Hi, Merely Me. I don't think this is appropriate, either. I'm guessing it's another case of ignorance and insensitivity - if you've never personally had to experience the effects of a mental illness, you may not realize the message this conveys. I feel the same way about people who pretend to be "retards" as a joke. I probably found that stuff funny before I had a child with a developmental disability, then it takes on a whole different look. There is nothing funny about mental illness or mental retardation, just as there is nothing funny about diabetes, a broken leg or any other thing like that.
Yuck! It's very sad.
Hey Judy
Yeah the whole "retard" name calling gets to me too. I think it gets back to empathy. If you have had these experiences would you still think it is nothing? I don't know.
I did go off on some tangents in my post. :>) But...I still maintain that such costumes are insensitive or...at the very least...extremely uncreative. Most people wouldn't bat an eyelash but...I think it says something about our culture. Some of the messages are: "The mentally ill are dangerous and need to be caged or restrained." or "The mentally ill are scary and are in same league as other Halloween horrors." It certainly doesn't help with stigma.
I really appreciate your thoughts on this Judy. Thank you for your comment.
I am not going to have much of an opinion on this for a very specific reason. I have myself more than once been told that I'm being too "sensitive" when I have written and talked about issues of discrimination against people with disabilities.or inappropriate use of certain language (e.g., spaz). Of course, the people who tell me I'm too sensitive are able-bodied and have no clue what they're talking about. In matters such as this, I believe we should take our cue from the group that is being identified/talked about/etc. Whereas I do think there's a place for straighjackets in art - if that art is e.g., portraying mental illness or criticizing the system to deal with it - there's also another thing, though. Most people would have a disability or chronic illness have a very dark sense of humor about it, so there are times when something inappropriate can work, but I still believe you have to take your cue from the group itself.
One note about last night's episode, though. I thought they were zombies. That'll show you how clueless I was.
LOL
Yeah...they could have been zombies I guess. Their costumes were rather vague. But the reporting on the costumes did describe them as straitjackets in the news.
I think you are right in that...if you have the condition, disease, disability, etc...yourself and you make light of it... maybe that is okay. You are entitled. But for someone who does not...not so okay.
For example...
Lady Gaga rolling out in a wheelchair as part of her performance. Some of the crowd didn't appreciate this stunt and tried egg her. If you look at the comments...the reviews are certainly mixed from people with a disability thinking that it was okay and some who do not...thinking it was very insensitive and over the top. Thoughts?
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Lene. And I for one...do not think you are "too sensitive."
I never like people like lady Gaga or some entertainers who try to be very strange and end up being insensitive. It may be their job to be very strange actress or singer, but it does not give them the right to mock the human weakness or religion and etc. She tries to be like McDonna but McDonna now seems to look better than lady Gaga. Something is going on in the new generation - they lack the respect for human beings in general.
Regards,
Nina
I'm probably not going to make myself very popular by saying this: but I have no problem with it. It's a characteur, an exaggeration - sometimes people joke about things to take the sting out. Hell, I know people who go through it who joke about it.
I'm not saying I agree with those things that go on in the world like what you have addressed, Merely Me, I just have no issue with people having a bit of fun. Even if they are being ignorant. Perhaps because I have not had the experiences you have had with your mother, and thus it is not such a trigger, I find it easy to ignore. As for the bags under the eyes, frizzy hair and no underwear... um that could actually fit me at one point, so I find it amusing that they used that image... I feel I was a bit ridiculous at that point in my life, and the over-exaggeratedness of it helps me laugh it off.
I am sorry, though, that you were hurt by such things. I know what it is like to be thought of as oversensitive and overreacting to things, so would never think that of another - if it hurts you then you have every right to be upset by it.
Thanks Lyra
I really appreciate your point of view on this.
I can't say that I am hurt so much as..."wow that is really lame" as my reaction to such costumes. I suppose this is what a costume is...an exaggeration...a caricature. But in a lot of cases we accept these stereotypes as truth. We have not evolved very much in how we view mental illness. And in some parts of the world there has been no progress...people with mental illness or mental disabilities are treated with less care than animals.
We all have our dark humor to get through things...and it does help. But when these caricatures become truth...as in people really are put into straitjackets....or chained...due to their mental illness...it is not so amusing.
My thoughts were...this is something we should take a look at and see what we think.
Good to hear from you as always. You make some great points.
I used to like to dress up like a witch or anything when I was in my youth. However, as time goes on, I have become more conservative about partying and don't want to get intro trouble or hurt other people just for the sake of party. It is not sensitive. I know there are some people who love to use this chance to make fun of people. Not all people are nice... If the kids are made up in a funny role, it is OK because it is just for fun. I assume you are talking about adults who do that. (Only teenagers or adults could bother to dress up in what you called the straitjacket and etc.)
Last week I read about Ohio University students who protested that one should not dress up in such way that it mocks the colored race and etc. I think it is true. People probably need more roles to be in constumes and at times, they thought they could find other "funny reality roles" to copy.
