From: Buddy Brannan - KB5ELV 
Subject: Here's one for the mailing lists. (fwd)
Hi foks,
By way of response, in some measure, to the Magoo discussion on
alt.disney.criticism and other places, David Milner posted the following,
which he asked that I forward here. For those who do ont understand our
objections to this production, I believe that this article will give pause
for thought on the matter.
----- Forwarded message from Aggedor@concentric.net -----
Hello:
	I apologize in advance for the size of this article.  The length
is necessary to make my point fully understandable.
	The Mr. Magoo film debate runs fairly hot and heavy.  In a recent 
one with two people on the side opposing mine on IRC the two individuals 
I was discussing the film with felt that the NFB was, in effect, asking 
for censorship of the Mr. Magoo character.  They both claimed to have 
physical characteristics that caused them to endure some taunting at 
school in their younger days.  They said that despite this, it was wrong 
of the organized blind to demand censorship of the Mr. Magoo film, since 
censorship in any form is wrong.  
	The opinion that censorship is not right is a typical one among
Americans.  I actually hold this view myself.  I differ with the two
worthies I was talking with on IRC though, in my feeling that while
governments, institutions, corporations and individuals should be free to
express themselves in an open society, they all have the moral obligation
to their fellow human beings to censor themselves, once they discover that
certain expressions will cause real harm to others. 
	Idealistic dream?  Hypocritical, self-serving statement?  Not at
all.  I have censored myself for years, and I am very glad that I have. 
Why would I, an individual who has said on many occasions, "I'm going to
say what I want to say, when I want to say it" choose to voluntarily act
in a contrary manner to my own philosophy when it comes to my own
self-expression?  What good can it do for me to do that?
	When I was about 9 or 10 years old (before the shock waves of the
Mr. Magoo cartoon character's influence had entered my school life and
changed it for the duration of my school years), I was sitting in the
school lunchroom one day.  A black girl came up to my table and asked me
for one of my cookies.  I gave her one and she slapped me on the top of
the head.  Being the kind of kid who did not take such things lightly I
jumped up and chased her, calling her, 'nigger' the while. 
	Now I did not think very much about saying this to that girl,
having come from a family where the word, 'nigger' was often used when
referring to black people.  Though the year was 1969 or 1970, I had heard
practically nothing about the civil rights movement, and didn't really
care, as I was just a kid, whose priorities were avoiding as much work as
possible so that I could play, which I felt was my right. 
	I went back to class and after (I think it was) History class the
teacher told me to stay after the other students left.  I did and she
called me up to her desk.  She said that she had heard that I called a
little girl, 'nigger' at lunch.  I said I had, being vaguely aware that I
was in trouble, but concerned only with getting out of this trouble,
whatever it turned out to be.  The teacher told me that the little girl
was very hurt by what I had said.  She then sternly told me never to call
anyone a nigger again. 
	This whole incident gave me great pause for thought.  I told the
teacher what she wanted to hear, so she was no longer a problem.  Still
the whole thing made me feel uneasy.  I did not like having been slapped
on top of the head, particularly since all I had done was give one of my
cookies to someone.  I thought I had done someone a favour that did not
deserve the response it got.  When the girl slapped me on top of the head
I ran after her, saying what I thought was only a mildly naughty word.  I
did not have a clue that saying the word, 'nigger' would actually hurt
this person. 
	I thought about it some more.  I did not hate the girl.  I had
only been irritated with her for slapping me on top of the head.  I
certainly did not mean to cause her any real harm.  As I say this was not
because of what the teacher had said to me.  I was a rather willful child,
and payed only enough attention to authority figures to keep my backside
intact.  Then as now, I developed my personal philosophy and code for
living on my own.  I started actually paying attention when I heard
discussions of the civil rights movement.  I realized that I had been
wrong to call that girl a nigger, and I felt very ashamed. 
	It dawned on me that some words can actually do a great deal of
harm that people did not deserve, simply because they were who they were. 
>From that time on I never again called a black person a nigger, nor
referred to black people as niggers.  To me using the word, 'nigger' is
wrong, and I refuse to do it.  Political correctness has nothing to do
with this decision.  I simply know that I desire respect as a human being
and if I am to deserve this respect, I should respect others by not
offending them with certain expressions.  I can and will give my opinions
when I wish to.  To purposely demeen others whilst doing that however,
makes me less than contemptible in my own view. 
	The organized blind and many others feel that the above philosophy
should apply to Walt Disney Pictures in the case of the Mr. Magoo film. 
Once Disney had been made aware of the harmful nature of the Mr. Magoo
character they should have acted immediately, to either change the nature
of Mr. Magoo as will be played by Leslie Nielson, or to end the
ill-considered Mr. Magoo film project altogether.  They should have done
this not for the sake of political correctness, but out of their
responsibility as a corporation to put the welfare of the consumer above
profit. 
	While Disney was unaware that anyone would have an objection to
the Magoo project it could be said that they were acting in perfectly good
faith, preparing to produce yet another film for the whole family to
enjoy.  It did not take long however, for the organized blind to find out
about this project and contact Disney with their concerns.  For around a
month, now, we have asked to meet with representatives from Disney to
discuss the film, and how it might be produced without doing the real harm
to blind children that it will eventually do.  To my knowledge no such
meeting has taken place.  Instead Disney public relations staff and Mr. 
Leslie Nielson have attempted to defend the film, denying that it would do
any harm to the blind, since the Mr. Magoo character is, in their
estimation, not a blind person, merely nearsighted.
	I believe that the organized blind, and the members of the general
public who have joined us in opposing the Mr. Magoo film project have
proven beyond any doubt, that the Mr. Magoo character is indeed a blind
person.  We have done this by relating the fact that most blind people
have some amount of vision, even if this is only light perception or
severe nearsightedness.  We have imparted personal accounts of the
ridicule and hate behaviour that blind children have experienced as a
direct result of the influence of the animated Mr. Magoo character of the
past.  We have also, quite eloquently I feel, pointed out the harm that
fresh influence from this Disney-sponsored archetype of the stereotypical
blind man will cause to opportunities for blind persons in employment,
education, general society and civil rights. 
	If Disney is indeed a corporation that cares about tolerance and
inclusiveness they can not ignore the voices raised against the Mr. Magoo
film.  If Disney's long-established image as a leading creator and
disceminator of fine family entertainment is true, and not merely an
artificial front for a money-hungry, uncaring media giant, they will prove
themselves with the kind of voluntary censorship that I, and other
feeling, respectful people use for ourselves.  They will change or abandon
the Mr. Magoo film project on their own, since they have been made aware
of the damage it will cause to blind people in general, and to blind
children in particular. 
	Thank you for reading.
----- End of forwarded message from Aggedor@concentric.net -----
-- 
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV        | Voice: (512) 441-3246
with Karl and Zoe!...        | davros@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
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It's OK to be mean to the evil people
Who make life unbelievable,
But try to be nice to me. --The Nields
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