Category: Let's talk
Hi all.
You all are my friends, and you know that in general, I could care less what judgments people make about my abilities and potential as a blind person, but I hope the following message will expose the much bigger issues here.
Namaste,
Becky
As many of you know, I don't watch a lot of TV so I just found out today about a movie that Miramax is releasing this Friday called "Blindness". This movie depicts blind individuals in an extremely negative manner. In the film in which blindness is an epidemic, persons who are blind are sent to an insane asylum. The people who are blind defecate on themselves because they cannot find the bathroom and when they do defecate they are unable to clean themselves up afterward. They are also unable to do other daily tasks such as dressing (they go around mostly naked), bathing, feeding, etc… First impressions are often lasting and man does this movie leave a nasty first impression for those in the audience who have little to no knowledge of people who are blind or visually impaired.
While this is clearly a fictional movie, people with little knowledge and exposure to the blind and visually impaired community will not know where to draw the line between what is true and what is made up regarding the capabilities of those who are blind. This perpetuates negative stereotypes which lead to issues such as a decreased employment rate and greater social isolation for those who are blind and visually impaired. After all who wants to hire or hang out with someone who might go to the bathroom in the floor of the office or who might show up to the next party naked? All joking aside, with an already startlingly low unemployment rate among the blind and visually impaired population, we cannot afford this type of publicity. If people leave the theater with increased negative stereotypes then the work that many blind and visually impaired individuals do every day to be seen and treated as equals is being undone. This only differs from a movie depicting negative stereotypes of women, African Americans, gay and lesbians, Muslim, etc… is that blind and visually impaired individuals only make up 0.6 out of every 1,000 in the population so there is a much smaller voice of protest.
I am asking for your help not only in boycotting this film and letting people around you know that blind people are not at all like the characters in this film. Below I am posting a Questions and Answers by Scott LaBarre, a lawyer who works for the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Since he has already seen the movie he can be much more thorough than I can. Please read the below information and PLEASE redistribute this to others through e-mail, MySpace Posts, Facebook, etc… Lets get the word about this film.
Thanks
Jessica
Q: What is the premise and plot of the movie Blindness?
A: Blindness is based on a novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago. The premise of the movie is that unnamed residents of an unnamed city in an unnamed country suddenly and mysteriously go blind. Those who experience the blindness see only a white glare, so the blindness is sometimes called the "white sickness." Fearing that the blindness is contagious, the government quarantines the victims in an abandoned and dilapidated mental asylum, with orders that anyone attempting to leave is to be killed immediately. The prisoners are supposed to be given food and supplies, but food deliveries are inadequate and increasingly become irregular. The asylum also becomes filthy because the blind inmates, as portrayed in the movie, cannot find their way to the bathroom and simply relieve themselves on the floor or in their own beds. Some of the inmates die from infection, disease, or from gunshot wounds when they try to escape or simply become lost and wander too close to the guards. One group of inmates, led by the wife of a former eye doctor who can still see but is feigning blindness to remain with her husband, fare slightly better than the rest; this is solely because the doctor's wife assists the blind, who are portrayed as being unable to do anything for themselves. As food supplies dwindle, one group of blind inmates, whose leader has acquired a gun and dubs himself "the king of Ward Three," begins to terrorize the others.
The armed clique in ward three hordes all the food, extorting money and valuables from the other inmates and eventually demanding sex with the
women from other wards in exchange for allowing the rest of the inmates to eat. One of the members of this clique, who was born blind and is not a victim of the white sickness, knows how to read and write Braille and is given the task of taking inventory of the valuables stolen from the other inmates. Rather than helping the other inmates adjust to their blindness, he uses his knowledge of how to function as a blind person to assist the criminal gang. When the women from the ward where the doctor's wife resides go to ward three to exchange sex for food, one of them is beaten to death as she is raped. The doctor's wife later kills the King of Ward Three, but the man who was born blind takes his place as leader of the armed gang and threatens to avenge the "king" by killing the doctor's wife. Being blind, however, he is unable to shoot her and she escapes unharmed.
The rest of the inmates finally decide to do battle with the gang in ward three; during the fight, someone sets a pile of bedding alight, starting a fire that soon
engulfs the entire asylum. During the ensuing confusion, the man who was born blind shoots himself. When the surviving inmates, including the group led by the doctor's wife, escape the burning asylum, they discover that no soldiers are standing guard and therefore they are free. Outside the makeshift prison, everyone has gone blind and the city has descended into total chaos; no government services or businesses are functioning, and nomadic groups of mostly naked blind people wander through the streets, squatting in abandoned houses and shops for shelter and taking food where they can find it-including in rubbish heaps. There is no electricity or running water, so the streets and buildings of the city are as filthy as the asylum was. Dogs that people used to keep as pets have gone wild and roam in packs, feeding on refuse and human corpses. The home of the doctor and his wife, however, is intact, and their group sets up permanent residence there. Just as this small "family" is beginning to make a life for itself, people begin to regain their sight just as suddenly and mysteriously as they went blind.
Q: Have you seen the film?
A: Yes. Members of the staff of the National Federation of the Blind were permitted to screen the film. Many other members of the National Federation of the Blind have read the novel, and according to the filmmakers themselves, the movie is "true to the book.
"
Q: How will this film harm blind people?
A: Blind people already suffer from irrational prejudice based on ignorance and misconceptions about our capabilities and characteristics.
This prejudice-which is based on ignorance and low expectations but is no less harmful than prejudice based on ethnicity, religion, or sex--is the
cause of the overwhelming majority of problems experienced by blind people, including an unemployment rate that exceeds 70 percent and the lack of proper education for blind children. This movie will further entrench myths and misconceptions about blindness and blind people, thereby contributing to the barriers to equal participation in society that we face.
