[Greater-baltimore] Ellen DeGeneres' Ignorance

[spclarke]

I was watching Ellen DeGeneres' show today as usual when all of a sudden she started to pick on a woman who was in her audience yesterday and using binoculars.  She displayed a picture of her using her binoculars.  Then she said that she thought the woman was at the wrong show and should have been at the opera.  She added that maybe she should get her tickets for the opera.  A portion of the audience laughed.  Then she asks her sidekick Tony if he saw the woman with the binoculars.  He said that he didn't see the woman with the binoculars.  Ellen seemed puzzled about that like she thought the woman really stood out.  Tony was really acting like it didn't matter if the woman was using binoculars or not.  This, of course, is the proper reaction.  Ellen has been asking everyone to post Halloween costume ideas for her on her Facebook page.  One woman suggested that she should be a box of popcorn (like what you get at a movie theatre or ball game).  Ellen displays a picture of herself in a popcorn box costume and then whips out a pair of binoculars and starts looking at the picture on a big screen behind her with the binoculars.  Ellen and the audience is laughing the entire time.

I was very upset by Ellen's words and actions so I posted a message about what she said and did on her Facebook page.  I told her how the visually disabled use binoculars to see things that are far away.  I told her that when you pick on someone who doesn't fit into the norm that it sets a great example for bullies to hurt people who don't fit in somehow.  I hope my message will have some kind of an impact.

Sue-Ellen Clarke