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<TITLE>New THOUGHT PROVOKER #148- Reality Check</TITLE>
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<P ALIGN=CENTER><B><FONT FACE="Calibri">Deafblind members </FONT></B></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><B><FONT FACE="Calibri">RE: Reality Check </FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Calibri">The new THOUGHT PROVOKER is a reality check for who? Is this fictional story too true? If you have not read the PROVOKER, it follows. Recall that I collect responses and post them upon my web site for all the WWW to read and learn from and that URL is- </FONT></B><A HREF="http://thoughtprovoker.info/"><B><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Calibri">Http://thoughtprovoker.info</FONT></U></B></A><B><FONT FACE="Calibri"> If you wish to receive THOUGHT PROVOKERS sent directly to you, just write me and ask, at- newmanrl@cox.net </FONT></B></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><B><FONT FACE="Arial">THOUGHT PROVOKER 148</FONT></B></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><B><FONT FACE="Arial">REALITY CHECK</FONT></B></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT FACE="Arial">By Guest Author</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT FACE="Arial">David Lafleche</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Well, what do you think?” Mister Jones asked hopefully.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">Mister Smith, the network programming director, shuffled through the stack of scripts with a puzzled look on his face. This was not a good sign. He finally replied, choosing his words carefully. “It’s an unusual idea for a show, but it will never work.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Why not?” Mister Jones asked. “You said the writing was good, and the characters were well-developed. What’s wrong?”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“It’s the characters themselves,” Mister Smith sighed. “I mean, come on. It’s bad enough that your male lead wears glasses; but the blind girls? Two handicapped people in the same show?”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Their blindness is hereditary,” Mister Jones explained. “Caroline could serve as a role model for Rhoda. Besides, I figured that a disability would add depth to the characters, expand possibilities for plots and dialogue, and so on.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Maybe so,” Mister Smith grudgingly agreed. “But our focus groups don’t like it. People who might watch this show would be creeped out by having two handicapped people to look at.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Ah, but I’ve countered that!” Mister Jones rebutted. “Caroline and Rhoda are always working, smiling, or teaching something. They try to be constructive. What’s so creepy about that?”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">Mister Smith struggled to excuse himself. “Well, uh, two handicapped females with an upbeat attitude? Yeah, right. Besides, you’ve made these girls too smart! Handicapped girls aren’t going to be popular; but giving them high I.Q.s? That’s way over the top. Now, this ‘Caroline’ character is blonde, right? So make her a bit more dumb. That’s funnier. And Rhoda might work, if she dressed up in Goth style, and frowned a little more.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“I know where you’re going with that,” Mister Jones objected. “Caroline will not be ‘dumb.’ I want her respectable. And Rhoda may be blind, but she isn’t bitter. I don’t do that ‘Disease-of-the-Week’ stuff.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Can’t you at least make them some kind of superhero team?”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“It’s been done.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">Mister Smith finally cracked a smile. “That’s what sells.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“No, that’s what you hope sells. What’s the point of doing a TV show, if I have to write like everyone else? I might as well Xerox everything.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“My sentiments exactly, Mister Jones. There’s no point in you trying. Nobody will believe your show in a million years.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Oh, sure,” Mister Jones rebutted sarcastically. “But put a British geek on a flying broomstick, and THAT they’ll believe.”</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY><FONT FACE="Arial">“Fantasy gives younger viewers hope,” Mister Smith replied. “But handicapped people are unnerving. Two of them is too much.”</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Robert Leslie Newman </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Email- newmanrl@cox.net</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">THOUGHT PROVOKER Website- </FONT>
<BR><A HREF="Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info</FONT></U></A>
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