FameCrawler : offensive

Denis Leary: Autism Means Your Kid Is Stupid and Lazy

Sassy Smith — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:10:00 GMT

Comedian (I say that term loosely) Denis Leary has written a new book titled Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid. Sounds like a good read. I'm sure he's going to get some fan mail because of it, and by fan mail, I mean hate mail. Why? In his book, he says that children diagnosed with autism, are in fact not autistic - it actually means they're stupid and/or lazy. Oh boy.

This is what Leary wrote:

"There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks.... to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you - yer kid is NOT autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

The Autism Society of America wrote in response:

"For Mr. Leary to suggest that families or doctors conspire to falsely diagnose autism is ridiculous... [His] remarks reflect the same misconceptions of autism being caused by bad or unemotional parenting that were held over 50 years ago."

You know, it takes a lot to offend me. I can take harsh humor, black comedy, and sarcasm with the best of them, but I'm sorry, is that snippet from his book, supposed to be funny? Is that the best he can come up with? That's witty?

As a mother of a special needs child (who, without going into a ten page explanation of his diagnosis, does display characteristics associated with the autism spectrum), I find Denis Leary's comments offensive. I'm not an inattentive, bad mother who shoved her kid at a shrink because I thought he was too stupid to join in with the other children, or whatever the hell it is Leary's trying to say. It's narrow-minded individuals such as Leary who make it hard for us parents of children with special challenges to get the help we need sometimes, and to make others realize, that what we live is real and not something we caused by being "inattentive," or "competitve."

I'm sure Mr. Leary's book will be a big seller, seeing as the 51-year-old is about as relevant as his washed-up comedy is.

Bite me Denis Leary.

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Sarah Silverman: The Great Schlep Video

Whit Honea — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:51:00 GMT

Sarah Silverman used to grace these pages a bit more when she was the subject of pregnancy speculation by one Jimmy Kimmel (or Matt Damon). Then she and Kimmel broke-up and the speculation ended. Then she and Damon stopped f*@%ing, and Silverman rode off into the FameCrawler sunset. Or so we thought.

She has a new video and it doesn't involve her being a celebrity parent. It involves her being a celebrity grandkid. Sure, we'll roll with it (because it's funny).

The video is very ~~liberal~~ progressive and will probably offend someone, which I'm sure will make Silverman quite happy. Every time she pisses someone off she gets a dollar. That's a good deal, especially for her.

Here's Sarah Silverman and The Great Schlep Video (NSFWish):

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Tropic Thunder: Have They Gone Too Far?

Whit Honea — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:47:00 GMT

Tropic Thunder stars some of our favorite celebrity dads: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., and Tom Cruise, and it opens on Friday. It is already pissing people off.

Apparently the film makes a lot of fun at issues that some find taboo. The majority of complaints are coming from the various groups that represent people with mental disabilities. Dozens of people from these organizations picketed the premiere of Tropic Thunder.

The movie is about a group of Hollywood actors that blur the lines between fiction and reality. The actors themselves are characterized as stereotypes and many of their actions are unthinkable- it's a comedy.

The uproar stems from a movie within the movie in which Stiller's character has portrayed a mentally disabled person in order to achieve Oscar consideration, spoofing the likes of Rain Man, I am Sam and Radio, to name a few. Their handling of the subject matter and the wordage used to describe the character isn't PC, and for better or worse, such things are no longer deemed acceptable, not even in a comedy.

A Dreamworks representative says, "We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made.

"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. The film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with disabilities."

I'm torn on such things. On a personal level, the one I teach my children, I am 100% against discrimination against anyone based on anything (within reason), but as a whole I'm sick of America being handled with PC gloves. I prefer a society with a backbone, not hurt feelings and lawsuits (the favorite pastime out here in CA).

I like a little offense in my comedy. I get what Stiller is doing and it sounds funny. I want to laugh at something because it is absurd and ridiculous- things I know better than. Unfortunately, not everyone does know better and often the result of such comedy is that it carries out of the theater and into the daily scheme of things. It's a catch-22.

What do you think?

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Former NFL Player Thomas McHale Passes

Whit Honea — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:35:00 GMT

Thomas McHale, a former NFL lineman was found dead in a friend's apartment on Sunday morning in Tampa.

It is reported that foul play is not suspected and that autopsy results may not be available for weeks.

Tom McHale was married and had three children, T.J., Mikey and Matthew.

McHale was 45-years-old.

The FameCrawler family offers our thoughts and condolences to the McHales.

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