Godammit, I’m Mad!

Has everyone already heard about the giant inflatable turd by “artist” Paul McCarthy that was blown away from its moorings at a Swiss museum and knocked down a power line before breaking some windows at a children’s home? The turd, entitled Complex Shit, is the size of a house.  Here is a description of the show, at the Paul Klee centre:

“interweaving, diverse, not to say conflictive emphases and a broad spectrum of items to form a dynamic exchange of parallel and self-eclipsing spatial and temporal zones”.

Whatever you say, pal.

While we’re talking shit (double entendre!) Rachel Zoe is featured in Bazaar magazine, with a photo-shopped image of her as a size 8, next to her real self, a size zero.  Ms. Zoe says “Are you kidding me?” several times in the short interview, which will help you understand why she’s so well hated, if this is still news to you.

Finally, Ben Stiller’s new movie, Tropic Thunder.  Disability Rights groups are up in arms about the movie’s use of the word “retard,” including a slogan that is already available on a t-shirt.   I admit I hate Ben Stiller, so he doesn’t have to  do anything but keep breathing to make me mad. And yet, now I’m more mad.

The word retard is a pejorative term that hurts those who are least able to defend themselves. In the same way that we now know not to say “Fatty!” when we walk by an overweight person, we can all learn not to use “retard” in connection with a person who seems slow, autistic, has Down Syndrome, etc.

Ben Stiller and Dreamworks want you to feel that those who are boycotting the movie are a bunch of fussbudgets with no sense of humor.  In fact, they are people who know the challenges already out there for people with disabilities or special needs.

My special need is for Ben Stiller to leave the planet, or at least retire.

In this new reality show, eight women with “differing disabilities” will compete before a panel of judges to prove they have what it takes to be a mainstream model.

Huh?

Is there something wrong with me or is there something wrong with this premise for a show?

On the one hand, I support the disability rights movement. On the other, I’m squeamish about any fetishistic appreciation of the disabled. It feels like exploitation to me, even when the disabled person is so willingly seeking the attention. One of the contestants on the show will be Debbi, who has recently posed for Playboy and says she’s met more men since she lost her arm than before. Here’s Debbi.

This whole thing is making me feel like a cunt for not celebrating the moxie or whatever it is that drives these disabled women. They’re kind of pissing me off, in fact. It’s like, I’m missing a toenail, so why don’t I try to be a foot model? Or, My voice has a limited range, so why don’t I compete to sing opera?

No, those are bad analogies. And that guy who “needs” to be paralyzed is going to be mad at me again.

Can anyone help me to articulate what is wrong with this show? Or if not that, what’s wrong with me?*

*No saying It’s because I’m a cunt, since I’ve already admitted it a million times.