In a word, it’s too easy to dis the disabled
What are the odds I could walk into the office of Ron Fair, president of A&M; Records, and sell him a song called “Let’s Get Kike-y”? Something less than slim to none. What about “Let’s Get Nigger-y”? That probably wouldn’t go over too well either. Hold on -- I think I’ve got it: “Let’s Get Retarded.” Oddly enough, Fair’s company did release a song with that very name.
On Dec. 27, Dean Kuipers wrote this in a piece for Calendar (“Party Politics”) about the popular hip-hop band Black Eyed Peas: “They broke into their party anthem ‘Let’s Get Retarded’ ... and the crowd went wild.”
How did this gem slip past the record label’s censoring mechanisms? (That is, assuming they have censoring mechanisms.) With plummeting sales, record companies are more desperate than ever for hits. And in our in-your-face age, people with mental disabilities are the last minority that everybody feels it’s OK to make fun of.
I have been openly addressing the dissing of the disabled for several years now. It’s a battle some people may think I’m crazy to wage, let alone think of winning. But losing causes are the only ones worth fighting for.
In the 1960s, a common liberal belief was, “If I could have five minutes alone with the president, I could convince him to get out of Vietnam.”
In the 2000s, my feeling is, “If I could talk to people for five minutes about the derisive use of the word ‘retarded,’ I could convince them not to use it.” Here are some success stories.
A few years ago, Entertainment Today, a weekly paper on pop culture, ran a review of a newly reissued exploitation movie and noted that the killer was “a literal retard.” I called the paper’s publisher, John Salazar, who agreed that this crossed a line and apologized. Salazar then referred me to Brett Simon, the author of the review who also edits the paper.
A defensive Simon didn’t get what I was saying until I asked this question: “If the killer had been Jewish, would you have referred to him as a literal kike?” I read Entertainment Today every week, enjoy Simon’s pieces and haven’t seen the word “retard” in print there since.
In November, I wrote to Jeff Gaspin, the president of Bravo, the channel that runs “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” I pointed out that one of the Fab Five, Thom Filicia, twice used the word “retarded” on the show as a punch line.
I noted that this gaffe was (among other things) as appalling as white socks and black shoes. In an e-mail back from a senior publicist for Bravo and its parent company, NBC, I was told this word would be removed from future episodes and won’t be heard again on the show. To the cool heads at that hip network, I say “Bravo.”
In the opening lyrics of “Let’s Get Retarded,” the Black Eyed Peas insist, “In this context, there’s no disrespect.” (“Retarded” appears to have been redefined as dancing or acting crazy.) Sorry, but that fish is 3 days old and I’m not buying it. It only reveals that the band knew what it was doing was dicey and was trying to establish wriggle room.
It reminds me of stand-up comic Dom Irerra’s terrific signature bit where he calls someone big, fat, lazy and ignorant, only to then insist, “But I don’t mean that in a bad way.”
Should the song be banned? The albums pulled? Uh, no. But why not take a page from Philip Morris’ playbook? In addition to making cigarettes, big tobacco makes anti-smoking commercials.
Perhaps the good folks at A&M; could film public service spots to run on MTV where the otherwise socially conscious Black Eyed Peas could explain that making fun in this way is not a great idea.
Oddly enough, the band’s timing is as bad as its taste. Late last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to slash special-needs funding. Massive protests ensued and he backed off. In other words, the Terminator got beaten up by a bunch of disabled kids.
Given this climate, maybe the Black Eyed Peas (and A&M;) could also arrange some benefit concerts and make substantial donations to schools with special ed programs.
What do you think, Ron? Sounds Fair to me.