Story and picture from
KUSA-TV in Denver Oct. 4. And a
Canadian blindness group decided to protest the film in Victoria, BC. (I had earlier posted a story in which
Canadian blindness groups said they won't protest.)
DENVER - The National Federation for the Blind (NFB) is calling for a nationwide boycott of the newly released Miramax film "Blindness."
Dozens of members and supporters of the NFB of Colorado marched Oct. 3 with signs on the 16th Street Mall outside the theater at the Denver Pavilions.
The movie depicts the events of a sudden impact of blindness that sweeps across an unnamed city. In the movie the blind people are quarantined in a mental asylum and begin attacking each other.
Opponents of the movie say this just reinforces inaccurate stereotypes and misconceptions about blindness. They say the movie sends a message that blindness is a tragedy and that blind people need others to take care of them.
Scott LaBarre, president for the NFB, said, “We’re here to tell the public that this is not the proper message about blindness. There’s a much more positive message. The message of the NFB in that, once you have an opportunity, once you have good training, skills and a positive attitude, you can do whatever you want to do.”
The movie is based on the 1995 novel "Blindness" by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago.
Miramax said in a statement, “Film director Fernando Meirelles worked diligently to preserve the intent and resonance of the acclaimed book, which it described as a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilization breaks down."
Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover all star in the film. The movie opened Friday in 75 theaters nationwide.
Story and picture from KUSA-TV in Denver Oct. 4. And a Canadian blindness group decided to protest the film in Victoria, BC. (I had earlier posted a story in which Canadian blindness groups said they won't protest.)