Patricia Bauer on Tropic Thunder

Patricia Bauer has this very good op-ed in the Washington Post on the Tropic Thunder controversy that does a great job of putting the controversy in context. As I haven't yet seen the movie, I can't say whether I agree or not with Bauer's bottom line -- despite my earlier comments decrying the seemingly bias-driven statements by the movie's co-writer, a lot that I've heard (including a lot in Bauer's column) suggests that the use of the R-word in the movie might well just be a particularly raw (and effective?) way of attacking some stereotypes that Hollywood brings to the issue of disability. But whatever one thinks of the film itself, the conversation it has sparked is really important.