that there was no counter to the Simple Jack character as there was to Downey's character, who wears blackface throughout the film and is called on his stereotyping by a real black actor.

Despite, or perhaps in spite of, the screenings, an ad hoc coalition of more than a dozen disabilities groups held a conference call on the weekend to lay the groundwork for at least one protest in every state starting this week.

Film critic Peter Travers can understand how groups advocating for disabled people might be sensitive to their portrayal, but in this film, he said they are not the ones being spoofed. "It's egomaniac Hollywood actors, who know that, in order to please the Academy, they need to exaggerate every quality they can think of. It's a gigantic slap in the face, although a hysterical one, at Hollywood."