Continued on Post #2
Q: What is wrong with the way blind people are portrayed in the film?
A: Blindness falsely depicts blind people as incapable of almost everything. Even accepting that most of the characters are newly blind and thus have not learned certain skills needed to function effectively as a blind person, their complete and utter incompetence is simply not credible to anyone who has had even casual contact with actual blind people. The blind people in the film are unable to dress or bathe themselves; they usually go about naked or nearly naked and relieve themselves on the floor or in their own beds.
The doctor's wife is shown helping him dress by holding his pants so that he can step into them, and he comments at one point that she even
has to clean him after he has defecated. In reality, even newly blinded individuals do not experience this level of incapacity; they do not forget how to dress, wash, or use the toilet. The blind people in the movie are portrayed as perpetually disoriented and having no sense of direction or ability to remember the route from one place to another; in fact, blind people regularly travel independently using white canes or guide dogs. The blind people who are not completely helpless in the novel and movie are depraved monsters, withholding food from the others in exchange for money, jewelry, and sex.
One of the worst of these criminals is a man who
was born blind and has adapted to his blindness, yet he sides with the criminal gang of ward three, participating in brutal rapes and attempting to kill inmates from the other wards. Thus, all of the blind people in the film are portrayed either as helpless invalids or degenerate criminals. The movie suggests that blindness completely alters the human personality, resulting either in total incapacity or villainous evil. The movie also makes it clear that blindness is cause for complete and irreversible despair; one blind man comments, "I'd rather die than stay like this." Blind people, in fact, do live happy lives once they have learned to accept their blindness and adjust to it. The movie also suggests that the blind must always defer to the sighted; when the doctor's wife leaves him outside a supermarket so she can attempt to find food, he says, "I know my place.
" The dignity, worth, and individuality of blind people is constantly denigrated in his
way throughout the movie. The National Federation of the Blind objects to this portrayal of the blind because it simply isn't accurate. Blind people are simply a cross-section of society who happen to share the physical characteristic of being unable to see.
The blind are employed in
almost every profession imaginable, have homes and families, raise children, do volunteer work in their communities, and generally lead normal, productive lives. To the extent this is not the case, it is not due to blindness but rather to the misconceptions and stereotypes that society holds about blindness and blind people. This film will further those myths and misconceptions and deepen public prejudice against the blind. Most members of the public do not know a blind person and may therefore assume that this portrayal of what blindness is like is accurate and true.
It is not, and the falsehoods in this film will damage the prospects for equal opportunity,
productivity, dignity, and happiness for blind people throughout the world.
Q: Isn't this just a matter of political correctness, or a difference opinion with the novelist and filmmakers?
A: No. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but not his or her own facts. Even fiction has an obligation to be somewhat accurate and realistic, just like any other art form does; otherwise it bears no relationship to the world as we know it. If an artist were to create a painting called "Elephant," but the picture in fact represented a giraffe, a camel, or a creature from the artist's own imagination, than any art critic-or any layman-would point out that the picture does not, in fact, represent an elephant, and the person pointing out the inconsistency would not be accused of "political correctness" or a "difference of opinion" with the artist, but would be recognized as having good common sense. The portrait of blind people in this movie is simply wrong; artistic license does not permit a writer or a filmmaker to make false assertions about an entire group of people. The stereotyping of blind people is just as inappropriate as the stereotyping of African-Americans, women, Muslims, or any other group of individuals who share common characteristics.
Q: Isn't blindness being used as a metaphor in the novel and film?
A: Yes, and this is one of the movie's main problems. Blindness is simply the physical characteristic of being unable to perceive things with the eyes, but the author and filmmakers want it to be a metaphor for everything that is bad about human nature.
At the very least, blindness represents lack of insight or perception in this film; arguably it represents even
worse traits, since many of the blind characters engage in rape, murder, and other forms of criminal behavior. Blind people, however, are not stupid or incapable of discernment. Although we cannot see with our eyes, we are aware of the world around us through our other senses and through the alternative techniques we use to learn about our environment, such as traveling with a white cane, reading and writing Braille, and using technology. Blindness is no more an appropriate "metaphor" than other physical characteristics, like hair color or ethnicity.
Movies in
which all of the villains have dark skin or a foreign accent are rightly criticized as employing racial stereotypes. If a movie were to be made in which people's hair suddenly turned blonde and all of the characters with blonde hair were vapid idiots, then people with blonde hair would rightly be outraged. In today's society, it should likewise be unacceptable for blindness to be used as a stand-in for depravity, incompetence, and lack of understanding.
Q: Doesn't your protest violate the First Amendment rights of the filmmakers?
A: No. The First Amendment protects the production and screening of this film, but it also protects our right to protest its production and screening and to tell the public that it portrays blind people in an outrageously false manner.
Q: Have you brought your concerns to the attention of the filmmakers?
A: Yes. We sent letters to officials involved with the production of the film but received no response. We can only conclude that the makers of this movie chose to ignore our concerns.
Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.
LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
1660 South Albion Street, Ste.
918
Denver, Colorado 80222
303 504-5979 (voice)
303 757-3640 (fax)
slabarre@labarrelaw.com
(e-mail)
www. labarrelaw. com
(website)
Here's an article from people.com.
Blind Activists Plan Protest Of Julianne Moore Movie
BALTIMORE — Blind people quarantined in a mental asylum, attacking each other, soiling themselves, trading sex for food. For Marc Maurer, who's blind, such a scenario _ as shown in the movie "Blindness" _ is not a clever allegory for a breakdown in society.
Instead, it's an offensive and chilling depiction that Maurer fears could undermine efforts to integrate blind people into the mainstream.
"The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie," said Maurer, president of the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. "Blindness doesn't turn decent people into monsters."
