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By Naomi Creason, Sentinel Reporter, August 21, 2008

Last updated: Friday, August 22, 2008 7:21 AM EDT

For the most part, Pam Shenk’s effort to improve society’s image of the mentally retarded has been successful.

As the community advocate for the Cumberland-Perry Association for Retarded Citizens, Shenk works with individuals with cognitive disabilities and their families, as well as teaching students about respecting everyone of every background.

And most recent Hollywood movies have helped her cause. From “Rain Man” to “Forrest Gump” to “I am Sam,” Hollywood films have been accurately portraying the mentally retarded with all of the same emotions and abilities as their other dramatic counterparts.

It was a surprise then for Shenk to hear about the controversy surrounding Ben Stiller’s new comedy, “Tropic Thunder.”

“We are in 2008, and we have intelligent people portraying these people in such a way,” Shenk said. “It’s just disgusting that we’ve taken this big of a step back. It’s just so hurtful to people.”

CPARC is one of many cognitive disabilities advocates that is calling for protests of the film because of its negative portrayal of the mentally retarded.

In the movie, which opened Aug. 13, Stiller’s character has a side story in which he tries his hand at an Oscar-winning role as opposed to his later movies as an action star. His character in the fictional movie is called “Simple Jack,” and other actors working with Stiller on a later war movie set continually make fun of him for his over-the-top portrayal of the mentally retarded character.

The problem

In addition to the flashbacks of Stiller’s portrayal of “Simple Jack,” community groups are also finding fault with the way the other characters in “Tropic Thunder” use derogatory language to make fun of him.

“The issue, as our state and national company sees it, is that it has an extremely negative portrayal of people with mental retardation,” Shenk said. “They’re bringing back an old stereotype. The use of the language is also very offensive to us, the families and to the people we serve, as it would to the other groups referred to in a derogatory way in this movie.”

CPARC is encouraging people to boycott the film and tell DreamWorks Studios about why they’re doing so.

Chip Sullivan, spokesperson for DreamWorks Studios, commented that the comedy, as a satire about making movies, was meant to take everything about it to the extreme, including Robert Downey Jr.’s character undergoing surgery to make him look like African American.

“’Tropic Thunder’ is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the top characters in ridiculous situations,” Sullivan said in a statement to The Sentinel. “The film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with disabilities.”

Sullivan also added that the studio has met with groups similar to CPARC about the movie, even before its release.

‘Productive discussions’

“We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future,” Sullivan said. “However, no changes or cuts to the film will be made.”

Shenk doesn’t feel that any reason is sufficient for the repeated use of the derogatory term “retard” in the movie.

“We’ve tried for four decades to get rid of that word,” Shenk said. “We’ve tried to teach that in school systems -- not to call them that, to respect them and that the mentally retarded are more than aware of when they’re being called that, and they don’t like it.

“It’s really upset everyone here,” she said. “I worked in this area for 30 years, and for those of us who have tried so hard to gain respect for those with disabilities, this is disgusting.”