[stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Sat Feb 15 20:42:41 UTC 2014

To my knowledge, white people have never played black characters, but
other actors of different races and ethnicities have played characters
who were black, Latinos, Italian, Jewish, etc. Back in the hay-day of
westerns, Latinos were often cast as Indians, or native-Americans, as we
refer to it now, smile.

I won't get into this issue again, but I think it's a little different
when it comes to something like disability. I don't see people up in
arms when Tom Hanks or Sean Penn play gay people or Debra Winger or
Joseph Gordon Levitt play cancer patients. In the film Cloud Atlas,
based on the book, women are playing men, black people playing white
people, young playing old, and vice-versus. The intent of the creators
was to show that these boundries don't necessarily have to exist. Again,
I find it unfair to take issue with this show for not casting an actual
blind person, especially not knowing the casting process. Perhaps those
of you planning on participating in the live Twitter feed can pose the
question.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Applebutter Hill
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 3:00 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Yes, this is a major flaw, and I remember hearing that quote about how
he was going to portray the blind man and thinking it sounded a bit
simplistic. There are blind people who want to be on stage, and some
have had some luck in community theater groups, but a lot of them get
told it's too complicated to get them in the right place for their
scenes.

I wonder if there was a time when white actors portrayed black people in
film or TV? I'm pretty sure that did happen, but I can't think of
specific examples. Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
Lambert
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 1:12 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
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Writers Division web site
>> http://writers.nfb.org/
>> stylist mailing list
>> stylist at nfbnet.org 
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> stylist:
>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40hotmai
>> l.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Writers Division web site
>> http://writers.nfb.org/
>> stylist mailing list
>> stylist at nfbnet.org 
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> stylist: 
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/ckuell%40comcast
>> .net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://writers.nfb.org/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org 
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> stylist:
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/meekerorgas%40ameri
tech
> .net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://writers.nfb.org/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org 
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> stylist:
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/llambert%40zoominte
rnet
.net
>

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/applebutterhill%40g
mail
.com

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40hotmai
l.com