Movie "Finding Dory" critized for disability portrayal

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I get Dumbo (although that movie always made me feel better as a kid-- other than crying over his mother-- because those big stupid ears turned out to be pretty useful).

I don't get Beauty and the Beast. Who gets s**t on in the end?? The Homecoming King.

Art imitates life. People do this crap, every day. Life also imitates art, I guess-- but it's up to people to make something constructive or destructive out of it, and they'll do as they're bent.

I can see how it could be triggering to someone who's actively eating s**t, or watching their kid eat s**t, though. I empathize. Heck, it triggers me.

I just don't think it's society's job to constantly avoid setting off everyone's triggers. There are too many of them, everything is a trigger for someone, and I tend to see triggers as an opportunity to fight your demons if you can just get yourself to look at them the right way.

Hence I plan to use it, when we finally do see it, as a springboard to discuss the problem and why the behavior isn't OK.

I was referencing to Belle about how she was different because she was made fun of by the whole village because she liked to read. Good thing about her was she didn't quit reading to conform to the village norm to be "normal."

Well, yes, they did. There was that whole song. "That girl is strange, not special."

Believe me, I can relate.

Of course, that's reality. I have to admit, although I identify with her, for all her sweet friendliness, Belle was a bit of a snob herself. "There must be more than this provincial life..." So there's some exhibition of the intelligentsia looking down on regular people too... Another thing that happens in life, out of the same ignorance.

I look back on a teenage BB who said the same thing, who married her prince and went out to see what more the world had to offer, who now finds herself awfully nostalgic for that little town and that provincial life...

But, back to the movie, what ending did they give Belle?? Ending up realizing that to be Mme. Gaston was the socially appropriate and superior choice?? Or using her divergences to save her rather divergent prince and live the adventure she'd dreamt of??

DDs7 and 4 have a current obsession with Belle, Ariel, Merida, and Elsa. I've probably verbally written a doctoral thesis, in words of one and two syllables, about all the different ways those films and their characters can be construed. Hey-- who said that Liberal Arts degree would be totally wasted on SAHMhood?!?!

What ending did they give Dumbo?? I haven't seen that one since I was a child myself, but I seem to recall the superpowers conferred by the ears that got him mocked elevating him to celebrity and then to some kind of hero status.

Have they gotten better over the years?? Merida and Elsa at least aren't waiting around for their princes to come, and Anna did a pretty good job of blowing up the love-at-first-sight trope that makes us all so nauseous and modeling a healthy relationship that's less than courtly bliss. Dory's in the ocean, not back in a tank in the "fish hospital" for her own good.

Worse?? I didn't see the movie to find out what became of Quasimodo. I just get "God Help The Outcasts" and "Hellfire" played over and over and over again on YouTube. And they tell me Gerald doesn't even get his bucket back, or another sea lion, possibly with a better disposition than the original two, to sit on the rock with.

Just less sugar coated?? Gerald wouldn't have made it into the earlier movies-- or he would have turned out to have some hidden amazing pivotal gift, if he were a central character. I'm not sure Quasimodo would have made it when I was a kid, or a 'princess' who wasn't WASP and destined for fantabulous wealth. I can't see Esmerelda flying in the 80's.

Back in the real world, I don't see my "autistic superpowers" helping me perform some amazing or heroic feat. I don't see them helping me net myself a magical castle with an extensive library and a grand adventure. In the best case scenario, I'll manage to keep them from costing me my "prince" and the life we've built (that bears more resemblance to a Jodi Picoult novel than a fairly tale). I'm pretty happy when I get a chance to sit on the rock. If I'm lucky, there's some other omega sea lion, or perhaps a kindly disposed beta, who wants to sit there with me.

Apparently, according to Wikipedia, Quasimodo loses out (graciously) on the girl in favor of someone with better looks. But at least his goodness does get him welcomed into society.

Well, it's better than the ending Hugo gave him... I think Les Miserables was his work of hope, faith, and light.

Frankly I find it more offensive that people are claiming that Gerald is supposed to represent autism as he's clearly just supposed to be a representation of the stock stupid character trope, which has NOTHING to do with autism. Only reason people are connecting it to "autism" here is because nobody knows anything about autism and the general theme of disability in the movie. Dory has more to do with autism than Gerald does. Anyway, it's good thing they had a character being bullied, as that's part of life for disabled people, the only issue is in what light they portrayed the bullying.

I mean no offense to anyone with any type of disability but honestly I don't see any problem with this movie.

Dory is the best portrayal of mental disability I've seen in a kids movie. We can't forget her and her family. Just because some kids won't get the message doesn't mean no kid will, especially if they have good parents who will talk to them about the message of the movie after seeing it. Gerald is... iffy. He kind of reminds me of Derpy Hooves from My Little Pony. His appearance and behavior is not the problem, the way the sea lions treat him and the fact that they aren't punished on-screen for it is the problem. I don't think he has autism though. I think he's just generically odd.

I saw the movie on my birthday and I thought the character had a intellectual impairment. My husband thought he was just dumb than special needs. He thinks "autistic people don't act that way, I just thought he was dumb" and I said "I guess saying that seal was autistic is an insult to all the other autistic people out there because they are implying they are dumb or intellectually impaired and not very smart." That doesn't excuse how the other seals treated him but it seems to be socially acceptable to treat people bad who are not very smart unless they have a disability. That is so unfair.

Fluke and Rudder(who represent neurotypical society) tricks Gerald(who represents someone with a mental disorder) into giving them his bucket.

It seems like the message is to not trust neurotypical society.

The last thing I thought when I saw the movie was that Gerald was autistic. I hate how these cynical, joyless people over-analyze and pick apart Disney and Pixar movies that have good stories and characters and are full of love and beauty that help me escape from the real world which is going to crap. Like Belle having Stockholm syndrome (she really doesn't - she doesn't obey or listen to the Beast at first and then runs away, she still missed her father and when the Beast told her she had to return home to him, she did).

Anyway, what about Dopey from the Seven Dwarfs and Ed from the Lion King? I'm sorry I asked.

Just your usual Hollywood caricatures...

Gerald was caricatured as a "dumb" sidekick, Disney and other entertainment producers have used this caricature "type" before i.e. Dopey in the Seven dwarfs, goofy in Donald Duck and plenty of others. However, what did hit home is Gerald's eyes when combined with his "slowish" behavior and the apparent bullying from the other seals smacked of intellectual impairment. If you also include the addition of the intellectually impaired bird who's behavior was designed to get the audience laughing at the bird then I think they partly crossed the line...

Back in the pre-television days Vaudeville and circuses used to had "freaks" in their sideshows who attracted people who wanted to gawk at extreme physical disabilities. The use of characters such as the Elephant man, Boo Radley (in to Kill a Mockingbord), "Rainman" and "One flew over the cuckoo's nest" is referred to as "inspiration porn"

Inspiration porn is the tear-jerking portrayal of disabled people that involves “objectifying disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people. The purpose of these images is to inspire you, to motivate you, so that we can look at them and think, ‘Well, however bad my life is, it could be worse. I could be that person.’”

Two human women appeared in the movie who were a couple. One of them is frightened off by Hank the octopus who had dressed himself up like a baby.

And now we must get started on the loon? She was a LOON, for crying out loud, people would expect her to be "loony". I hate my life, everything I like is wrong, and I guess I'd better go burn all my Nemo and Dory toys.