When Jerry Lewis picks up his Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars on Sunday night, will you be cheering his tireless telethon work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association? Or booing his pity-mongering and insensitivity to the very people he's raising funds for?
Disability-rights advocates are petitioning and protesting Lewis's award, questioning whether the word "humanitarian" -- defined by Webster as "a person promoting human welfare and social reform" -- applies to a man who has said to adults with disabilities, "You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!"
Lewis's defenders say that the positive things he's done outweigh the negative. If you think of "positive" in terms of money raised, I suppose that's so. If you think of "positive" in terms of "enabling people with disabilities to be full members of society," not so much. It's an unfortunate irony that the things that raise the most money and inspire the most zeal for a cure -- worst-case scenarios, scare stories, and yes, pity pity pity -- are the things that make it hardest for people actually trying to live with disabilities to do so with any dignity at all.
It's inconvenient when those heartstring-tugging poster kids grow up into adults who are more interested in rights and respect than cures and charity. Lewis would undoubtedly like them to stay out of the spotlight, or at least be abjectly grateful. Not much human welfare and social reform there, though.
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Some of the premises of the article are based upon false information. For example, “It’s inconvenient when those heartstring-tugging poster kids grow up into adults who are more interested in rights and respect than cures and charity.” The false part is that many of our children with MDA don’t get to growup or live far into adulthood. They die first!
The holier than thou those of you that oppose research because of “cure” factor. What?!? So many of our loved ones will die from this, not just become disabled.
Are you protesting all the breast cancer fundraising and all of the sad stories of children who lose thier mothers and husbands who lose their wives? Of course not. Leave Jerry and MDA alone.
For > than 30 years I have known that Jerry Lewis was using MDA as a self-serving, insincere, a pity mongering jerk who could care less about people with disabilities. I instinctly felt immediate loathing and could not shake these feelings no matter what friends and others said. Thank you for providing this opportunity for alowing me to express my thoughts, finally. Sorry it’s late, but I have a son who has Asperger Syndrome in crisis; suicidal; hospitalized and now homebound due to innappropiate placement, lack of funding for teachers education, lack of funding for research. I am ashamed of Jerry Lewis for his lack of humanity as well as his misguided path for helping others. That’s why we are here on earth, to help others unselfishly. Tona Jones
I have worked with this guy. He is the worst kind of human. He treated me like I was garbage. I wish nothing but the best for him, but I want people to know that he himself is a terrible person. If you like his work…fine. but I wouldn’t give you ten cents for everything he has done in his entire lifetime. Including his Nazi clown movie…yuk.