defamer.com - 8/8/2008
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Well, that was fast: Mere days after first drawing attention on a disability issues blog (and eventually going under magnifying glasses at the NY Times and here at Defamer HQ ), DreamWorks's mock Web site for Simple Jack is gone . The site had been part of the studio's complex interweaving of Tropic Thunder tie-ins, with its "Once upon a time... there was a retard" tagline tipping the story ...
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"Tropic Thunder"
The HeldenFiles Online —
... And, at one point, there was a site for "Simple Jack," the Oscar-seeking movie in which Tugg Speedman played a mentally challenged man; although you can still the Web address, that site has been taken down because of complaints from a prominent disability-issues activist, notably over the use of the word "retard." The word is still in the movie, but it is justifiable in context; and the context is not about people with disabilities as much as it's about the way actors (and Hollywood generally) see certain roles. ...
Tropic Thunder Being Boycott by Disabilities Groups
FirstShowing.net —
... . There was buzz about this last week when the groups complained about the online marketing campaign for the film, which resulted in Paramount pulling a few of the websites. However, their demands, which include pulling "all scenes and clips that include Ben Stiller's portrayal of Simple Jack from the movie, DVD, trailers, promotional material and merchandising" have not been met. "The movement needs to enter the public eye and not just be talking among ourselves." ...
Disability rights groups plan boycott of “Tropic Thunder” industry parody
Cele|bitchy —
... Dreamworks may not have been able to edit the movie but they did respond to the criticism by taking down the website for the “Simple Jack” subplot of the film. ...
Related: simple jack
FilmCouch #83: Tropic Thunder protest, The Clone Wars —
SpoutBlog
Tropic Thunder is taking heavy fire, not for Robert Downey Jr.’s blackface performance, but rather for Ben Stiller’s spoof movie-within-a-movie, Simple Jack . Is this a case of political correctness gone too far? Or does Hollywood have serious flaws in how it portrays people with disabilities? The latter may have been Stiller’s point all along…
Our friend Kevin ...
Once there was a protest against a satire about a fillm within a film... —
Bright Lights After Dark
I'm sure this is the fifteenth thing you've read today about the TROPIC THUNDER scandal, vis a vis "Once upon a time, there was a retard..." but if you haven't, it involves mentally handicapped groups rising to protest the film within a film "Simple Jack," which boasts the tag line, "Once upon a time... there was a retard..." A simple google will lead you to more poorly spelled criticisms ...
Jim Emerson Smacks Down 'Tropic' Boycotters —
Cinematical
Whether or not you're offended by the use of the word "retard" in Tropic Thunder , it's hard to deny the difference between the intention of the humor and the ire of the groups protesting it . When Ben Stiller 's character, Tugg Speedman, learns that he was mistaken in going "full-retard" with his miscalculated awards-bid performance as a mentally challenged man in Simple Jack , you either ...
‘Tropic Thunder’ Writer Justin Theroux on ‘Simple Jack,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’ and Stupid Actors —
Vulture
Photo: Getty Images
Over the past decade, actor Justin Theroux has long been a quiet player on the indie film scene, adding his slightly whiny charm to movies like The Baxter , Broken English , and Mulholland Drive . Lately, though, he's been even more accomplished behind the scenes, directing last year's Dedication starring Billy Crudup, being asked to write the upcoming sequel to Iron ...
Tropic Thunder Boycott Brewing Over Simple Jack Parody —
Film Junk
Some people just can’t take a joke. Then again, some jokes just aren’t funny. Ben Stiller’s upcoming comedy Tropic Thunder recently came under fire for one of its many viral promotions, a fake movie called Simple Jack, which is supposed to be a drama in which Ben Stiller’s character, actor Tug Speedman, plays a mentally [...]
‘Tropic Thunder’ Abandoning ‘Simple Jack’? —
Vulture
Courtesy of DreamWorks
Disability-issues blogger Patricia Bauer reported this weekend that DreamWorks has agreed to meet with advocates about their concerns over Tropic Thunder and its subplot in which actor Tug Speedman (Ben Stiller) makes a blatant Oscar move in the form of Simple Jack , a movie in which he plays a bucktoothed dolt. We tend to read the subplot as a fairly funny take on I ...
Ben Stiller's 'Simple Jack' —
USATODAY.com - Lifeline Live
A trailer that runs within the Tropic Thunder trailer promotes a new Ben Stiller "film," called Simple Jack. Stiller plays the developmentally disabled title character and the teaser is: What he doesn't have in his head, he makes up for...
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![DreamWorks Goes 'No Retard,' Yanks 'Simple Jack' Site [Disabilities]](http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/showhype/photos_story/2008/08/08/dreamworks_goes_no_retard_yanks_simple_jack_site.jpg)