The organization plans to protest the movie, released by Miramax Films, at 75 theaters around the country when it's released Friday. Blind people and their allies will hand out fliers and carry signs. Among the slogans: "I'm not an actor. But I play a blind person in real life."
The movie reinforces inaccurate stereotypes, including that the blind cannot care for themselves and are perpetually disoriented, according to the NFB.
"We face a 70 percent unemployment rate and other social problems because people don't think we can do anything, and this movie is not going to help _ at all," said Christopher Danielsen, a spokesman for the organization.
"Blindness" director Fernando Meirelles, an Academy Award nominee for "City of God," was shooting on location Thursday and unavailable for comment, according to Miramax. The studio released a statement that read, in part, "We are saddened to learn that the National Federation of the Blind plans to protest the film ..Blindness.'"
The NFB began planning the protests after seven staffers, including Danielsen, attended a screening of the movie in Baltimore last week. The group included three sighted employees.
"Everybody was offended," Danielsen said.
Based on the 1995 novel by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, "Blindness" imagines a mysterious epidemic that causes people to see nothing but fuzzy white light _ resulting in a collapse of the social order in an unnamed city. Julianne Moore stars as the wife of an eye doctor (Mark Ruffalo) who loses his sight; she feigns blindness to stay with her husband and eventually leads a revolt of the quarantined patients.
The book was praised for its use of blindness as a metaphor for the lack of clear communication and respect for human dignity in modern society.
Miramax said in its statement that Meirelles had "worked diligently to preserve the intent and resonance of the acclaimed book," which it described as "a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilization breaks down."
Maurer will have none of it.
"I think that failing to understand each other is a significant problem," he said. "I think that portraying it as associated with blindness is just incorrect."
The protest will include pickets at theaters in at least 21 states, some with dozens of participants, timed to coincide with evening showtimes. Maurer said it would be the largest protest in the 68-year history of the NFB, which has 50,000 members and works to improve blind people's lives through advocacy, education and other ways.
The film was the opening-night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, where many critics were unimpressed.
After Cannes, Meirelles retooled the film, removing a voice-over that some critics felt spelled out its themes too explicitly.
Meirelles told The Associated Press at Cannes that the film draws parallels to such disasters as Hurricane Katrina, the global food shortage and the cyclone in Myanmar.
"There are different kinds of blindness. There's 2 billion people that are starving in the world," Meirelles said. "This is happening. It doesn't need a catastrophe. It's happening, and because there isn't an event like Katrina, we don't see."
I read that stupid nfb article.
I can see how it would effect the psychology of people, much like television's portrail of african americans continues racism.
The movie doesn't show blind people in a good light this is true. While I can understand this argument, my boyfriend and I are still going to see it next Friday. It sounds like a funny movie.
so this is actually coming out in theatres? wow..messed up
when though?
Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I myself see no humor, at all, in the contents of this movie, and I stand firmly by everyone that is arguing that the movie could potentially have negative effects on employment opportunities for blind people. It shouldn't, and anyone who sees this movie and is ignorant enough to refuse to hire a blind job applicant because of the false impression about blind people given to them by this movie needs a serious reality check. But that doesn't erase the fact that it could happen.
I also plan on e-mailing Scott Labarre to see if the actions of the creators qualify as slander, defamation of character, or something similar.
And for Caribbean Princess and anyone else who's wondering, the movie comes out Friday.
then when you walk into a job interview, look presentable, walk in alone with a cane/dog, not sighted guide, present yourself with dignaty. Socialize with people, when you go on a bus say hello to the stranger beside you. Just because a movie makes blind people look stupid..
On the bus cross state I met two different people and had long conversations with them. They were really interested in blind people and how we do things.
It's just a movie.
Why did the NFB not protest when the Daredevil came out, presumably everyone assumed we could tell what a person looks like by listening to the rain drops falling on their heads, and we go climbing roof tops in the middle of the night killing criminals.
Or that we can accurately and well drive a car like Al Pazino in "the Scent of a Woman".
And why was this blind guy with a gun so dangerous in the first place, if he were truly blind I wouldn't be too worried about his fire arm, and why didn't the other blind people just put their money somewhere where a blind person wouldn't easily find it, and did any of the blind people use a money identifier, that might be illegal advertizing.
I am truly interested now and will definitely go see the movie. The NFB needs to get over itself and start really working on getting blind people the technology and job and education opportunities they need rather than spend all their power on looking silly by protesting a fictional movie. Jessica already states the movie isn't funny even if she hasn't even seen it. The book got a Nobel price and it is not supposed to be a comdey in any case.
Just make sure you do not ask to go to the bath room during a job interview or at least make sure your employer knows you can wipe by yourself and you'll be fine.
Education opportunities got absolutely nothing to do with movie based prejudice so I really can't see the NFB arguments as valid, just the fact someone dares portraying us in politically incorrect terms makes me feel a bit better, why should we be treated like some crystal statues or overly emotionally sensitive kids who may never be portrait in anything other than accurate depictions.
The NFB has done a lotof great things for the blind, their involvement in the developmentof the reader is excellent, the ADA and Section 508 regulations are huge steps in the right direction with regards to improved quality of life for blind and disalbed people in general.
I feel this is a mistake to make such a big fuzz about a movie. But of course everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I will not be part taking in this process, nor will I send an email to my friends and potential employers tonight telling them I can really dress by myself.
cheers
-B
agree with post 8, i mean i've already been seeing hugea arguments about this on lists i'm on and i'm like good grief, its just a movie, does the nfb not have anything else it could be doing? that's just me though i mean i've seen lots of other movies like the village or the langoliers where they weren't accurate but people don't walk up to me asking if i can see their color or about my superhearing or stuff like that. i know movies can have an affect on what people think but so can someone's actions and if you show up for an interview or something well-dressed and groomed and looking presentable its going to have a more positive affect.
