Anchorage Daily News

People with disabilities and their advocates protested the movie "Tropic Thunder" on Saturday at two Anchorage movie theaters over what they call hate speech: the words "retard," "moron" and "imbecile."

They'd like people to boycott the film, though they acknowledge that the protests, happening at various cities around the country, may end up getting more people interested in the movie, a film within a film.

About 20 to 25 protesters showed up at Century Theatres in Midtown for a "Rally for Respect" and there was also a rally at Totem Theatre in Muldoon.

"Tropic Thunder" is Ben Stiller's action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors making a war movie, only to end up fighting a real war.

Much of the movie's early attention was over actor Robert Downey Jr. in dark makeup playing a white actor who gets seriously into his role as a black soldier.

But Saturday's protests are over Ben Stiller's character, Tugg Speedman, an action star who failed in an earlier bid for an Oscar when he played "Simple Jack," a man with an intellectual disability.

"Never go full retard," Downey's character tells Speedman in a scene that national advocates for the disabled wanted cut from the movie.

The rallies' real goal is to draw attention to the words and get people to stop using them as humor or slang or putdowns, said Gwen Lee, executive director of The Arc of Anchorage.

"The 'n' word, nobody talks about that anymore, but people don't have the same recognition that calling someone a retard is really very hurtful," Lee said.

She called the movie, which she has not seen and won't, "a cheap thrill that gets its humor by demeaning people with disabilities."

DreamWorks Pictures, which released the movie, is standing behind it and won't cut out any scenes. The characters are meant to be over the top, and the movie makes fun of actors, not people with disabilities, DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan said.

"It's an R-rated outrageous comedy," Sullivan said. "By nature of being an R-rated comedy, it's inappropriate at all levels -- intentionally."

Still, studio executives are listening. They've met with advocates, and the studio took down a Web site that spoofed "Simple Jack." The talks are continuing.

The controversy was a bit of a surprise for DreamWorks. The movie was previewed at 250 screenings around the country, and none of the thousands of people who saw it early complained, Sullivan said.

National movie critics are coming down on the studio's side, not the protesters', according to a story last week in the Los Angeles Times that included excerpts from a number of reviews.

"Comedy needs the right to be offensive, and Stiller at least has the courage of his convictions: When he uses the word 'retard,' it's deliberate, not casual," says an excerpt attributed to Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com.

That means advocates have more work to do, Lee said.

Other groups represented at the rally included People First, the Governor's Council on Disabilities and Special Education and Alaska Children's Services, she said.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.

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