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Post by dcnewguy on Feb 4, 2009 12:06:12 GMT -5
I don't know if this has been posted, but I just read that Michael J. Fox will play a paraplegic love interest in the Dennis Leary show Rescue Me.
New season starts in April, what does the board think of this one? LOL!
I look forward to your collective thoughts.
Cheers!
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Post by Claire on Feb 5, 2009 12:18:19 GMT -5
Humm, no, I just can't really picture it. I am wondering how convincing a para he will be. Guess we'll have to see.
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Post by laurasweetou on Feb 6, 2009 12:33:58 GMT -5
Could you remind everyone when the show will be on? Cause I am a forgetful dev... I em sure there must be more like me lol.
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Phil
Junior Member
Posts: 82
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Post by Phil on Feb 6, 2009 19:17:59 GMT -5
I'd rather a real para was offered the part. I would think that being a para and an actor is hard enough in Hollywood. Here's a very rare role that you're perfectly fit for, where you get to showcase your acting ability, and MJF gets the role? If I was an actor struggling to get a break, I think that I'd be pretty pissed hearing this.
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Post by devogirl on Feb 6, 2009 20:57:25 GMT -5
Ugh, no kidding! This is just a sign of how far we have to go in terms of getting real disabled people on TV and in movies. It's bad enough that there are hardly any parts, but then casting directors seem to think all disabilities are basically interchangeable. In the shallow world of TV, Parkinsons = old person disease, not sexy. Paraplegic = football player-type injury, potentially sexy. I can just imagine the conversation:
"What's up with that Michael J Fox? I heard his shit's all messed up. I know! We can put him in a wheelchair for a very special episode of [fill in the blank]" <cue sanctimonious self-congratulation on their personal sensitivity>
Like in that movie Freak City (which was had some good moments but a few serious minuses) why was Marlee Matlin playing a retarded girl? Just because her voice sounds funny? It was probably nice for her to get a role for once where she doesn't play a deaf character, but that just seems a bit insulting. As Robert Downy Jr said in Tropic Thunder, "Never go full retard."
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Post by Pony on Feb 7, 2009 14:16:00 GMT -5
EXACTLY Devgrl....no dissing MJF coz I love the dude for his Stem Cell battle, and he really is a cool actor, but he shakes a lot, and I think people will just see this as confusing. Besides, I know there's some really good paras, or how about a c5c6 quad, that are good actors looking for a break. That kinda pisses me off!!
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Post by dcnewguy on Feb 8, 2009 9:43:37 GMT -5
my thought is that MJF is an established star, and is a lock to draw ratings. A guy like Mitch longley would be great for a part like that, but is he a guaranteed lock to draw new viewers, other than from this board. LOL!
Love you all.
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Phil
Junior Member
Posts: 82
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Post by Phil on Feb 8, 2009 19:46:37 GMT -5
I think Devogirl put it best when she said:
"...but then casting directors seem to think all disabilities are basically interchangeable." There's the major key to all of this.
Sure MJF is an established star, as you said, and that adds up to ratings/viewership but you forgot to add "with a disability".
The Hollywood casting mindest is clear to me; get a well known actor with a disability (it pretty much doen't matter which disability) and we'll make him fit the part. The fact that it happens to be a different disability doesn't seem very important. To me, it's like using footage of a yellow tuna to portray a great white shark in a Jaws movie.
Mitch sure would be great for that part, as would others. I'll bet he probably wasn't even considered for the role. That's pretty sad to me.
MJF is kind of a dual celebrity. He's not only well-known as an actor, but he also (I hate to say it) brings in a curiosity factor because his diability is progressive. That sounds cruel, but I think it's a factor, too.
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