I dunno man, whenever I talk to strangers for the first time, I get asked, so can you like, know where stuff is when it rains?
I usually just laugh and say, "no."
oh for crying out loud! it's, just, a damb movie! i can think of at least! 3 or 4 movies that have blind people in them, and they're not depicted in a "favourable light" either. you gonna boy cot thoes as well? okay, so it's not how blind people should be seen as, sure, but god dam! don't you people have better things to do than create an unnecesary fuss about something you have no control over? if you want to educate sighted people on how to treat blind and vition impaird people, then just be yourself, and show them that you can do anything they can do, on your own, and in your own way. asking people to not surport a movie just because it is mainly about blind people, won't help anyone. infact, it'll just do the complete opisit to what you want it to do. "oh look, the blindy's aren't happy about this, we've struck a nerve", besides, it's just a book anyway, (not sure how true it is), and saying don't go and see this, will only make people want to see it more. yeah, it is coming out here in Australia, and hell, i might even go see it myself, even though i don't watch movies, but hey what the hell!
i just won't see it cuz it sounds really gay and not interesting to me at all really lol
First of all, the NFB is acting as if this movie is going to be some blockbuster that'll be played in the major first-run theaters. I'm told that this movie is most likely going to be played in what you might call arthouses, and it is assumed that those who frequent the artier theaters are going to be a more intelligent crowd who might actually be able to distinguish fantasy from reality. I think those of us interested in the story might want to seek out the book, which I'm told is on Bookshare, or if you're on one of the MP3 sharing e-mail lists, see if you can request the BBC radio drama. As it is, the blindness is supposed to be more of a metaphorical thing and used to make a larger point. The book is not some sighted person's real idea of what blindness is like for real people.
I want to read this book now. I guess I can see some points of how it will make us look bad, but trust me, there are people out there, that don't take of themselves already! That bothers me more than a fiction movie. I am sorry, spending money in court will not stop the release. Buy someone some equipment so that persons life or job is better. Just my opinion.
it is a movie. It is there to make a point. I don't get why they think oit's ok for them to tell us to boycott this movie, when they didn't have us boycot stuff like blind dating, or Duce Bigalo the one with the blind room mate that tries to cook an egg and drops it on her cat's head? I mean seriously movies over exadurate everything. If someone is an employer and is that ignorent. i'm not sure how much I'd want them as an employer. If you don't like it so much. Write a screne play for a movie that potrays us better that people would want to watch?
*D
Here is the point that most of us are missing. It’s not a matter of the NFB having nothing better to do than protest. I have read the novel. In no way, did I at least once, relate to a single blind character in the book. The novel is by all means, incredibly offensive, ridiculous and does portray blindness as almost the end of humanity. If the novel or film had been called Blackness, or Mexicans, or Jewishness, one might find it hard to not argue that it must be some sort of KKK propaganda. Yes, it is that bad. If you don’t believe it, you can always read and watch for yourself.
Yes, people are that simple minded to believe what they see on a screen, or read in a book, especially if there is no other readily available explanation. Let’s not forget a few years ago, when the De Vinci code phenomenon hit, there were many people who believed, not what the author researched, or what the historians agreed on, or what theologians believe, but what the book portrayed to be truth.
Who ever said that people don’t think the blind have superpowers to make up for their lack of eye sight?
If a movie or book had been released, that spoke so negatively against my ethnicity, my gender, or my beliefs to the point where the majority might now perceive me as that stereotype, I would protest. This is no different. Even if the movie is a flop, even if it is only good for laughs. It’s a flop at our expense; it’s a laugh at our expense.
hmm, I see both sides of this argument, hell, its a bad representation but depending how they play there cards they could blow this up to something it shouldn't or wouldn't have eever been...
Thank you Ok Sure. You summed up the point I'm trying to make. I won't deny that I'm disappointed in the apathy in such a large blind community. While I understand that this book and movie are fictional and meant to be metaphorical, OK Sure is right that there are people whose ignorance is such that they would refuse employment to a blind person because of this movie. As was stated above, even fiction has an obligation to be somewhat realistic. And I whole-heartedly agree with the NFB's actions against this movie. As was also stated above, this movie, whether the creators intended it to or not, will undo some of the work that the NFB and all blind advocacy organizations have done so dilligently. As far as other movies like Daredevil, I wouldn't protest them, because no other movie that I know of, except Blindness, focusses solely on depicting the personalities and capabilities of blind people in a manner that is so untrue and (as OK Sure said) offensive. And if I may be a little less prfessional about it, I'm pissed! The contents of this movie are utter bullshit, and I intend to speak my mind as loudly as I possibly can!
If anyone would like to join the protest efforts of me and my friends, send me a message.
If anyone knows the exact locations of where the protest are being held, please post them.
okay this is the reality, like it or not. movie companies like MirrorMax are not! going to listen to you at all. do you really think they care if you don't go see this movie at all? no, they don't, because their's plenty of people who will, and your just chump change to them, and you can protest, yell and scream all you like, it still won't matter. even if you do take them to court, they'll just get high paying loyers, and walk all over your asses, and you'll come out looking like idiots, not them. you people need to stop jumping up and down about something you can't control, and focus on things you can. the movies made, and showing, so protesting about it isn't helping us blind people at all. it's not up to books and movies to educate sighted people on how to treat us, it's up to us as individuals to do that. if some dim-witted shallow minded sighted person is going to believe what the see on tv or in a movie, or read in a book, then that's their problem, not ours.
other mynority groups have yelled and screamed about movies that haven't seen them in favvourable light, and the movies still get shown, so what the fuck makes you think that this one will be any different? it won't, and your only making it worse by doing all this in the first place. if you and your friends are so into educating sighted people, then go do something constructive, and quit crying over something that, like i already said, is already made and showing. someone else said it as well, but if your so needing to show blindness "correctly" then go write your own movie about it, but, make it yourselves, cause no top movie company will want to tuch it. why? cause it's not going to make enough money for them, specially if no top actors will play a part inn it. after all, "they are sighted and won't play the part right". that's another thing you really should get over to, most actors are sighted, so of course they're not going to play a blind person like you want them to.
