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.

The Hobbit trilogy had a heap of people playing dwarves (who aren't dwarves, like Aiden Turner).

They also failed to cast any real life Giants, Orcs or Dragons. I call Discrimination!

Mafia bosses and nuns are, for the most part, not attempting to make their living as actors. East Asians, Latino actors and people with disabilities are.

I do get that in this particular case if you’re looking for a child actor in a specific age range with a rare condition who’s capable of carrying a lead role then they might have genuinely tried and failed.

CaptainMarvelDanvers
Flowerpot I think you’re been deliberately obtuse.

Your thinking is incorrect. The OP's arguments seem to go from here to there. What is the OP's objection exactly? It's not clear.

I've taken the point the OP responded to me with, and asked her politely some questions regarding statements she's made. They are confusing and different to each other. I look forward to her answers.

lljk

Dwarves are a fictional race of people that live in mines.

People with Dwarfism are real and have faced awful persecution in living history.

There are in no way compareable

Then again...

Adam Pearson

Daryl Hannah, Matthew Perry and Christian Bale share a 'disfigurement' - nope, me either

Seal - if you'll allow singers

Joaquin Phoenix, Jason Robards, Tom Burke, Julia Roberts

David Bowie, Jayne Seymour, Kate Bosworth, Dan Akroyd, Kiefer Sutherland

And lots more

From what piggybrownhare has posted it seems that they did try to cast a child with the condition for the part but it didn't work out. Even his parents were glad he wasn't cast. Sometimes film producers just have to make that call.

There are plenty of reasons why they do this all the time. Practical and legal. When it's possible they do when it's not they don't. Simple. Ridiculous hate like this will only put future producers off similar projects.

I completely get your point, OP. Good to learn that they did try and sadly fail to cast the actor with TCS.

While we are here it also hugely grinds my gears that Deaf actors aren't cast as Deaf characters; horrendously discriminatory and disablist! That Switched at Birth show, ugh. Yeah the main actress has a v.mild hearing loss, but why not cast an ASL native, culturally Deaf person as the protagonist...FFS!!

I agree with you OP. You don't really see people with visible disabilities in films at all, even as supporting actors or background characters (except where disfigurement = villain). I think that would be helpful in normalising disability. It may not always be easy to find people with the correct disability who can also act sufficiently well to carry an entire film (just because of the numbers game of available people with certain disabilities) but it can't be that hard to find someone capable of being Man #2 Ordering Coffee...

My daughter has a craniofacial disorder. The character looks fairly mildly affected for Treacher Collins in my view. But these conditions don't get much publicity so any positive publicity is good in my book.

I don’t get how you don’t get it Samphire but that’s what makes the world go round.

Have a google of disability appropriation... Ah, I see! From 0 - 60 in less than 10 seconds! So you really do think that only people with a disability should be allowed to have anything to do with that disability.

So tell me... what gives you a free pass? Aren't you, with your angry posting and deriding of those who disagree, appropriating just as much?

I've been looking at the trailer and thinking about it.
I have a dd who has a visible physical disability-she's missing her hand below the elbow. Children in particular stare. When she was about 8yo she wrote "my dream is to walk down the road without someone turning to stare"
You see the nudge as they point it out to friends, then the turning, sometimes bending round to see and, in some cases trying to touch. I'm talking about junior age children not toddlers.

I do totally agree with what people are saying about it being downplayed.
I kind of agree about the trying to get an actor who has the condition being better, as long as they can get someone who can act. For dd2 she's had a number of casting calls for people with one arm. They've been fantastic confidence boosters for her. They contact charities connected with her condition who either put it out on fb pages, or contact relevant children (age/location)
But she has, when accepted, had to be able to do it well enough. If you have someone who can't act then it does spoil it.

But I'm not totally sure about the film. Lovely message "people won't care about how you look".
Unfortunately it isn't true. I think the message dd2 could well end up taking away is along the lines of "you're obviously a horrible person as people don't see past your arm" or "see, everyone else is fine, but your arm effects you so much, people can't get round it".
Yes, she does have friends, she does get on with almost everything. People that know her well don't notice often. But sadly a lot of people do, and snide comments are pretty much a fact of life.

Part of me wants to watch this, but having seen my brother who was bullied so much for how he looked, he has TC. I'm not sure I can.

southbound I don't watch all that much telly but I can think of at least 1 prominent female comedienne and 2 actresses and a black male on UK screens every week. Things are changing. Why not focus on the positives instead of, as OP is doing, vilifying those who are trying to make a difference - no matter how trite that may seem?

I take your point too, OP.

Presumably though the casters wanted a professional child actor who has already proven he can deliver on serious material? And perhaps even one with “star power”/marketability?

They got that with Trembley.

How many professional child actors are there with TC?

I think my point is pretty clear Flowerpot most other posters, who agree or disagree seem to have understood my point.

I’m sorry you find it confusing.

My point is, in my opinion, that an actor with this disability should have been cast in the main role.

People with disabilities are massively underrepresented in every walk of life. A film which casts a handsome young male lead in a role which requires make up to disfigure him to become ‘disabled’ perpetuates stereotypes by not only ‘whitewashing’ his disability (he is clearly less disfigured in the film than in the book) thereby perpetuating the stereotype of less disfigured/more attractive but also by reinforcing the fact that disabled people are marginalised, overlooked and underrepresented.

Oh! And a CBeebies presenter who had parents writing complaining she was scaring their kids!

A BBC weather presenter.

If I can come up with a few there must be lots more. As I said, I don't watch much TV

I posted up thread a vlog from an American mother active in the TC community which explained they did try to cast an actor with this condition but he needed surgery and so wasn't able to schedule...

Oh! And a CBeebies presenter who had parents writing complaining she was scaring their kids!

Yay for positive progress!

Scooby Your point is a good one.... but real life doesn't allow what you seem to want.

And I'll ask you again... using your own apparent criteria/demands, aren't you equally guilty of appropriation?

Hi Lou, be interesting to know how you/your brother feel about the film? I understand it would be a difficult one for you to watch.

Yay for positive progress! I'll assume you were being sarcastic!

When they made the film about Facebook, "the Social network". They tried and failed to find a set of twins to play the Winklewoss twins so they used one actor and special effects.
It's the movies, it's make believe, the film makers will do whatever they have to to make the best movie.
Jacob Tremblay has experience and he's a great little actor.

You got me there Curious

Gabs

Last I checked twins weren’t a discriminated against group. Kinda different...