Another Retard Thread.

[asdf2231]

By which of course I meant the beating of the dead PC horsie.  Not the normal IQ level on the island.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3813083#3813273

Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 04:12 PM
Original message
To those who believe the word 'retard' is just 'a word'. 
 Advertisements [?]What's the big deal about using the word retard?

A lot of people are talking about the movie "Tropic Thunder" that opened in theaters Friday. One of the reasons that it is being talked about is that the characters use the term "retard" over and over. They use it the same way that kids do all the time -- to jokingly insult one another. The people who made the movie, DreamWorks and Paramount, and many of the critics who have reviewed it, say that the term is being used by characters who are dumb and shallow themselves.

You see, we are supposed to get the joke: Only the dumb and shallow people use a term that means dumb and shallow. My dad tells me that this is called "irony."

So, what's the big deal? Let me try to explain. I am a 26-year-old man with Down Syndrome. I am very lucky. Even though I was born with this intellectual disability, I do pretty well and have a good life. I live and work in the community. I count as friends the people I went to school with and the people I meet in my job. Every day I get closer to living a life like yours.

antifaschits  (1000+ posts)       Sun Aug-17-08 04:21 PM
Response to Original message
2. retard IS just a word. 
 friction retards the movement of objects.
bush retards the movement towards peace and prosperity

and because I represent injured, mentally ill, and the downtrodden, I feel fully justified in saying that Bush is a

 

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 XOKCowboy  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 05:25 PM
Response to Reply #2
31. Watch out. Too much logic for this crowd.
 Words ARE just words. Satire is satire. If Blazing Saddles (or Animal House or Airplane, etc) came out today I have a feeling that some on DU would be going ballistic about them also.

Cleita  (1000+ posts)       Sun Aug-17-08 04:30 PM
Response to Original message
7. There are other words in that category, like moron and idiot that
 we probably shouldn't use. Perhaps it would be better, if people want to use juvenile insults, if they just called the person that they want to insult a jerk and leave it at that.

Unless you are talking about HerrChimplerMcCokeSpoonAntiChristPants. Right? 

Cleita  (1000+ posts)       Sun Aug-17-08 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. I actually don't object to any words except the context that they are used in.
 I was just sympathizing with the OP whom I believe has a legitimate gripe about the word. It is insulting to a demographic of people and we should be sensitive to them.

psychmommy  (855 posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 04:41 PM
Response to Original message
9. my child uses gay. that looks so gay or he's acting gay.
 no it doesn't mean he is acting like a homosexual. it means he is acting stupid or silly. i think my age group 40's uses retarded. my mom has worked with the developmentally disabled for about 30 years. there is no excuse for me using that terminology. i fuss at my kid for using gay and i will discontinue my usage of retarded.

Oh shit!  Take Cover!!!  

progdonkey  (1000+ posts)      Sun Aug-17-08 04:42 PM
Response to Original message
11. and if it were a real Vietnam movie and they talked about "gooks"...
 would any of the people criticizing this movie give a shit then and be saying that they shouldn't be using the word "gook," because it's insulting towards Vietnamese people? (i.e., Completely disregarding that it's exactly how the characters would refer to them.)

Yes, it is "irony": in the movie, it's to show that the actor who played "Simple Jack," Tugg Speedman, doesn't really care about mentally challenged people; he was just doing the role in the hopes of getting an Oscar a la Sean Penn in "I Am Sam" or Cuba Gooding, Jr., in "Radio." What, is Tugg Speedman supposed to say, "You know, I was really starting to feel 'mentally challenged' when I did that movie about the 'mentally challenged' kid"? Of course not, because that would be completely out of character and destroy the whole point.

I mean, Christ, the movie is making fun of the people and the system that exploit the mentally challenged! I guess "Roots" was also a racist movie because the whites used the word "******" in it. After all, context is meaningless--the only thing that matters is that a word is uttered, even in fiction, right?

Besides, that entire piece is ridiculous, since it's largely addressed to a friggin' fictional character. Ben Stiller wasn't saying "retard", neither was Robert Downey, Jr.: it was Tugg Speedman and Kirk Lazarus playing Sgt. Osiris. If someone doesn't understand the distinction, it's that person's problem.

 

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 Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #11
13. "Besides, that entire piece is ridiculous" Wow. Did you even read the article?
 It was written by a man with Down Syndrome. 
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Captain Sensible (74 posts)      Sun Aug-17-08 04:56 PM
Response to Reply #13
16. So? Does that mean no one can disagree with it. nt
 What does him having Downs have to do with a rebuttal? 
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Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 04:57 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. First of all, it's not Downs
 and secondly, plonk. 
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Captain Sensible (74 posts)      Sun Aug-17-08 05:04 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. Yes it is, 
 when using the shortened version people usually refer to it as Downs.
And secondly do you think the matter should be ceded because the author has Down syndrome?
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. 

Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 05:04 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. Only ignorant people. 
 and yes.

 

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 Captain Sensible (74 posts)      Sun Aug-17-08 05:09 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. wow. way to be a sheep.

 

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 Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 05:10 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. LOL. Wow
 way to be a douchebag.

 

Captain Sensible (74 posts)      Sun Aug-17-08 05:31 PM
Response to Reply #22
37. At least I am capable of independent thought.
 What would happen if a mentally challenged person told you he thought the movie was funny and in the context quite acceptable? Would your brain fry as you tried to justify why both were right because they had absolute moral authority because of their mental challenges?
Just because I'm white doesn't mean i don't think Chapelle calling me a Cracker isn't funny.
Funny that Douchebag if acceptable to you. Maybe i'm a douche because i am mentally ill, better be careful where you tread it's a touchy area.

 
 

Midlodemocrat  (1000+ posts)        Sun Aug-17-08 05:32 PM
Response to Reply #37
40. Douchebag is a common DU
 insult.

And, if you truly are mentally ill, you should have more compassion. Is it okay if I call you a ****ing nutjob? That'd you're nuttier than a shit house rat?

Is that okay?

   Milo... You're a retard.

Theres a giant "Douchebag" debate further down the thread.  :D


 

 

[Miss Mia]

I honestly don't use the word "retard" in my everyday life.

BUT the more and more I see people on DU complaining about a stupid movie using that word the more and more I need to see "Tropic Thunder."

[miskie]

I feel retarded just from reading that exchange.

wer I put ma futebahl hemmet ?

[Vagabond]

I feel retarded just from reading that exchange.

wer I put ma futebahl hemmet ?

Glad I'm not the only one that felt IQ points slipping away reading that drivel.

[Lord Undies]

Now I'm a retarded cracker.

[mamacags]

There are so many things that are screaming  in that thread.  Even Corky (who is by far the smartest DS kid I have ever seen) couldn't have written the OP.  I will agree though that most DU members are probably retarded in the real sense of the word.

[asdf2231]

Now I'm a retarded cracker.

And they said you would never amount to anything!