[stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Sat Feb 15 20:25:53 UTC 2014

The actor playing the blind guy is J. K. Simmons, a veteran character
actor who has appeared in several movies such as  The HBO series Oz,
Juno, Spider Man series and Law and Order.

They may have auditioned blind actors and didn't find what they were
looking for; maybe they didn't even consider a blind actor; perhaps the
actor chosen fits the part in other ways. Without this info, I don't
think we can be too negative or disappointed. If we want to believe in
equality, then I think we need to allow non-disabled people to portray
disabled people in films and television. And likewise, disabled people
should be considered for roles too. Maybe no blind people auditioned. We
just really don't know.

Growing Up Fisher is working with blind people as technical advisors of
sorts, and of course, the creator has some experience too. So even if
the actor isn't blind, he's working with actual blind people to prepare
for the role.

A few years ago, they revived The Miracle Worker on Broadway, and an
actual blind girl was cast for the role of Helen. Hundreds of young
actors were auditioned, and first and foremost, the director and
producers were looking for talent and who could best portray the
character. That a blind girl was found and cast was secondary, and the
show's producers said they hadn't considered a blind person, it just
worked out.

And there are certain traits, for lack of a better description, many
blind people exhibit that an actor may study and use when playing a
blind person. The eyes going out of focus, I think, means more that most
blind people don't always look head on at an object; I know I don't. I
always look in the direction of a speaker or a sound, but often my eyes
themselves are slightly looking to the right or left. I find nothing
offensive in this.

When Jamie Fox prepared to play Ray Charles, he studied not only the
voice but Charles's movement and mannerisms. Whether you like Fox's
portrayal or not, he captured Ray Charles almost perfectly. Charles had
his own unique movements and mannerisms as all people do, but many were
similar to other blind people as well, especially at the time period in
which the film takes place.

Unfortunately, what we know as individualism, most people take for
generalization. If one blind person does something, moves a certain way,
than all blind people do. Again, it's not up to the acting, writing or
how positive or negative a blind character is portrayed, it's dependent
upon the public's perceptions, and most will say, "Oh, that's how all
blind people behave and act and move." It is what it is.

And if we want to get into this issue, than addict characters should be
played by real drug addicts. All athlete characters should be played by
actual athletes. A parent, then the actor should be a parent. Cancer,
gay, singer... The job of any good actor is to study and prepare for a
role so they can best portray the character they play. They spend time
reading material about a subject/person. They work with people in a
certain area learning about the specifics of whatever the role is. They
train in whatever is necessary. Do they always get it correctly, of
course not, but I find it unfair to say an actor playing a certain part
should actually live that experience first-hand. I mean, they could do
some sleep-shade training, but I don't think they need to be blind
themselves.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
Lambert
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 12:12 PM
To: meekerorgas at ameritech.net; Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Bill, I agree with all you have said here. What an enormous
disappointment 
it is to me, to know that a sighted person is the actor playing a blind 
character. I guess that means, that acting is not a skill a blind person
can 
be successul at?  We know better than that! So it is a major flaw in my 
opinion.

My experience this past 6 1/2 years after my own sight loss is that our 
close friends drop off like crazy when we become different - only a very
few 
remain. but, the good news is that other great people step forward and 
become our friends.  We live in a world between sighted and blind, most
of 
the time, when we are pursuing our careers, and doing the things we did 
before we lost our sight. We become very strange to many people who do
not 
know how to deal with it at all, and really do not want to. I have had
to 
very consciously put all this aside, and continue on my own career path
and 
not dwell on the negativity - but keep my mind focused on the positive.
We 
all have negative thoughts, but we do not have to verbalize them. I 
concentrate on being positive and up beat, and that becomes the reality
in 
my life. Otherwise, we are taken prisoner by our sight loss and the 
perceptions of others.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cheryl Orgas & William Meeker" <meekerorgas at ameritech.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

> Several things bode well for the portrayal of a blind character in
> "Growing
> Up Fisher."
>
> 1.  The blind guy is one of the heads of the family, not the main
> character.
> I believe the sighted public is not ready for a blind main character.
> Rather, blindness is most effectively approached obliquely.
>
> 2.  The show's creator has experience living with a blind person.  
> Sighted people who relate most easily to me have been used to being 
> around a person with a disability.
>
> 3.  The show's creator has perspective about blindness.   He says
> "...blindness is like the seventeenth thing wrong with him...".
>
> 4.  The show's creator intends to portray the character as a distinct
> person
> rather than as an Everyman.  He said "I don't want this to be every 
> visually
> impaired person's story."  For me, a unique, distinct character is
more
> engaging and memorable than an Everyman.
>
>
> The weak point may be in the blind character's portrayal.  The actor
> playing
> the blind dad is sighted, and talks about "Your whole life is
naturally
> fixed on picked up movements," and "throwing things out of focus," 
> although
> it's possible that he is alluding to his character's having some
residual
> vision.  Regardless, the show's success or failure will depend on much

