Juliette Lewis, I Almost Forgot About Your “retarded” Performance
I spent my lunch break curled up on the couch, relieved to have my hummus all to myself and switching between a broadcast of the film The Other Sister and MTV’s mindnumbing trash My Super Sweet Sixteen. While both share a theme of mild retardation, The Other Sister at least attempts to present a heartwarming message of how even functionally retarded people can love.
Naturally, there’s nothing funny about retardation or autism or whatever it is that Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi are trying to portray but there is something very funny about people pretending to be retarded or autistic or whatever and passing it off as a serious performance piece. There’s a scene in The Other Sister in which Lewis and Ribisi compete in a ludicrous, unintelligible shrieking match that’s supposed to remind the audience that they shouldn’t laugh at retarded people. Instead, the scene is so bizarre in its execution that it’s actually pretty funny: Lewis forces out her sobs so hard that she practically chokes and Ribisi is trying so hard to be retarded he simply splays out his fingers and whines. Serious considerations like sex, alcohol abuse and mental retardation are treated in such an unrealistic manner that it’s hard to believe the film was greenlighted at all.
I can’t explain with reason why I stop to watch My Super Sweet Sixteen whenever it airs on the soulless, gluttonous, life-sucking machine that is MTV, but I do. Every single episode is like seeing a horrific car accident that I have to stare at in disgust and amazement wondering how something can go so horribly wrong. One can argue that the show is simply scripted or strategically edited, perhaps MTV goes to great lengths to find wealthy families and their obnoxious children. Regardless, this glorification of enfant terrible has developed into a tiresome trend.
Are we raising a new generation of brats? Does a 7-year old really need a PSP, a cell phone and a flatscreen TV in the SUV? Are we so uninterested in talking and dealing with our children that we’ve decided to distract them with technological goodies? Why isn’t it ok to just say no anymore?
June 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
My Super Sweet 16 makes me mad, but I can’t help but watch it as well.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Are you just upset that YOU didn’t get a sweet sixteen party?
June 27th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Totally agree about My Super Sweet Sixteen… God it’s annoying, but highly addictive.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Last xmas Mike’s sister got her 2 daughters (6 &
their own cell phones. The entire family thought they were insane and.. we still all do. It’s ridiculous!!!! Even though it’s “parent locked” so no freaks can call in or out, it’s still insane! Their phones are nicer than mine. Their explanation was transparent… basically they just play the game of “keep up with the Jones’.” So sad… can’t wait till their princesses are 16!!
June 28th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Croaker, how’d you guess?
Jen, I guess some people could come up with convincing arguments as to why young kids should have cell phones or other similar gadgets. Maybe they are latchkey kids or ride public transportation, that sort of thing. But I think we’ve sort of transformed it into a status symbol which is pretty useless, I think.