Aussie college film mocks disabled people
A first year Ph.D student at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia has caused a furore by submitting a film which mocks disabled people as part of his thesis, reports today's newspaper.
The film, made by student Michael Noonan, has the title Laughing at the Disabled (well, no one can accuse him of subtlety, can they? Talk about doing what it says on the tin!) and features two men with learning difficulties who were sent into a bar to ask if there were any women looking for romance - this leads to one of them getting severely beaten by a drunken woman. Elsewhere in this 'hilarious' film, Noonan asks one of the men - who has Asperger's Syndrome - what he would do if one of the women fancied both of them. The man's difficulties with social skills, as a result of his impairment, leave him twitching and unable to answer - something which provoked raucous laughter from the audience.
What's surprising and annoying Crippled Monkey though, having read the report, is how little of the scandal this film has caused seems to be down to the disablism of its tone. For instance, two senior academics who criticised the film have been suspended for six months without pay, accused of threatening the "artistic freedom" of students. They had slated the film as being an example of a culture where it's a case of "the grosser, the better" and - get this! - that "the project showed the amoral influence of postmodernism within the university’s creative industries faculty". Ooh, very highbrow and academic - but what about the disablism? To criticise the film may indeed be threatening the "artistic freedom" of students, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of the freedom of disabled people not to have fun poked at them for nothing more than laughter. Hmm.
If any Ouch readers Down Under have glimpsed this film, we'd love to hear from you in the comments.
Comments
Actually, the two suspended academics have objected on the grounds of disability discrimination and question how a project so entitled was passed through the university's ethics committee.
Although much of the focus is now on the attack on their freedom of speech as academics, there is a response by these chaps, both of whom have schizophrenia in their families, on YouTube. If I'm allowed to link to that, it can be found here:
There's also quite a debate in the comments section there, including concerns raised about the disability issue. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately), as I understand it, the original film has never been shown outside the college.
>They had slated the film as being an example of a culture where it's a case of "the grosser, the better"
Sounds like Channel 4 then..so what's new? Obviously the students are one jump ahead...they know where the future lies for the film industry, and doubtless, they will "Carry On" to make a mint out of rubbish like this, whilst the lecturers are languishing on short rations...C'est La Vie!
Australia has more than its share of morons.However there are stil some inteligent people ,witness the two who were suspended.
An interview with the student who made the film can be found here.
I'm from Australia (and I do not disagree with Ernest above about our share of morons) but I haven't seen this "film". As far as I know it has not been generally released -- if it is finished at all.
It's true that the two academics attacked the "film" on the basis of it being amoral trash, at the same time lamenting the steady creep of postmodernist thought in "creative industries" and criticising colleagues (justifiably, I might add, for using Big Brother and Shakespeare in the same sentence) -- but well, that's what academics do, isn't it?
Seriously though, as The Goldfish has pointed out above, their initial objection was that it set up people with disabilities to be ridiculed and mocked. I know also that many people, including the media, students, and disability advocates and organisations have been very vocal in criticising the project for its highly offensive and unethical subject matter.
This is Michael Noonan, the PhD student and filmmaker you mention.
Just came across this offensively incorrect little post, which references The Times. The reality is that most of what you've referenced is utter nonsense. There are no severe beatings, no twitching, no mocking. The two academics in question have misrepresented my work more than once. Do some decent research and you will begin to see a truth emerging..
My work is wonderful and progressive; the two men in it are not impaired or incapable. Judge it when it's finished!
Hello
I am a former peer of Michael's and ex-staff member of QUT - now working in the UK television industry. Michael has just released the rushes, not the final project, on the web and has written an article in the Australian (where you can find a link to the footage). It's a shame that he had to release it before it is finished - but hey ho, hopefully it will stop people from making assumptions based on Hookham and MacLennan's views. It seems that (surprise surprise) The Times were incorrect, there is no 'beating' by this woman, she is very friendly. Please try to view the footage - it seems very positive - the two presenters Darren and James are wonderful guys. And at no time did I feel that I was laughing at them - I laughed with them and was happy to be taken on a journey with them.
I would give you a link but I am useless at that sort of stuff - I'm sure you can find it yourself.