Haven't seen the movie......doesn't matter. Retarded is a word where context is everything.

As the PC era leapt upon us with many needed changes, it also left a real gap in places. The local agencies which govern and administer some funding to special needs people are generally known as MR/DD.....meaning Mentally Retarded/Developmentally Delayed. My son's clinical diagnosis was originally "Severe Mental Retardation" although his education and training over the years has resulted in an upgrad to Serious/Moderate Mental Retardation.

Now I'm damn near 60 but if some brokedick piece of shit walks up and says, "Is that kid a mental retard or what?".........Old Fart with bad heart will knock him flat. Damn near happened a few years ago but cooler heads (like Wayne and Karen who were worried about me)prevailed. On the other hand I have been talking to someone who obviously likes Tris (he's real likeable!) and I feel for them as they stammer around wanting to ask about him but scared to use the DREADED "R" WORD. Its hard for them as so many of the PC terms are kinda' dumb and really don't fit......so I bail them out.

The difference in those two situations is night and day. The problem Wesley brings is both one of context and one of breaking the circle. Yeah.....I cuss.....a lot sometimes.......And I don't mind insulting the jackasses of the world or playing the dozens. But we need to break the chain on a few of the words. Retard is one. Listen to a group of teenagers, many whom know better, and you're likely to hear someone called a gay retard! I damn near killed Michael one day. He just never actually associated the word with his brother!

Connie's boys have an Uncle with severe CP, their parents have both worked in Mental Health facilities, neither Connie nor Wayne even cuss let alone use that kind of terminology and yet............I grabbed Ricky one day after overhearing one and asked him what the hell his problem was and would he like to take on Uncle Pat. Like Michael, it didn't have the "hit-home" meaning til I pointed it out. I'm proud to say he now uses "Jadrool" ( a personal favorite-Italian street lingo for bum ) as his best perjorative term.

That's enough......I hate the movies that play on those terms for a cheap laugh......Cheap it ain't. But look at it this way. Listen to what you hear everyday and call the people who use those terms on it then. Its hard to argue with or reeducate a piece of film.

Spaw