To wonder (the Movie) why the hell this is acceptable?

[scoobyloobyloo]

Why the absolute fuckity fuck is it ok in this frigging day to NOT USE AN ACTOR WHO ACTUALLY HAS THE DISABILITY THE WHOLE FECKING FILM IS ACTUALLY ABOUT????

Seriously - no one would DREAM of blacking up, or allowing a man to play a woman.

I thought this film looked incredible until I realised that at the very heart of it they were perpetuating the stereotypes they were claiming to be busting.

Instead of spending time finding a young male actor who has Treacher Collins they plucked a pretty boy actor with a few awards under his belt to mock up a disability. Bunch of cowards.

FFS.

??? What film? I'm confused

Yes I thought the same, really annoyed me. The only thing I could think was they couldn’t find an actor who had treacher Collins but not likely ey!

or allowing a man to play a woman.

Are you sure?

Huh?

Link to trailer here

It’s the film of a book which has been really popular the past year or so with pre teens...

The film is called wonder.

They will have tried to find the child best placed to play the part.

Man playing woman - join Travolta in hairspray ring a bell? There's plenty of examples but that is the one that came to mind first.

John*

I havent seen the film yet (just the trailer) but what annoys me is that his facial difference in the film seems much milder to how it is described in the novel, which rather goes against the message of the book.

I dont imagine there was a suitable actor who had Treacher Collins syndrome, its rare.

I guess that the studio felt that a more severe facial disfigurement may not have been so box office friendly Margo

Scrap what I said about men playing women. Angry post written in the heat of the moment. Forgive me.

Just watched the trailer ..it looks fabulous,sooo when my son has watched it ,and asked me...does that little boy really look like that? ..and I have to say no,it's cleaver facial prostethics...kind of takes away the message of the film....what a bloody shame ,people with disabilities are underrepresented in all walks of life ,even underrepresented at representing themselves,shame on the producers

There’s around 127,000 people in the world with TC syndrome. I can’t believe they can’t find a young boy who would love to play this part and with some coaching could do it...

Nobody had a problem with Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot

Did they not cdtaylornats?

They used Scarlett whatserface to play an Asian character.
this bullshit happens all the time.

Er, My left foot comes to mind, Daniel Day Lewis.
John Hurt in the Elephant Man ?
But think what brilliant performances because they are (were) great actors first and foremost, that did terrific job of making us love those characters and see a person not a mere disability.

I struggle with "blacking up" thing being labeled as always bad. The whole point of acting is pretending to be something you aren't, and that can be anything you aren't. DC secondary school does high quality musicals. The school is 98% white English (like the surrounding area). There are probably musicals they'd like to do which are about racial and cultural difference, where the plot won't work without many in the cast trying to look like another race... yet they'll be criticised if all white cast to darken skin or dye hair. I feel like the audiences are missing out as much as the kids, for not getting cultural diversity in the shows.

My Left Foot was thirty years ago. Thinking about this sort of thing has moved on a lot.

I never, ever understand comments like this.

Because films are not participation events, they are not exercises in representation, they are art forms, they are entertainment. Actors are chosen according to their acting and likeness abilities, availability, on-screen chemistry and so on.

Did you object to Tom Hanks in Apollo 13? Should an astronaut have been picked to play Lovell?
Did you object to Julie Andrews playing Maria in TSOM? Should they have found an Austrian nun/nanny instead?
Did you object to Marlon Brando playing Don Corleone in The Godfather? Should a mafia head have played the part instead?

They need to sell tickets - how many 11 year-olds are good enough actors to be oscar-nominated/carry a whole film? The chances of one of them having Treacher Collins syndrome is minute.

Ideally they would have had an actor with a genuine facial disfigurement, but I think that it's more important to find a young actor who can act well.

I took my teenage daughter and her friend to a preview screening last week. DD had read the book a few years ago when it first came out. Both girls loved the film - they laughed and cried in all the right places.

I was initially surprised at how mild the facial disfigurement was compared with how I'd imagined it from reading the book. But there were a lot of young children in the screening. If the disfigurement had been more severe then they might have had the same reaction as most of the children in the film ie be so upset/shocked etc that it would have taken a long time for them to see past the disfigurement to be able to see the child behind it. I think that it was important for the young audience to become involved in the film and engaged with the central character as early as possible.

Pretty sure Eddie Redmayne doesn't have MND, didn't stop him playing Stephen Hawking.

Presumably there wasn't an actor with Treacher Collins Syndrome to play the part. YABU.

It is because most people with Treacher Collins Syndrome are also deaf or have a degree of hearing loss. This means their speech isn't clear and it would be difficult to find someone with TC who speaks clearly enough to play the main role in a movie. Most people with TC have bone conducting hearing aids and have varying degrees of hearing impairment and associated speech difficulties. I agree that it would have been nice to have someone who genuinely has the condition to play the part.

Okay 127,000 people in the world with the disability. How many of them male and the right age?

How many of them with the desire (or ability) to act?

How many within a reasonable distance of the film studios where it was made?

How many with parents able or willing to facilitate the disruption to schooling?

Very few, if any, I'd imagine.

The whole point about acting is to play something or someone that you're not, so whilst I agree it would be wonderful if they had found someone with the disability for the part, I also don't think it's worth any outrage that they didn't.

I'm really cross about it. It is clear from rhe book that Auggie has a severe facial disfigurement. It looks like the film really underplays that (can't have a hero who looks too disfigured, that's just for baddies).