This Week in Protests: Blind People Dislike 'Blindness'
Filed under: New Releases, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand
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Those folks with plans to see Fernando Meirelles' Blindness this weekend may find themselves blinded by ... protesters? That's because activists from the National Federation of the Blind were pretty ticked off after learning the premise behind the flick: that, essentially, a blindness epidemic strikes leading most folks to go absolutely apesh*t on one another. It would probably be in poor taste to criticize the group for not seeing the film before they protested against it, however I should point out that this all came about after seven NFB staffers watched the movie (three of which were sighted) at a screening.
The NFB claim the movie is offensive, and that it "portrays blind people as monsters ..." A spokesman for the organization added, "We face a 70 percent unemployment rate and other social problems because people don't think we can do anything, and this movie is not going to help ... at all." See, I tend to disagree. First of all, people who aren't smart enough to realize that it's a movie deserve to be repeatedly kicked in the head by a one-armed monkey on steroids. Second of all, if an entire city full of citizens suddenly became blind and couldn't see a thing, you bet your ass people would freak out -- after all, how could they keep up with this season of Dancing with the Stars if they're blind!?
The NFB plan to protest at 75 theaters across the country this Friday, carrying signs that read: "I'm not an actor. But I play a blind person in real life." Where do you stand on all this?
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. I think the NFB should protest a movie which just confirms and exploits the worst stereotypes about blind people. Wouldn't you have a hard time with a movie that did that to your group? – Renee
Posted at 9:09AM on Oct 2nd 2008 by Renee
3. I applaud the National Federation of the Blind for bringing this to my attention.
Posted at 10:23AM on Oct 2nd 2008 by wbfreedomofspeech
4. Hey Alex, wanted to respond to your response to Chris below (I did it up here because that way you'd know I was responding to you and not Chris). I think you basically provided the reason for why blind people are offended by this movie, and shows why the protest might even be necessary. You yourself say that you are ignorant of the situation...not stupid, but ignorant. This movie does nothing to address the stereotypes of what it is to be blind. In fact it furthers them. As chris stated, the blind can certainly wipe themselves and keep themselves clean, but in the movie they are incapable of doing that. The fact that so many people don't have any interaction whatsoever with blind people means that they get their perception of them from various other sources, including the movies. So people that see this movie may very well come to believe that the blind are useless and incapable people, and therefore the stereotype cited by the spokesman will continue and the lives of the blind will show no improvement.
Posted at 2:34PM on Oct 2nd 2008 by Kevin
5. I'm more of the thought that this film is less about blind people and more about the nature of ALL humans when confronted with an unknown epidemic that leads our society into showing our not-so-civilized side.
It never even occurred to me that blind people would react differently than anyone else. I'd even maybe argue that it may be the advocates of the blind that are labelling them as 'different.' in this case.
I voted 'somewhere in the middle' because my opinion wasn't relly covered by any of the other choices.
Posted at 5:43PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Mike
6. We need more people with disabilities (or actors playing people with disabilities) in movies, not less.
Why can't blind people be "monsters"? Sighted people are.
Heck when Christopher Reeves was paralyzed I thought it was great that he was in Smallville and I wanted to see more of him.
Sigh, I wish the dumb people would stop watching movies......actually the people protesting this probably aren't even going to watch the movie they are just trying to get publicity for their "cause".
Posted at 5:59PM on Oct 1st 2008 by DosFreak
7. this is ridiculous. as usual whenever a film contains any type of "group", that real life group comes and pickets to get their ten minutes. people aren't mature enough to act like adults and they assume everyone is trying to pick on them. and even if the film is portraying them badly, which i doubt, who cares!!! I mean it's not like i'm going to go see this film and then next time I see a blind person run away in terror.
I don't know, I'm just sick of all the people who come and protest films, if you don't want to watch then don't, but let everyone who does want to watch it do so in peace.
Posted at 6:02PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Tyler
8. i wish we could put a ban on groups. they all complain about stupid shit. like go get a real job. 300, this, tropic thunder, atlanta falcons etc.. etc.. its always something. if people cant make up their own minds then thats their own problem
Posted at 6:30PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Riley Freeman
9. Since when did the blind watch movies?
So how will this protest affect the box office, I guess the studios don't really cater to people that can't see.
Anyways, this wasn't a problem when the book its based on came out, so why is it suddenly offending people when its inn a movie? But they wont have to see it, so why should they care. And its not anymore offending to them then it is to the rest of humanity, its about the fall of humanity and compassion. The blindness is the metaphor.
Posted at 6:38PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Willardgrant
10. Shows how much you know. Blind people go to the movies just like everyone else; what cannot be heard can be described. I applaud the National Federation of the Blind for bringing this thoughtless movie to my attention.
Posted at 10:28AM on Oct 2nd 2008 by wbfreedomofspeech
11. If there was a widespread blindness epidemic, it WOULD be catastrophic. I don't think that's up to opinion.
This protest, like most, is idiotic.
Posted at 8:23PM on Oct 1st 2008 by AJ Wiley
12. Well how would you feel if you were blind. I dont know about you, but the thought of having a disability such as that is terrifying to me, and yes it is just a movie, but they have a right to be offended. I dont know any blind people and have never heard any horror stories about the difficulties of blindness, but imagine yourself in such a position... And Im 17, not some old grumpy self claimed know-it-all. Empathy people.
