‘Tropic Thunder’ a reminder words do hurt

By Bryan McKenzie

Published: August 22, 2008

They’ve been segregated, medicated, sedated, institutionalized, sterilized and demonized for nearly as long as people have claimed to be civilized.

Now, advocates say the intellectually disabled are being mocked, belittled and hurt by repeated use of the word “retard” in the new Ben Stiller movie “Tropic Thunder.”

‘No one stops to think’

“People say it all of the time. Kids say it, adults say it, but no one stops to think that it’s a word that’s used to demean and hurt and insult someone,” said Dennis Pancoe, director of advocacy and planning for The ARC of the Piedmont. “Basically, it’s hate speech aimed at the intellectually disabled.”

The ARC is an advocacy group for the mentally ill with chapters scattered about the country. The national group recommends boycotting the movie, but Mr. Pancoe isn’t about all that. He just wants people to think about what they’re saying and not say it.

“People don’t realize how hurtful these words can be,” Mr. Pancoe said. “People born with an intellectual disability know when they’re being made fun of. People who’ve had head injuries know when they’re being made fun of. Their families and friends know and it doesn’t feel good.”

Calling someone a retard is no less offensive to the intellectually disabled than calling someone a kike, wetback, faggot, mick or hillbilly. No other group gets insulted more than people with intellectual disabilities. Most ethnic and religious slurs have fallen from favor, but the thesaurus is full of terms to describe people with mental disabilities that are used everyday as slurs.

There’s imbecile, idiot, moron and lunatic. There’s psycho, neurotic, schizo and catatonic. And plenty of others.

Society has a history of discrimination against the intellectually disabled. We segregated them into special education and locked them into asylums. We experimented on them with drugs and electric shock. Virginia even had a state-sanctioned program that sterilized them because, hey, we don’t want their kind to breed, now do we?

Stigma still there

“The stigma is still there,” Mr. Pancoe said. “Studies show that 60 percent of parents would prefer not to have a child with intellectual disabilities in the same class with their children.”

For centuries we have insulted each other at the expense of people who, too often, are the least capable of defending themselves.

“We use these words to make someone less human,” Mr. Pancoe said. “If someone is less human, it’s easier to do something to that person like sterilize them or put them in slavery.”

Mr. Pancoe isn’t asking for politically correct enforcement. He just wants us to think before we blurt.

“People just need to go into this with their eyes open and think about it,” he said “If those words you use could really hurt someone, do you really want to say them?”