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Alec Baldwin 'Blind' Movie Criticized by Disability Advocates

Alec Baldwin 'Blind' Movie Criticized by Disability Advocates

Actor Alec Baldwin attends the premiere of "Blind" at Landmark Sunshine Cinema on June 26, 2017, in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images)

By    |   Friday, 07 July 2017 06:17 AM EDT

Alec Baldwin's new movie "Blind" features the actor as a blind man, a move that a disability advocates organization is criticizing a week before the film's release.

The Ruderman Family Foundation said it is disappointed Baldwin was cast as blind man Bill Oakland rather than an actor who is blind.

“Alec Baldwin in ‘Blind’ is just the latest example of treating disability as a costume,” said foundation President Jay Ruderman in a statement. “We no longer find it acceptable for white actors to portray black characters. Disability as a costume needs to also become universally unacceptable.”

The Ruderman Family Foundation released a study last year showing that more than 95 percent of disabled characters on television are played by actors without disabilities.

“This is nothing short of a social justice issue where a marginalized group of people is not given the right to self-representation. We must change this inequality,” the findings read, listing inclusive casting, use of computer graphics, avoiding stereotypes, and depicting disabilities more naturally without making them the focus. 

In “Blind,” Baldwin is a novelist who loses his sight in a car crash in which his wife also dies. Years later he becomes involved in an affair with a married socialite (Demi Moore) who has to decide between him and her husband.

Twitter users wondered what the fuss was all about.

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TheWire
Alec Baldwin's new movie "Blind" features the actor as a blind man, a move that a disability advocates organization is criticizing a week before the film's release.
alec baldwin, blind, movie, criticized, disability, advocates
292
2017-17-07
Friday, 07 July 2017 06:17 AM
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