Protesters decry "Tropic Thunder" in Vermont
MONTPELIER, Vt. --Protesters carried picket signs and chanted outside a theater showing the new movie "Tropic Thunder," saying the comedy is mean-spirited in how it portrays a character with cognitive disabilities.
Chanting and carrying signs, they protested outside the Capitol Theater on Wednesday night, two days after the Special Olympics and the American Association of People with Disabilities demonstrated at the film's Los Angeles premiere.
Deborah Lisi-Baker, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, says Vermonters should boycott the movie, in which director and co-star Ben Stiller plays an actor who previously had a role as a mentally disabled character named "Simple Jack."
He's referred to as a "retard," "moron" and "imbecile" by others in the film.
"We are asking Vermonters not to spend their hard-earned dollars on this film because of its deplorable and demeaning view of a person with intellectual disabilities," said Lisi-Baker, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living.
After being shooed away from the theater doors by an employee, the protesters moved a few feet down the sidewalk, chanting in unison at customers and giving out pamphlets.
"Laughing at this movie is laughing at us. Laughing at this movie is laughing at us," they yelled.
It didn't stop Norwich University student Sean Bukowski, of Annapolis, Md.
"Almost any comedy, someone will find something offensive about, I believe," Bukowski said. "Nothing in comedy is done with any seriousness. I'm going to go see it."
Chip Sullivan, a spokesman for DreamWorks, said in a statement Sunday that the movie "satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations."
There are no plans for changes to it, he said.
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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/ 