Disabled People Deserve Respect in Hollywood

It’s time for a moratorium on the production of movies and TV programs that make fun of the handicapped. Even Hollywood producers must be confused by the mixed messages received from TV broadcasters.

On one hand, ABC-TV edited out actor Kevin Kline’s mockery of Michael Palin’s stuttering speech handicap in its Sept. 15 broadcast of the film “A Fish Called Wanda.”

On the other hand, ABC-TV found it acceptable to portray a blind person as a bumbling fool for comic purposes in its new fall sitcom “Good & Evil” (“Raising Television’s Sensitivity Quotient,” Calendar, Oct. 24). (The series was canceled on Thursday.)

What’s going on here? Perhaps in the “Wanda” film, Kline’s character is clearly making fun, by mimicry, of another character’s severe speech handicap. There is no doubt that this is inappropriate behavior and is offensive to any civilized person.

However, ABC must have had difficulty seeing that a comic negative portrayal of a handicapped person such as the blind character in “Good & Evil” is equally harmful and offensive.

As someone who has been ridiculed because of being a lifelong chronic stutter, I have learned that when a person makes fun of you, their intent is to rob you of your dignity. That has turned me into a nationally recognized advocate for the proper portrayal of persons who stutter in motion pictures and TV productions.

I have found that great comedy writers usually take the more difficult and more rewarding high road to comedy and never make fun of the easy targets such as the disabled.

It is time that the Hollywood craft guilds for actors, screenwriters, directors and producers stop refusing to set guidelines for the portrayal of the handicapped.

Because of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Hollywood should expect to see more advocacy for portraying disabled persons with dignity and respect. It’s time to open a dialogue.