autism

About a month after my son was diagnosed, my mother sent me and my husband out to see a movie.  Something About Mary was reviewed as the best comedy around at that time and we felt like a good laugh was what we needed.  In the very first scene a boy with obvious special needs was made fun of.  While the audience around me thought the scene was funny and roared with laughter, I cried.  Humor takes on a very different tone when it applies to your own misfortunes.

The new movie Tropical Thunder is getting a lot of flack by special needs interest groups for making fun of people with special needs.  I had actually taken my son to the movie not knowing this element of it and thought to myself right away how unnecessary some of the statements they used were.   My son didn’t really pick up on any of that and he thought the movie was hysterical.

For some reason people find humor in human tragedy.  The Tropical Thunder movie also jokes about  people getting killed in the war.  Comedy can be hurtful when it hits home.

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