Who ever said that the protest were about educating anyone?
It seems as if you're arguing about something completely apart from the points being made.
I find it fine that people can have a laugh at our expense and I don't think that anyone's perceptions are affected seriously by this movie. And also I think movies like Daredevil did not show blind people in any more realistic light than this one does, only in a moer superhero type way which, may be, is all right.
I've been much more offended by movies where the historical truth is complpetely ignored in favor of American heroism, e.g. U578, the submarine movie about the crew that managed to retrieve a German code breaker, thus giving the allied forces ways to bug all German communications. Fact is that the boat and its crew was British and not American, butnow all who saw this movie, which is quite popular, have the idea that Americans managed this feat of genius. They did plehnty of very heroic things in World War II and should celebtrate that but I find it extremely offensive to the actual guys who risked their lives for such an important object that their names and even theirnationality is completely ignored and changed in favor of pleasing the American public.
Compared to that some people who happen to go blind and, thereby, stop being human doesn't bug me much. Imagine how the Germans feel since pretty much every movie where Germans are involved portrays them as heartless and evil killers, most horror movies show this ridiculously stupid and silly black guy, alwasys the same type, he always survives but you always feel like he's a complete clown and I would certainly neverhire someone like that.
But movies are there to exaggerate stereotypes, sometimes it works to point out something in society, sometimes it's stupid, sometimes it's offensive and fails altogether, but I think they should only be taken at face value. I think the protests have created a huge publicity for the movie, which never threatened to be a block buster, at least I seldom see movie screenings make it onto BBC news but there are news items about the protests, so I feel mostly the NFB has achieved to increase the studios revenues of themovie, if anything.
But on second thought I can kind of see how the NFB feels protesting is something that they should do on behalf of blind people, and if you feel it's right, by all means go do it. I just think it's not going to change the way the movie affects those who go see it and only serves to increase its presence in the media. And I do think there are other things that the NFB should be spending their powers on and linking negative stereotypes based on movies to the low employment rate of blind folks, I think, is totally misleading.
cheers and enjoy your protesting, would be interesting to see what people think of the movie after seeing it,or the book, I certainly intend to look into both and will post my thoughts, may be I'll end up offended too, who knows.
cheers
-B
Actually, the producers of the movie are probably happy that the NFB is doing what it's doing. More publicity=more people taking an interest in the movie. And more people paying to see it = more money in their pockets. The only thing more funny in this movie than blind people crapping themselves because they can't find the toilet, is the NFB's thinking they'll make a difference. It's just a movie, and people who can tell the difference between fact and fiction will. Those who are too ignorent to do so in this situation obviously would in many other situations as well, so it's really not going to make a difference. All this does is make the NFB show how self important they really think they are. I'll bet if the NFB didn't cause a big stink about this movie, most of us would have never known it was coming out in the first place. The plot sounds like a movie that will flop nicely, but now, thanks to all the attention, those involved in it's production may make some money. Good work NFB. Way to turn society around. I would have never known this movie was coming out if not for them, so I'm glad I'll have something to go see this weekend. I think it's time for the blindness community to step up and start acting instead of complaining, and agree 100% with posts 7 and 8.
Scott i agree with you on your post. all this is doing is making the movie more money, and making people want to go and see it. so really, this load of idiots idea of protesting about it because of whatever they see as wrong about it, has backfired. it's organisations like this that give blindness a bad wrap. okay, so they help make life easier for blind people, and that's really good, but, it's when they start protesting over things that they kno they can't change, that's when people look at blindness and think we're all a bunch of helpless people who can't do anything for themselves. as for post 22, go back and reread the creaters posts, because numbers of times they talk about the educating of sighted people.
all this over a movie? goodness! it's just a movie, I don't see the big deal. like other posters have stated. okay, so they don't show us in good light. so? neither does the dare devel, or movies such as that. so? you guys didn't protest about that, did you? so I don't see why you are making a big deal about this movie. and I probably will see it.
they're protesting cause they have nothing better to do with their time. they may think that they're doing "some good", but all they're doing is making blind and vitionally impaird people look bad. if you guys truly want to help us blind people out, then stop wasting your time protesting about something you can't change, and start actually helping thoes who need your services. yeah, i kno i've probablly said that before, but this movie isn't worth all this protesting and shit over. so sending emails and whatever you think might get this movie pulled, will only end up in the junk folder, or recycling bin, and quite honestly, if i was a movie maker, that's where i'd put it to. they've got other more important complaints to deal with then all this crap, and, that's what it is to them, crap.
I'm told the ACB is also against the movie, although I'm not aware how actively they're protesting it outside of e-mail. But be that as it may, some of you other posters are right that whenever you tell people not to see or read or listen to something, that will attract more attention and make the artists more money and you just shot yourselves in the foot. Do the NFB collectively have ADHD and are incapable of learning from their mistakes? Remember the whole outcry over the Mr. Magoo movie some ten years ago or so? I'm sorry, but you can't leave educating the public to the movies, y'all still have to get in there and get your hands dirty and do it your damn selves!
Lol on the publicity thing, and agreed. Agreed also it is just a movie. As was also previously stated, blindness can mean many things, not, as the NFB person said, just not being able to see with your eyes. Did we lose the ability to see, ur sorry I mean perceive, metaphor? Sheesh.
