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Tuesday
30Sep2008

Advocacy Group Calls for 'Blindness' Boycott

DateTuesday, September 30, 2008 at 6:06PM
The last time we had a movie protest, I thought that those boycotting Tropic Thunder had a workable point. Yes, there is humor in that movie that emanates from a mentally retarded character.

The function of the Simple Jack character was not to laugh at him for his deficiencies but rather to laugh knowingly at Hollywood and movie stars for their often sad and regrettable interpretations of the mentally disabled in film. Granted, Simple Jack was a lot funnier in the movie within the movie than it was as a gratuitous third act add-on, but I could understand why it would be offensive to groups that are charged with protecting the interests of the mentally disabled.

I didn't think it was a reason to not see the movie, but if someone else chose not to, that would have been fine.

However, the latest movie protest is just laughable. Indefensible. Marc Mauer of The National Federation for the Blind is outraged at the portrayal of the sightless in the new drama, Blindness, and he thinks it could further prevent blind people from being integrated into the mainstream, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A protest is planned for this weekend.

Mauer claims that the actions of the characters in the movie, who are all stricken by a civilization-wide immediate blindness and turn into savages that trade sex for food, among other things, are offensive. He's missing the point, though. The movie is not about blindness at all, but rather about how society would break down if such a widespread panic were to occur. The blindness is an metaphor. Quarantined groups of people, that are further divided into groups and told to ration their own food how they see fit, would probably do something along the lines of what we see in Blindness. After all, people are assholes.

It's as much an indictment of the government in a post-9/11, post-Katrina world as it is one of human nature. But having watched the film, I can say that one thing it is not is a ridicule in any way of blind people. Blindness is no different than 28 Days Later or Outbreak or even The Trigger Effect, stories that test the limits of a society when it faces a real threat.

"I think that failing to understand each other is a significant problem," Mauer said. "I think that portraying it as associated with blindness is just incorrect."

In the words of Ron Burgundy, "Well, agree to disagree, then."

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

Really protesting blindness, are they trying to paraody the insurance commercials that make fun of the caveman?

I look forward to robots protesting A.I. 2 and zombies protesting resident evil: apocalypse for real

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterOrinn

It seems a little silly that they are protesting. I think the movie is suppose to portray the madness and chaos that would ensue if the masses were to loose their sight out of the blue. They say that the movie portrays blind people as lost and unable to care for themselves when in reality it portrays how the "sighted" community would react to an epidemic of blindness. If anything they should be LAUGHING at us because we would be acting like idiots.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | Unregistered Commentergsan

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