Protest against "Tropic Thunder" premiere tonight goes on as planned

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) announced August 11 that several national disability organizations are joining together to protest the star-studded premiere of DreamWorks’ “Tropic Thunder” tonight to demonstrate against the film’s use of the inflammatory word “retard” and the demeaning portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities throughout the movie.

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) says more than 22 disability organizations are expected to have representatives at the protest.

Special Olympics sent out pdf files with signs for the protest, which have pictures of people with intellectual disabilities and slogans like "R-word is hate speech" and Tropic Thunder Colossal Blunder" on them.

AAPD said the protest is moving forward because "the use of the R-Word perpetuates the dehumanizing and negative stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities. 'Tropic Thunder' is an enormously offensive and degrading film released by Dreamworks. The protest will focus on making all who were associated with the film and the general public to better understand the hateful outcome this film is sure to create. The protest is our time to raise our voices and demand change."