The Movie Blindness and A Protest

You all may or may not know my strong support of the physically challanged and here is the reason for boycotting the movie Blindness - in Second Life we have a strong belief in accepting everyone - shape, size, color, gender and that is my goal here is to share with you WHY you should NOT see this movie:

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 this 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 membersof 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, andthe falsehoods in this film will damage the prospects for equal opportunity, productivity, dignity, and happiness for blind people throughout the world.

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.

Who Loves Ya Baby!

I need to get on my soapbox for a minute and explain something to people who have no conception what being blind means. If you are blind it does not mean you are mentally challenged, it does not mean you are not a normal person with normal feelings. It only means there are SOME things you cannot do but hundreds of things you can do. Even in this day and age there are still barriers that exist for people with disabilities - before you become one of those roadblocks - stop and think. Instead, be a helping hand and help them over that barrier. And for all of you that struggle daily with societies expectations - WHO LOVES YA BABY! - I do!