Movie "Finding Dory" critized for disability portrayal

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It's idiomatic.

I worked in a store, just for a job, because I thought it would involve not being bothered, in the warehouse, and off-hours.

When the that became full time, I had to deal with people, on the salesfloor.

One customer would have been 6'4ish -- without the pink, beehive hairdo and platform shoes (to go with a poodle skirt.)

How did most of the floor people act.

Were they suspicious, dismissive. Was it Matthew Shephard revisited?

They hid, and one person even let out a momentary yelp/scream.

I was the only one capable of dealing with the situation, impartially. One, simple request, and the situation was over.

We're supposed to be emotional and show good, moral character among friends and family.

But, on an instinctual level, most strangers care about whether you are satisfying their animal needs, in terms of money, food, shelter, etc.

They're making judgments, based on your job skills or what you can provide for them.

The diagnostic criteria for non-verbal autism doesn't exclude the possibility the Gerald the Sea Lion is autistically non-verbal. But, I know of no other diagnostic criteria which would explain why a "passive/neutral" "mathematician or acrobatic ninja" would also be non-verbal unless the individual is selectively mute. Even then, selectively mute individuals can and do communicate with certain other individuals in their lives. In Gerald's case, that doesn't appear to be true. So, something else is happening.

Regardless, the portrayal of Gerald is definitely one of a bullied victim. Does it really matter that we convince ourselves that he isn't autistic before we decide whether he is worthy of more than comic relief at his expense?

So true. Family and friends behave this way too. When it comes down to it, people look after themselves.

In that case, they don't care whether you're queer, ret*d, or ugly, as most of them are, too; you have earned their respect.

I am not being dogmatic, in part, because I am relying on second hand accounts. I have never even seen this movie.

But, to the best of my understanding, he is never directly being discouraged, physically harmed, dispossessed, or detoured -- functionally speaking.

We should all be so lucky. NT's should also be allowed to pass their days, so free of torment.

Actually, in the movie he is, in fact, being discouraged, dispossessed and detoured, and is apparently threatened with physical harm. That is what the filmmakers believed to be "funny."

He smiles, and the audience smiles back.

I regret bringing fear into this discussion, but that's just not how it works, in difficult situations.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Therefore, all art is perceived individually and personally. If the parents of various disabled children who saw the film on its release date say now that they were offended by the portrayal, I tend to believe them and accept their indignation. After all, parents of children have spent years discovering new and variously different characteristics in their children ... particularly the bullying.

As I have said, I didn't see the movie, am only getting bits and pieces. When and where is the character being actively bullied. I would respectfully like to see a url and timestamp, if possible.

Or, are you drawing an inference.

Are you going to hold people accountable, for what they are actually doing, or based on your imagination.

It's ok, with me, if you have a different interpretation. I would just like you to call it that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKJA-VLpiCo
At 2:06 minutes.

This is the clip where two larger sea lions bark at Gerald angrily and loudly enough to cause him fall backwards. This clip, however, doesn't show the scene wherein the larger sea lions steal Gerald's green sand pail. So, we can add extortion and/or theft to the list of portrayed abuses.

I see it, now, but still maintain that the moral of the story is that everyone has problems, including the leading character, who has short term memory loss (and just so happens to be notoriously-gay, in real life), and including the NT seals, who flap and bark as antagonists and imbeciles.

Yes, but the other characters overcome their adversity. The Gerald character never shows us any redeeming value.

I haven't seen the film. Were the sea lion's mathematical skills portrayed?

It's only reasonable to focus on the aspects of characters that are actually shown, because that's what was portrayed.

He looks, mostly, like a caricature of Trisomy 23 (Down Syndrome). Not that that makes mockery OK. Actually, considering the estimated abortion rate of Down Synrome fetuses, that makes it ultra-creepy if condoning mockery is indeed the intent.

However. In the two-and-a-half minute clip, I saw them poke fun at about half a dozen tropes of mental health care (and that's just ones I've experienced in real life). Are they condoning those behaviors?? Or mocking them??

Are they condoning bullying?? Or taking a quick, quiet, on-the-sly potshot at it??

I generally like Pixar (and DreamWorks) movies precisely because they tend to represent a cartooned version of reality and poke a stick in its face rather than trying to model ideal situations.

How would Gerald the Boy fare on the playground???

Yeah.

Perhaps the shat-upon sea lion provides a talking point for a conversation with the kiddies.

How many parents would pick up on the opportunity (and what fraction of that fraction would take up on it)??? Probably not many. But that's how I plan on using it when it comes out on video (you couldn't pay me to drag my brood into a theater).

I still have yet to see the movie but it wouldn't be the first time Disney has made characters make fun of someone who is different. Look at Dumbo and Beauty and the Beast.