Cheers,
Simon
omg! are you fucking serious? they protested over mr Magoo? what fucking retards! i mean shit! next your gonna say that they protested over mr Bean, cause he doesn't talk very much in his movies or tv shows, or "here no evil, see no evil", or have you all forgotten that movie wich is about a blind guy, and a deaf guy, (if you haven't seen it, it's very funny and worth it, in my appinion), but, then again, this NFB probablly protested over that as well.
Well, i personally do support the nfb and it's efforts, but I can see both sides of this. It is very true that this film is probably going to dammage the way sighted people perceive us, because unfortunately, people are that ignorant! And unfortunately, although people may not want to realize it, yes, it may have an affect on those people, because as much as it doesn't seem like it to some, society will indeed go off of what they see on tv! But movies do exaggerate, and all this protest is doing is drawing more attention to it. I realize the affect this can have on us as blind people, but I dont think anything will be done about it because what's done is done, so why not laugh about it and move on! This only means we'll have to work that much harder to let society know that it's not how it is in the movie! So is this movie showing in the US? Is it coming out next Friday or yesterday? I am interested in watching it. Also I am not into movies, butt I am interested to see this one with my family and see what they think about it.
it came out yesterday but if the nfb hadnt made a huge stink about it, no one much but art students would of gave a shit. I personally would not of known of the film without the nfb state list bringing it to my attention... So, yes, they have attracted the opposite effect even within the blind community, where can i find the movie to protest to the true blindness they are portraying? the mental blindness to the trials of the fucking world fucking grow up! and while you are growing yall remember extreme home makeover? not the one where gw micro gave the family all that stuff the one where the man wanted to put his rooms in different carpets to know where he was. do they not realyze that he owns his house, they had no rights to tell extreme home makeover or anyone else what to do or how shit should be, its his fucking house. they surprise them yes, but they do have input from the family of what that person's particular needs are. So, did they think he may have an additional illness or some other sensory impairment they jumped on the blind man doesnt need that stuff we dont so no one else does, same with accessible currency. lets not forget they apposed talking thermostats but were selling them down the hall from where i sat! um hello! contridiction! no wonder that resolution didnt pass. even through them. but i can tell you some chapters raised hell about this. how about instead of bull shit publicity moves do like AA teach through attraction spend your money to help the blind not to permote your very own my way or no fucking way agenda and grow the fuck up!
Look, I understand that protesting this movie will not have some earth-shattering effect such as a worldwide ban or the demise of all who are involved with it; and I'm also not saying that I agree with everything the NFB has ever done. I wouldn't protest every single movie that depicts blind people, for as I said before, no movie that I know of but this one portrays blind people in such a degrading manner. I refuse to take it lying down. What I want to achieve with this protest is to educate the world that blind people, in general, are not as they are portrayed in Blindness. And yeah, I want our voices to be as loud as possible, so that everyone will know that blind people can stand up for themselves and do a damn good job of it. And to all of you, mainly Maroon 5, who say that the people who are protesting Blindness have nothing better to do with their time and should grow up, that is an extremely condescending and immature idea to have. The fact that we're making a huge effort to let our voices be heard doesn't mean that we don't have much else going on in our lives (I, for one, have quite a lot on my plate at the moment). We simply care enough about our cause to do whatever we can. Maybe you're the one who needs to grow up, get over yourself, and stop looking down your nose at people.
you know? Despite all of these movies and whatever else, I thought college was going to be a world full of ignorant people. Fortunately i was proved wrong and this college's eforts for accessibility are tremendous. They ensure tat most of the publishers and all of their computer include screen readers. Additionally, they are putting sara readers on the libraries. I really don't care what products thye use, so long as the effort counts and is there. I ahve recently spoken to them too directing them on the ways of J sonar,, because it is open source and can be downloaded and obtained quickly, eTC ETC. I assume most of you know the advantages of open source. Anyway, there i have not met a single person yet that asks me all of the things that have been said about the movies that portray blind people. I am perceived as someone just like the rest of them; keep in mind too that people owuldn't dare asking you things like those too, if they have common sense. It is merely up to you to demounstrate things. Not just chat and talk about it, but demounstrate what you can do and how you can do it. indeed, it is crucial for people not to be misslead into a way of thinking and the like, but especially the United States is quite a populated country full of different cultures, so others might perceive things differently. Perhaps indeed if the nfb did not make such a terrible scandal out of this movie no one would have known about it and the movie wouldn't be a success. If this movie scalated to the point to which it were to be the most top rated, people with shirts about it, cds dedicated to how blindness is portrayed, posters on public places, eTC. then i would be worrying and protesting and the like. But, seems that the cure is worse than the disease, so if the nfb doesn't stop being so boysterous about nothing, then the popularity might rise to that level as well. You have to start little by little, making groups, PUBLIC forums, chat rooms, and then conferences. Then you can move onto something bigger, or just become a public speaker. Think outside the box. Getting together a group of people and marching through some street is not going to give you anything more than propaganda and your message might be completely ignored. just like pamphlets.. people gets them at seminars and no one ever reads them, they just throw them away. Find people who are interested on knowing more about blind people and make a network. This is a more peaceful way of reaching out and your message might earn more credit and might touch more that way. Plus the hope is not all gone, there are organizations out there that already advocate, documents on the internet that tell you how to deal with the blind, ETC.
Exactly. Becky I'm with the last poster on this one. The best way to tell 'em, is to show 'em. Show them what we can do, and how well we do it. It's the only way they'll listen.
