This is the latest from Spread the Word to End the Word!
According to Spread the Word to End the Word, a parent of a child who has special needs had the following Twitter conversation with writer, director and filmmaker Adam McKay in which he asked McKay not to use the word "retarded" in the upcoming Anchorman 2 starring Will Ferrell:
McKay's response was that the word is "over" and that he agrees. Wow. I mean, wow!
As Spread the Word to End the Word said in one of the many, many facebook comments about this news, "One of the most well known comedic writers/directors/filmmakers just agreed that he can make a sequel to one of the funniest movies of the last decade (okay, that's a matter of taste, we know) WITHOUT the R-word. This will show all other comedic writers that it can (and should) be done. This is a big public win."
Yes it is. This is a huge public win. If we want to see change and be the change, we must promote the wins just as much, if not more (probably more in my opinion) than the losses.
Huge kudos and cheers to McKay for moving forward. I am thrilled to pieces that so many of us, if we choose, can go out and see Anchorman 2 and not have to worry during the entire movie whether or not someone will use the R-word.
Boston Red Sox Pitcher, John Lackey Apologizes
Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo sports wrote about Lackey's comments--
John Lackey: Boston’s fried chicken-and-beer controversy is ‘retarded’
(Getty)Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey is set to spend the 2012 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. As such, the 33-year-old right-hander is planning to keep a low profile in the clubhouse as he goes about his work.
But what kind of Red Sox season would it be if Lackey didn't stick his foot in his mouth and come away looking like a lout at least once? In talking with Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy about last year's collapse — and the "fried chicken and beer" media firestorm that followed — Lackey drops a word that most of us left behind on the grade school playground.
"Guys having a beer after their start has been going on for the last 100 years,'' Lackey said. "This is retarded. It's not like we were sitting up there doing it every night. It's not even close to what people think.''
Hey, what's that old saying? Better to remain silent and be thought a troglodyte than to speak up and remove all doubt? Clubhouse talk will never be the definition of polite, but you'd think someone who was just decrying what he thinks is an undeserved reputation for being boorish would choose his words a little more carefully.
Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey issued a statement Tuesday apologizing for a remark he made that was part of a column in Tuesday's Boston Globe.
"I apologize for my thoughtless choice of words that appeared in print earlier today. I meant no harm, and I am sorry to all I offended," the statement read.
Lackey used the word "retarded" in response to being questioned about the behavior of pitchers in the Red Sox clubhouse during the 2011 season. Reports came out after the season of pitchers drinking beer in the clubhouse during games. Boston went 7-20 in September and missed the playoffs by one game.
"Guys having a beer after their start has been going on for the last 100 years. This is retarded," Lackey was quoted as saying.
Lackey will miss the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery this offseason. He is entering the third season of a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Red Sox.
To me this is another huge victory. The only way to eradicate the use of the R-word is to hold people accountable. I'm thinking that I should mail John Lackey one of Joey's Boston Red Sox inspired Buddy Walk T-shirts.....
Jen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping this issue in front of the public. We want to support the directors/films who choose to be respectful of our families and friends. AND to AVOID films that are not.