07-10-2017, 11:03 AM
(07-10-2017, 09:31 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: This doesn't seem to be an attack on Baldwin as much as it is an attack on the industry. I get it, the portrayals would be more authentic. Obviously we see an issue with someone pulling a Mickey Rooney a la Breakfast at Tiffany's, but as a society, we don't see disability the same way we see skin color. In special education, one of the repeating themes is that disability is one of the final civil rights battles, one we constantly advocate for in the profession.
That said, this is silly. Going back to SSF's post early in this thread, the way the fight has turned for many progressive groups is focused on attack rather than understanding. Don't immediately compare this to black face and attack everyone, encourage casting directors to look at actors with disabilities. I can't name a big name blind actor, can you?
Not to mention that there are real world difficulties in having a blind actor. Blocking a scene would be a onerous task. Actors have to very precisely look in certain directions, respond to visual cues and know where the camera is at all times. The bottom line is that hiring a blind actor would raise a host of difficulties, some of them insurmountable. As you said this isn't black face or throwing in a set of buckteeth to play an Asian stereotype.
This thread does perfectly illustrate the response of some to even cogent, rational arguments on this topic. You're automatically attacked and, if not called one outright, it is insinuated that you are a bigot. I'm not sure, but labeling anyone who disagrees with you on even a minor point as a racist or bigot might not be the way to win people over.