Cheers,
Simon
Lol lol lol, it is just a fucking movie that I need to check out. Most likely funny as hell!
lmfao! i never said to "grow up", so don't put words in my mouth, okay? all i said was to stop wasting your time protesting over something you can't change, to people who don't give a shit about a tiny group of people, and to focus on things that you do have control over. like i and some others have said, your just creating more publicity about this movie than is necesary. don't start on me, just because you got the wrong sort of publicity then what you wanted, it's your own fault not anyone elses. so, get your facts straight before you go saying someone said something they didn't. you obviously don't have a lot on your plate, cause you are making such a drama over a movie, and that's all it is. like someone else said, it's up to you to show that blind people aren't any different to sighted people, and not just talk about it. only by doing practical things, will you get the message across. any person in the world can march and protest, but at the end of the day, people need to see for themselves that we can do even the most basic tasks, and not just have us say that we can.
infact, if you go back and reread, it was Jenny who said to grow up, not me, but maybe you should if your going to go around and accuse people of things they didn't say.
I agree with what Juan said in his post.
Well guys I went and saw the movie today, and let me tell you it was not the best! However, I still think the protesting isn't going to prove anything else other then that we get offended too easily, and society already thinks that. I personally think the movie was stupid and pointless, but it doesn't seem to be focussed on proving blind people cant do anything, even though that's how it's put in the movie. i didn't think it was funny or anything, though. I really wasn't too impressed and neither was my family, but it's just a movie. The part that I thought was truely unnecesary was when they started singing that Stevey Wonder song mentioned on another board, I guess just going off of stereotypes, but again, pointless!
Think of it this way. For a movie or book to be compelling fiction, it mus have one exagerated element to it. Since this movie and book are fictiscious, it would be safe to figure that the exageration is how newly blinded people treat their now lost sight. That is the exageration which makes it fiction. Although, I'll admit, that after going to see this film, the NFB has nothing to worry about. It's a film that won't sell very well at the box office. Had they not caused the big publicity they had, as I said before, I would have never known it was even going to come out in the first place.
I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the Saramago novel, which is commercially available as an unabridged audiobook on cd. The book is a powerful and disturbing Kafkaesque fantasy which will be understandably distasteful to many readers, but that's not what I want to get into here. I'm just sick to death of NFB claiming to speak for me. I also think that this kind of neurotic oversensitivity is doing more to make sighted people reluctant to get involved with a blind person than any movie could do.
I think it is crazy that they want to have a movie out like this. It is so just wrong..... Now, they have the movie out everybody in the nation is going to think that Blind people cannot do anything, witch is not true at all. We could do several things. Can't we have them stop the movie? I think this prejudice towards us. This is my opinion though.
Which Stevie wonder track is it? This is important too because if it's oe of his cooler tracks like supersticion, then hey that's allright. But if it's I just called to say I love you then I'm protesting! On the grounds that even us blinks have more taste than to sing that shite.
Cheers,
Simon
lmao Simon, i think that was the one she was getting at, and yeah, we do have better taste than that 3 and something minutes of air space waste. lmao, Aleigh if you think that it's so wrong, then don't go see it. your perfectly entitled to that appinion, but, don't rely on books, tv and movies to give an acurate description of blindness, cause it won't happen, and don't hide behind organizations to protest for you either. they are not you, and only you can change sighted peoples way of thinking towards you. if you don't want sighted people thinking you are something your not, then it's up to you, and only you to change that, and that goes for every one of us. it's been pointed out a few times, that it's just a movie, and it's fiction, meaning, it's just a story, and like any other story, it has it's good and bad points. just like the book is just a story as well. however, this story will now get more people going to see it, or reading it, just because of the negative publicity this NFB have now given to it.
Oh my god it was that track? *joins Becky's protest*. It's true, there is no such thing as bad publicity. This just proves it. It's llike a lot of us have said, had it not been for the protests I wouldnt' have known about it. Hmm, perhaps I should get more people to hate me so they'll talk about my site and so bring me custom? www.web-begin.com folks, grin. Also Liz brings up a good point about it just being a book or movie. It's like with the left behind series. Granted OT slightly, but it relates to the, that's not how it should be portrayed! thing. People were up in arms about that, it wasnt' true to the bible and so and so on. True, it isn't, not the bible as I know it, bloody good series though. Let's keep things in perspective here folks. It's a movie, and a book that not many will read, (more now because of the NFB crap but still), and if people do think we're like the blindies in the movies, let's get off our arses and prove 'em wrong.
Cheers,
Simon
I'm another person who didn't even know about this movie until I read about it here.
Oh same here! I dont wish I hadn't gone to see it, because at least now I know what all the fuss is about, and yes it was that song, which I dont think had a point. I do like that song, I just dont think it had a point, and it was highly unnecessary! it may not sell very well you guys! Also I think the points are not strong that they are trying to prove, and I forgot what else I was going to say, so oh well....
Ok. I didn't read all the posts so sorry if i'm repeating anything. When I first heard about it, and read those articles I thought it was pretty fucked up sounding as well but, its not really like that. I don't no about the movie but I was interested so I am reading the book.I am almost done with it and, the blind people aren't looked at that way, in the book at least. Yeah the place they are in is a mess but its because the place is in awful condition from the start and, the government puts waaaay to many people in there. The people are actually smart and figure a lot of things out for just becoming blind. Once the whole country goes blind and they are let out of the mental instatute, the city is a reck because there is no sighted people to keep the water running and many more reasons why these blind people can't just go home for they cant find their way. There is no way to get food except to look in stores that can't be ran any more. The whole country is a reck but, its to be expected. They aren't seen as dumb, or they don't go to the bathroom all over themselves on perpis. It has to be that way.
I actually liked the book. It was interesting, and now I will go see the movie to see how much it was like the book.
The point to the song was that the guy, calling his girlfriend to tell her he loved her, was doing just that. No special occasion, no other reason for his call, just to tell her he loved her. The sentiment behind the song is perfectly fine, people should do things for their loved ones just because. The song itself sucked though, and the blinks in that movie should've had more taste. Of all the songs to pick. Now if one of them layed a guitar across his lap Jeff Healey style and started singing see the light, now there's a totally different scenario right there. Hell I might even have gone to see the movie if that had happened. Ah well.
