A coalition of disability advocacy groups is expected to call for a national boycott of Ben Stiller’s new flick “Tropic Thunder” because of what the groups consider the movie’s open ridicule of the intellectually disabled, according to the New York Times.
The groups are particularly upset over the fact that the term “retard” is often used in the movie to describe the mindless character, Simple Jack, played by Stiller.
“Tropic Thunder” is an action comedy starring Ben Stiller (he is also the director), Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as a group of prima donna actors, who are shooting a Vietnam War movie when their director decides to leave them in the middle of a real war.
A spokesperson for DreamWorks has defended the film by saying that it is “an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations.”
According to some reports, some disability advocacy groups are now planning to picket the movie’s premiere in Los Angeles on Monday evening.
If they start boycotting the movie, even more people will probably wanna watch it just to see what all the fuss is about