Come on, guys. If we can't laugh at ourselves, we take ourselves too seriously. That's why we need comedians, pundits, bloggers and talk-shows... to put things into perspective. How can we move forward if we can't look at things from a below-the-belt perspective?
Sarah Palin has openly slammed Fox's Family Guy for allegedly mocking her son Trig's Down Syndrome. This after the show aired an episode featureing a character, Ellen, who had Down Syndrome. Palin took personal offense of the skit, and said, "The world is full of cruel, cold-hearted people." Well, indeed.
The world IS full of cruel and cold-hearted people. But what I find more hurtful, is the fact that Palin uses her son as a political prop. She carries him around, and uses him to promote her religious views to fuel her political propaganda. And what baffles me, is why she took offense of this? The show is making fun of everyone, blacks, gays, religious people, conservatives, liberals, students, immigrants... you name it. Doesn't Palin realise that her party is behind mocking gays? To take away their freedom? The conservatives are all about "Legalizing freedom", but they're also denying fundamental rights for those who are not straight, white and Republican. How about taking offense on their behalf, Palin?
I am in no way saying it's OK to mock developmentally challenged people. I'm fortunate to know several people who have DS, and they can be functioning, smart and achieve great things. What ticks me off in this context, is Palin's choice to point them out as fragile and as people who need to be shielded from jokes. What I also don't get, is why when her buddy Rush Limbaugh used the word "retard", she tried to cover his sorry ass.
Andrea Fay Friedman, the actress who voiced Ellen, actually HAS DS.
She wrote Palin this response in an e-mail:
My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the "Extra Large Medium" episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in "Smudge" but I was a blonde in "Life Goes On". I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is "sarcasm".
What do you think?
2 comments:
I think Palin did her normal knee-jerk reaction and embarrassed herself again. While I do not think anyone should be discriminated against for disability, race, gender, height, etc... there are ways to make a point without creating a media storm.
Thanks for commenting. I agree, there are ways to make a point without abusing the media. Sadly, I think there's no point of return for Palin.
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