[Nfbmo] Blind people are not "funny"

Tue Sep 25 20:42:27 UTC 2012

All,

   I think we should give the producers of the clip a little  space for 
their intention.  I've seen other, similar clips on this  show of people 
seemingly needing help, which is the actual purpose of the  setup.  Someone, 
perhaps an older person, is wandering into the street and  - again seemingly - 
needs to be rescued.  What will people do?   Someone drops money onto the 
floor at the cash register in such a way that only  the people at a particular 
table can see - what will they do?   A  woman walks away from a park bench 
leaving what seems to be a baby carrier with  a tape of a baby crying - what 
will people do?  All of these situations  deal with what are deemed 
stereotypical behavior - the befuddled old person, the  negligent mother, the harried 
customer and, yes, the helpless blind  person.  There are in fact, 
befuddled old people, parents who dash into the  shop leaving their baby carriage 
outside, customers too interested in their cell  phone conversation to notice 
that their money has fallen out and blind people  needing assistance.  No 
attempt is made to say all old people are  befuddled, all mothers are 
negligent, all customers are unaware and all blind  people are helpless.  The intent 
here is not to verify stereotypes but  instead to see how people respond to 
what seems to be a person needing  assistance - will they help?  Ignore the 
person?  Watch in  amusement?  That's the real intent.  And as a matter of 
fact in this  clip, some people did make efforts to help, some did nothing 
and some watched in  amusement.
      In other words, there was no attempt to  paint blind people in a bad 
light at all - it's just a setup.

   All that said, it's still necessary to send notes to the  producers that 
tapping into a stereotype of a blind person is not a good idea,  that 
perhaps they should concentrate more on other situations rather than  reinforce 
existing stereotypes that can have real averse consequences for  blind people.
Dan

In a message dated 9/25/2012 3:01:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
randycarmack at gmail.com writes:

Jim,

It was a horrible video done like the old Candid Camera  show.  They
had an actress who pretended to be blind who  independently
successfully negotiated her way through a busy restaurant and  to her
friends table but kept missing when pouring water from a water  bottle
into her glass (over and over again).  They were trying to be  funny.
I found it disgusting.

Here is the  link.
http://revision3.com/classichiddencamera/blind-woman-pours-water-everywhere

Sincerely,
Randy  Carmack

On Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 1:57 PM, James  Moynihan
<jamesmmoynihan at gmail.com> wrote:
>  Randy
>
> I could not find this comment about blind people.   What did it say?
>
> Jim Moynihan
>
> ----- Original  Message ----- From: "Randy Carmack" 
<randycarmack at gmail.com>
> To:  "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday,  September 24, 2012 1:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Blind people are not  "funny"
>
>
>> Gary,
>>
>>  Yay!!!!!!!!  It looks like they took that piece of garbage  down.
>>
>> Thanks to everyone who made negative comments or  e-mails.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Randy  Carmack
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 8:48 AM, Gary Wunder  <gwunder at earthlink.net>
>>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Which video. I get the message that I  must be lost and then a number of
>>> links appear. What is the  name of the precise  link?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org  [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of  Randy Carmack
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 12:41  PM
>>> To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
>>> Subject:  Re: [Nfbmo] Blind people are not "funny"
>>>
>>>  Thanks for the update, I have made the following comment on the  video
>>> site
>>> and will encourage all of my  facebook friends to do the same, "DISLIKE,
>>>  This
>>> is not a real blind person, it is an actress pretending  to be blind.  I
>>> find
>>> this to be very  distasteful and offensive to all blind  people."
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Randy  Carmack
>>>
>>> On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 12:14 PM, Matt  Sievert <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
>>>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Below is an email I have sent  to "Revision 3" which is an online
>>>> content  provider.
>>>>
>>>> They have a "hidden video"  of a "blind" lady pouring water all over
>>>> the place in  public setting, and we watch as fellow diners try to help
>>>>  her
>>>
>>>  out.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I find this  content not entertaining and derogatory to blind folks.
>>>>  Revision 3 is now owned by the Discovery  Channel.
>>>>
>>>> Please take a moment and  review the video here and provide your
>>>> comment to  info at revision3.com
>>>>  http://revision3.com/classichiddencamera/blind-woman-pours-water-every
>>>>  where
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thank  You
>>>> Matt  Sievert
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: Matt Sievert  <matt.sievert at gmail.com>
>>>> Date: Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at  1:10 PM
>>>> Subject: Blind people are not  "funny"
>>>> To:  info at revision3.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Dear Revision 3.
>>>>
>>>> My name is Matthew  Sievert.
>>>>
>>>> I am legally blind, I am a  cook, and I work as a computer  programmer.
>>>>
>>>> I have been watching  Revision 3/REV3 for a very long time.
>>>>
>>>>  I find your "hidden camera" video with the "blind" women  very
>>>> offensive in this day and  age.
>>>>
>>>> Blind people are very capable,  and even if this is an "old" video your
>>>> continued display  of it will propagate a stereotype that needs to be
>>>>  eliminated.
>>>>
>>>> I am very disappointed in  your organization.
>>>>
>>>> Here is a link to  the video.
>>>>  http://revision3.com/classichiddencamera/blind-woman-pours-water-every
>>>>  where
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your time, and  have a good day.
>>>>
>>>> Matthew  Sievert
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>>>
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