We’re extremely disappointed to see that Disney are once again cashing in on prejudice by giving their villain in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie a very visible cleft lip as part of his ‘look’ as an evil, sinister character. Not only is this incredibly lazy storytelling, it’s also sending a deeply harmful message that will impact the 90,000 people that were born with a cleft in the UK as well as others worldwide. The theme of our 2013 Awareness Week was ‘bullying and self-image’, as unfortunately many people with a cleft experience prejudice growing up, largely due to ignorance and misinformation, and Disney have clearly proven that awareness is still a serious problem. At least, we hope this decision was made in ignorance, as otherwise we can only conclude that this is a company who simply do not care about the ramifications of representing people with a visible difference as sinister villains. What message does this send to movie-goers about people with a cleft or anyone with a visible difference? What message does it send to those who have a cleft themselves about how they are seen by society? A congenital abnormality is not something to be made fun of, a cleft lip does not add to the ‘look’ of a villain, a character like this will not help the public’s perception or understanding of cleft, and Disney, we will NOT be going to see your movie. Tell Disney and the Lone Ranger team what you think! - Tweet them at @Disney or @LoneRanger, and use the hashtag #loneranger to make sure your complaints are visible by anyone searching for the movie. - Visit their Facebook pages to tell them why you will be boycotting the film - Post comments on review sites to tell others why they should not support Disney and the Lone Ranger - Tell your friends! People born with a cleft deserve better than to be cast as villains – make sure they get the message loud and clear!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:05:01 +0000
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