Posted at 8:58PM on Oct 1st 2008 by kevin
13. Exactly. It seems like everytime anyone is offended by a movie people that have nothing to do with it come out of the woodworks to call them all whiners and babies. The vast majority of people calling this ridiculous have no idea what its actually like to be blind. Neither do I. I am your typical 27 year old white male. Most movies made are certainly not going to be offensive to a man in the majority. Having said that, when people do get offended by a film I'm not going to call them stupid, or idiots, or whiners. Its not my right, because I have no idea what its actually like to be them. I will say that I don't understand why this movie would be offensive, but thats my personal opinion, and I'm more than willing to listen to someone present the opposite side of the story to me. Stop being so judgemental folks and actually sit down and listen to what they have to say. The point the spokesman made was right on the money. Their lives are difficult enough because they are percieved to be incapable due to their disability, and while this movie may not exactly make things worse, it certainly won't make things better. Keep your minds open people.
Posted at 2:24PM on Oct 2nd 2008 by Kevin
14. As someone who works with a blind individual and first heard about the protest from him, I've heard their side of the story. The statement they've made about the movie and their protests against it are much better reasoned than many of the other protests like this I've seen. They actually counter most, if not all, of the arguments made here and have actually seen the movie AND read the book. Some of their criticisms are not about the fact that the blind people in the movie suddenly can't even wipe themselves (because they went blind), which is of course inaccurate and just perpetuates stereotypes of blind people as unable to care for themselves.
If people are interested in hearing the other side of the story, I can post the arguments that were forwarded to me.
Disclaimer: I have not seen the movie or read the book, so I cannot make any judgments about the movie. I can only say that at least they have taken the step of screening the film and book BEFORE getting up in arms.
Posted at 9:02PM on Oct 1st 2008 by shannon
15. Finally, someone who thinks of someone besides themselves. I would like to see some of the responses you have received in support of the blind.
Posted at 8:45AM on Oct 3rd 2008 by wbfreedomofspeech
18. You can tell they have never read or heard about the book or its author. Must be a joke. The book uses a metaphor and the main objective is to show that evil in human nature can endure even under the harshest of circumstances for the common good. How can blind people help their cause by showing this ignorance?
Posted at 12:05AM on Oct 2nd 2008 by Mr. R
19. I have read the book and seen the movie. I am a blind person, and by the way I go to movies all the time--they have sound too, so it's usually not difficult for a blind person to follow what's happening. I understand that the author and filmmakers think blindness is a metaphor, but as a blind person I'm sick of blindness being used as a metaphor--it's never used as a metaphor for anything good. The problem with the film isn't just the criminality but the fact that the blind are portrayed as not being able to do anything--including dressing and wiping themselves after using the bathroom. Even newly blinded people don't have a problem keeping themselves clean, using the toilet, etc. As a blind person, I have had to answer questions like: How do you dress yourself? Can you use the bathroom by yourself? So don't tell me that people don't believe ridiculous things about the capabilities of blind people. This movie will further those widely held misconceptions, and it doesn't matter what the original intentions of the author and filmmakers were.
Posted at 8:28AM on Oct 2nd 2008 by Chris
20. Chris, regarding your comment about being sick of blindness being used as a metaphor, I can understand that. That makes sense to me.
I apologize in advance if I say something to offend you or anyone else as I don't mean to. I don't know anyone who is blind but I know very well that blind people live full and active lives; that's never been a question for me. In my original comment at the top, I mentioned that I don't recall ever seeing blind people demonized in films specifically for being blind. Ridiculed, yes, I've seen that many times. But having read the book, I still don't see it as a demonization of blind people. It's more of a demonization of human nature. I can't imagine how anyone would get anything negative about real blind people from the book or film, short of saying, "I hope that that never happens to me," which is a perfectly natural thing to say. And that's why I don't understand the protest.
What is portrayed in the book and film is an entire country of people going blind without warning or known cause and being inexplicably treated as sub-human and forced into concentration camps. These aren't people who have always been blind; they've just become blind and have not learned how to live as such because they've been thrust into unfamiliar and dangerous surroundings.
Please believe me that I'm not trying to be funny here in the least but I bump into things in my own apartment in the middle of the night without the lights on. So if I suddenly went blind and was put in a strange place without knowing how to find my way around, I would be terrified and most likely panic. I think most people will understand that there is a vast difference between blindness in reality and blindness in this film.
The thing is, instead of blindness, it could have just as easily been hearing loss, loss of use of limbs, or any number of other things. But because of how we use the word "see" in everyday conversation ("I see what you mean", "Can you see my point?"), the equation of "seeing" with "understanding" makes blindness an appropriate metaphor. Again, I completely understand being bothered by that metaphor. I can imagine how upsetting you must get being asked questions about how you live, but it's not common knowledge and a lot of people (myself included) are ignorant. Not stupid but ignorant. However, to dismiss the intent of the author or to imagine that a sighted person's fear of how they would cope if everyone suddenly became blind is a reflection upon you doesn't seem right to me either.
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1. This is absurd. I'm hoping you guys are posting this as a joke.
If not...
Hey, NFB... it's called a metaphor!
I haven't seen the film but I have read the incredible book and, honestly, the NFB should be embarrassed by making a public statement like this. Anyone who imagines that there is ANY connection between being born blind or losing one's sight in an accident or due to a genetic condition and the highly contagious, indeterminately caused (and FICTIONAL!!!) epidemic of blindness depicted in the film simply does not get the point. It's not being played for laughs like any other depiction of the blind I can think of and I think that most of the world is enlightened enough to know that blind people are not inherently evil. I've never been aware of the blind being demonized as a whole, certainly not in the last hundred years, so I don't get the fuss over this.
Dumbest protest ever. EVER!
Posted at 5:40PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Alex