Cheers,
Simon
Oh i know the point of the song and love it! I just dont see why it had anything to do with the movie. And of all songs...the thing is, it's almost as if they're kind of playing off of those stereotypes that were discussed on Liz's board, the one about blind people listening to Stevey Wonder. I mean, it's kind of wrong that they are pretty much going off of the main stereotypes about blind people that are out there! Other than that, there isn't much point to the movie. However, they may just as well have done it because if there's a book out there, it was naturally going to come out on film eventually. As I've said before, I'm all for the nfb and I understand why they do what they do, even though I dont always agree on everything they believe, I just dont think this is worth all the trouble, and it kind of got way out of proportion!
I understand that's horrible.. .But why should a stupid movie like that make others judge blind people? Good god. I don't think any normal sighted person would do that, not if they had the least bit of common sense.
Quiet Song, I'd prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm sure if you ask some other folks, they'd claim common sense is in mighty short supply these days. Never seen any mention of exactly what time in human history that most people had common sense, but anyhow, I would think that anyone who could not distinguish fiction from reality is going to be quite a challenge to educate about blindness or most things outside of that person's immediate world. What do ya think?
*Agrees with the last post. You obviously haven't heard the way society looks at blind people, have you! People just dont think! There are grown people who would still yell at a blind person thinking they cant hear, because most people aren't around a blind person on a daily basis, and therefore dont really understand. Even family thinks they understand, and they really dont because they dont live it every day! So why wouldn't a movie have at least some little affect on people's view of things?
Careful about overestimating sighted people. Even when I explain, and demonstrate my capabilities, many sighted individuals prefer to hold on to their original assumptions about blindness by saying how amazing I am, as if I am an exceptional member of the group, or that the task at hand must be extremely difficult for me, when in actuality, it is quite trivial. I am not able to go a single trip by airplane without being offered a wheel chair, having someone attempt to buckle my seatbelt for me, or someone who was situated in their seat suddenly deciding they would prefer to be seated elsewhere when they discover I would be sitting next to them. This behavior is common in the society I live in; are these people using common sense?
Oh I know what you mean! I hate flights for this reason, but somehow I've managed. In fact, I know this is off topic, but there was this guy at the airport that had to report me because I wouldn't let him help me. Lets just say that It got pretty nasty! I also have an ex boy friend whose mom goes nuts when I dont let her grab me or something, now she thinks I am the only blind person who is like that, and that it's because I went to school at the school for the blind, and that her son can not do that same things I do. By the way she also thinks I am rude and insullent, but that's beside the point, lol!
I think one of the problems here is that we are all so use to being blind (or not having full use of their vision), that we forget that if a sighted person went blind, they wouldn't no how to use canes, guide dogs, computers with screenreaders, etc etc. Furthermore, in the storyline, millions of people are going blind. How are they supposed to learn cane techniques, and other ways of living? Who is going to help them? What i'm trying to say is, things like this are no problem for us because we've had a lot of time to learn different ways of doing things. Whereas a sighted person who has just lost their sight along with millions of others wouldn't even know where to begin.
As for real life in general, there have always been ignorant people in this world, and I fear there always will be, regardless of whether people see this movie or not. Like someone already said, it is up to us as individuals to show people what we can do, not some stupid movie that probably would have slipped into b-movie status had there not been such a big fuss about it.
I don't know much about the movie or the NFB dibate, but I think it sounds pretty pathetic to be honest.I mean, if what's been said here is a clear sinopsis of the movie, the blind people defecating on themselves sounds totally outragious.
If this is the exaggeration aspect, it's pretty poor.
However, when I did first read the sinopsis a while ago, I liked the idea of the majority of the world being sightless!
I would like to see it.
and those of you who think protesting against this won't achieve anything, let me say, i don't actually agree.
normally yes, I do think protests don't do anything, but since we blindys are such a minority group, I think we would get heard even by these large companies.
In a lot of situations, blind groups have had power.
Nitara, I'm not sure about that to be honest. I know many people who have gone blind later in life than myself and many others, and who cope extremely well with it. I really think though that we are barking up the wrong tree with this movie thing though. Granted I haven't seen the movie, still I wonder what meaning of blindness they are getting at with the plot? There is, despite some views on here, more than one way of being blind. Not everything is literal, nor black and white.
Cheers,
Simon
I understand your point, and I myself know many people who have gone blind later in life. I'm not saying that they can't cope, but at the same time I'm sure it wasn't something they learned to deal with over night. Also they were in a situation where they had people who could help them ajust, whereas the people in the movie may not have. I haven't seen the movie either, but I agree that the overall point of the story has nothing to do with actual blindness. Like you said, not everything is literal.
Actuallly you have a point too. I'm not sure what the support networks were that were in place to help those of my friends who went blind later on, but as you said it had to be a lot better than portrayed in the movie. Yeah I really think that the movie talks, or tries to at least, about a more figurative form of blindness that even some of us blindies are guilty of in certain circumstances. Whether or not it'll harm the blind community's image in whole or in part remains to be seen. God, how many visual references? grin.
Cheers,
Simon
I think that this movie is pretty stupid. But like everyone has said in these posts that everyone has there own opinion. Now, whoever is downing the NFB that is just wrong.... Cause the NFB is not doing anything wrong here.
I dont know what the whole point of it was anyway! I dont know, but when I saw the movie, I think it was solely based on stereotypes, and not really what even a person who has recently gone blind would have to endure!
I'm not surprised to see NFB bashing going on here. But even the ACB didn't like this one. I'm glad we protested it. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be catching on too well at the box office anyway.
no i dont think it is! i wouldn't worry too much about it! The film wasn't even that great!