UPDATED SEPTEMBER 22

 

UPDATED MARCH 13

 

It looks like Hollywood has done it again.  I'd like to bring this article from the March 11 edition of the Chicago Tribune to your attention.

 

The article is a Q&A interview with actor Craig Robinson (Daryl, the warehouse guy in "The Office") who has a supporting role in the upcoming movie "Miss March" which comes out in theatres on Friday March 13.

 

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Q - In the script, the word "retard" is used over and over. The comedy "Tropic Thunder" received a great deal of criticism for using the same word. Was there any concern over how this might be received?

 

A - I've heard nothing. There could very well be something, but I haven't heard anything. We shot it probably the same time as ["Tropic Thunder"]. I wasn't in the editing room. You'll have to talk to the guys who made those decisions.

 

Q - But, as a comedian, is that just a toxic word now?

 

A - It does seem to be. You can see it from a parent's point of view. But the way they use it in the movie is funny. It's silly. It's not going out to hurt anybody. It's definitely not coming from an evil place; it's just coming from the way people talk.

 

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Please note, I have not seen the movie, but Special Olympics has requested a viewing copy of the movie.

 

What I do know is that the movie was written and directed by Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore, who both star in the movie.  Cregger and Moore were born in 1980 and 1981 so their script is a perfect example of the pervasiveness of the R-word within that generation's vernacular and shows just how high the lack of awareness is to the hurt the R-word causes millions of people.

 

None of the movie trailers or promotional materials use the R-word.  My educated guess is there is a lot of dialogue along the lines of "You're so retarded" or "That's so retarded" and so forth. 

 

The bottom line is, the R-word was used enough in the movie to prompt a reporter from the Chicago Tribune to make 2 of his 11 questions published in his article, about the R-word.

 

I am encouraging you to do four things:

 

1) Not spend your money to see the movie.

 

2) Let the writers and production company and distribution company know how you feel about the R-word being in the movie by calling them, emailing them or writing to them.

 

3) Go to www.r-word.org and make your pledge to not use the R-word.  If you've already pledged, Spread the Word to your friends and family!

 

4) Don't have the time to write your own letter?  Copy the text below and post it as a comment on my blog below and I will send the chain of comments via email myself,

 

"I will not spend money to watch this movie and I will do everything in my power to convince my family and friends not to spend money to watch this movie.  It is time for Hollywood to stop using the word 'retard.'"  

 

MARCH 13 UPDATE:

 

I came across an article on FilmCritic.com this morning that gives us more details on one way the R-word was used in this movie (I added the bold to the text).  It's not pretty:

 

The best friend is Eugene (Cregger), a high-school student who doubles as an abstinence lecturer. Along with his devout girlfriend Cindi (Raquel Alessi), Eugene recounts how his brother had sex and then had "retard babies" that later went on to burn down his house and kill his mother. The tirade is accompanied by projections of Syphilis infected no-no areas.

 

 

Please see below for how you can get ahold of the relevant people and let your voices be heard!

 

Zach Cregger:

 

Publicist is Jeffrey Chassen of Baker Winokur Ryder Public Relations (BWR)

Mailing Address:

World Wide Tower

825 8th Ave

New York, NY 10019

Phone: 2129013922

Email: jeffrey.chassen@bwr-ny.com

 

 

Trevor Moore:

 

Manager is Kara Walker of Generate

Mailing Address is:

1545 26th St.

Ste. 200

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Phone: 310-255-0460

Email: kara@generatela.com

http://www.generateLA.com/

 

Distribution Company is Fox Searchlight:

 

Peter Rice, President

Fox Searchlight Pictures

10201 W. Pico Blvd.

Bldg. 38

Los Angeles, CA 90035

Phone: 310-369-4402

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/

 

Production Company is Jacobson Productions:

 

Tom Jacobson

Jacobson Productions

280 S. Beverly Drive

Suite 316

Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Phone: 310-550-9319

 

 

SEPTEMBER 22 UPDATE:

 

First, my apologies for not updating this blog post before now as I should have done about 6 weeks ago, as various circumstances just didn't allow that to happen, but I digress.  I'd like to offer a big THANK YOU to everyone who spoke out about this movie and to FOX because as this review of the "Miss March" DVD reports, each instance of the word "retard" was removed from this movie!  Success!  I encourage you to read the comments below the article I linked to above as they are pretty typical of most conversations about the R-word nowadays.  The encouraging part about that is that a year ago during the "Tropic Thunder" protests comments in various articles were about 95 to 98 percent against our efforts.  As you can see that ratio in this particular article's comments is much closer to a 60-40 split.  I feel like that's significant progress toward shifting a societal paradigm, an incredibly encouraging development. 

 

Additionally, I'd like to share a picture of an ad that our Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign put in the August 11 edition of Variety magazine to thank FOX for their support.  Enjoy!