> more
> than the blind character.
>
>
>
> Bill Meeker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris 
> Kuell
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 7:50 AM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>
> I don't know if anyone has been watching the Winter Olympics, or can 
> tell from the commercials, but NBC is plugging a new show called 
> 'Growing up Fisher' that is about a family with a blind father. My 
> wife says the commercials show him riding a bike, cooking, and cutting

> down a tree with a chainsaw. The show is based on the life of one of 
> the writers who grew up with a blind father. Maybe there's hope after 
> all.
>
> Here's what I found in USA today:
>
> PASADENA, Calif. - NBC's Growing Up Fisher is another family comedy, 
> but there's a difference: the father, Mel Fisher (J.K. Simmons), is 
> blind (pictured). It's not arbitrary. Fisher, which premieres 
> following Olympics coverage on Feb. 23 (10:30 p.m. ET/PT), is based on

> the childhood of series creator DJ Nash. It moves to its regular 
> Tuesday slot (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) on Feb. 25. "My dad went blind when he 
> was 11 and hid his blindness (to) pretty much everyone outside the 
> family" until he and his wife divorced and he got a guide dog, Nash 
> said Sunday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. A

> scene where the father cuts down a tree with a chainsaw is based on 
> his own experiences. Fisher's premise is not a gimmick, said executive

> producer Jason Bateman, who provides the voiceover for Mel's son, 
> Henry, looking back on his youth.
> "It's his true story. Cynicism, be gone," he said.
>
>
>
> The show, which is set in the present day, looks at the Fisher family
> after
> Mel and his wife, Joyce (Jenna Elfman), decide to divorce. They remain
> "amazing parents" to teenage daughter Katie (Ava Deluca-Verley) and
> 11-year-old son Henry (Eli Baker).
>
> There were challenges to the situation at the time, Nash said, but
> "looking
> back, I wouldn't change a thing."
> Simmons, who is not blind, said he had help from Nash, a visually
impaired
> consultant and another consultant in learning how to play a man who
can't
> see.
>
> "Your whole life is naturally fixed on picked-up movement, so it's a
> simple
> case of throwing your eyes out of focus," he said. "The main things I
> learned (were) all the other bits of behavior, how you handle things,
what
> you do with your hands, how you interact physically with other
people."
>
> Although Mel's blindness may stand out initially, Nash said that's 
> only
> one
> aspect of the character's personality and one element of the family's 
> story.
>
> Some viewers may "see the first thing about Mel is that he's blind. My

> dad being blind is like the 17th thing wrong with him. He's stubborn. 
> He hugs too much. He's a lawyer. There's a lot of craziness going on 
> over there," he said. "I don't want this to be every visually impaired

> person's story. ... We're trying to tell Henry's perspective of what 
> that was like and how it informs who he is as a father today."
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 10:51 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] My New Book
>
>
>> It's very true. And most of us have come across literary characters 
>> who are less than positive examples of blindness, so why not combat 
>> it by writing our own strong, independent blind characters? Writing 
>> in any form is a potentially great tool for change. When you look at 
>> history, it's not politicians or their legislation that has made the 
>> most change, but it is the artistic community who have organized and 
>> used their talents to create change. The Civil Rights movement, LBGT 
>> issues, feminism... The deepest change has occurred through art, 
>> theatre, music, dance and yes, writing. So why can't the disabled 
>> community do the same?
>>
>> Bridgit
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of P. 
>> Campbell
>> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 6:39 AM
>> To: newmanrl at cox.net; Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] My New Book
>>
>>
>>    Thank you.  I feel that fiction, accurate fiction, is a good way 
>> to promote the blind.  People who will not read an article, no matter

>> how well written, will read fiction.
>>
>> I feel that in some cases this is equally true where the blind 
>> themselves are concerned.  This is especially true for young people, 
>> who often feel
>>
>> that their problems are unique to them.  Reading about a character 
>> who may have the same problems is often inspiring.
>>
>> "Mrs. Campbell, I didn't know that happened to other people." or "Do 
>> other people feel that way, too?"  are things I often hear from young

>> people who
>> are blind.
>>
>> Phyllis
>>
>>
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