I believe this goes with one's value. Christians don't like Halloween and tend to celebrate it with kids in church at night. There is a point. I believe human nature is not always pure and good. So some bad constumes do give people a "chance" to be "naughty" or "discriminating" or "insensitive".
Yet I am not that rigid. But to dress up intentionally about what you called the mentally ill or whatever is certainly wrong even if the crowd miss it or do not understand what it is anyway. It is in the mind of the person who does this.
Regards,
Nina
Hi there
You make some really good points. By the very nature of wearing a costume...it is an exaggeration...it is supposed to be scary, funny, or for most women's costumes nowadays...sexy. I actually love Halloween. It is a lot of fun.
I am sure that for everyone out there...one costume or another will be perceived as insensitive.
I do think that this is something we should look at to decide what we feel or think. Should mental illness be a costume? Is it appropriate for an entertainer to roll out in a wheelchair when they are not disabled (as Lady Gaga did) as part of an act? Is it okay for a special education teacher to put on a helmet and pretend to be one of his students who has seizures...and put a video of it on youtube? (will have to find the link).
Not sure what the answers are but...it is certainly worth thinking about.
Thanks so much for your comment. I really appreciate it.
The other thing I want to point out is it is really up to the person's intention and motive. Do these people know they are insulting the mentally ill? I would say most people have no clues about it. They just want to find some fun roles to play with. Some may not be aware of mental illness like some of us do.
So I would not say blindly that these people are wrong by looking at the costumes. It is more important that they understand what it means and how it would affect people who are involved with mental illness. It is like one pretends to have Alzheimer's because he has no idea what is like to have a relative who has Alzheimer's for a long period of time... What is more important here is to make sure they get the right message. If the entertainers mock it so much then they probably need to be educated in the matter of mental illness.
I would pay more attention to how people need to be educared to be aware of mental illness.
Hugs,
Nina
Hi again
I don't think for a minute that any of the performers thought about if they were portraying people with mental illness in an appropriate manner. But more importantly...how was this perceived? What sort of message does it send? Is our society so immune to such images that nobody cares?
Is such a thing contributing to the stigma of having a mental illness? Where do we even get the idea such as what is happening in other countries...that people with mental illness should be chained to rocks? Where does this come from? It appears that this is a global thing. Where do these ideas about the mentally ill originate? Hard questions to answer for sure.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
This is one of those topics I will write about before I read other comments. As a "consumer" I undoubtedly have biases toward sheltering the mentally challenged.
As a video producer still fresh out of college I take the position that graphic costumes, revealing intimacy, and extreme violence are only appropriate when the
story requires a true depiction. Entertainment does not fit that category. Violence for violence sake is masochism. Graphic costuming is pornography or voyeurism at best. Amusement is a word whose root is a(anti)-muse(thought). If the affect of entertainment is amusing, in this case, those who favor it sign their own verdict.
Ric
....late 1950's Southern, c120,000 Population City.
In the late 1950's I had a summer job as a "driver" (I was a white, 16-years old) on the roads ( really just a laborer, but one day was taught to drive the oldest dumptruck in case federal people checked; blacks then were "laborers", whites were drivers or better; and I was told KKK literature was klandestionally printed on city presses; though I never saw any such).
We were dumping one day off a road ridge at the city limits; never forgot it, I dumped too fast, and the front of my truck went up in the air, and the rear dump bed went down. We were on the ege of a cliff! LOL: to get the two front wheels back 'down' again, I had to 'lower' the finally-empty back bed. But this concerns the other memory of that day, I've never forgotten.
In front of a poor, farm-type home, was a physically healthy looking older child, that looked only slightly 'mental'; in a large cage, under the tree's shade, near the still countriy'sh, little-traveled road. The house was close to the road also. Atop the remnant of a once high hill, now bulldozed away. The abode, now an isolated, a small home; was also near that narrow road.
Our older, long-employed fellow drivers did not seem concerned?
When I asked, they seemed long-knowing the 'Why?" of the situation there. It was explained by more than one, that the child was somehow mentally afflicted; and the boy was now, at times, too big for the mother alone to 'man-handle'. The lad's old mother had necessary work to do at home. The pooly-paid father had too, to work; away during the day.
Nothing was being hidden; Social Services (we also worked for the city) knew about it.
On first impression, the sight shocked me; but on closer observation from perhaps 100 yards, the male youth seemed physically healthy; well-fed, yet not excessably-so (in contrast; today many children from loveing, both wealthy and poor families; seem excessively fat), and not un-happy. I do not know if other aid was available to such poor family; there then, in such situation? But if outside aid was not available, and both parents had to self-help work to support their humble family, with near-adult 'child' who could not contribute to the family unit's substanence with paid, or un-paid work: what could they do otherwise; even if loveing parents?
No, I could not perceive the why of it then, nor yet today? The poor parents seemed doing their best, under poor circumstances. May our Lord have been holding the old couple, with their afflicted near adult-child burden; gently, in the palm of His hand.
Hi MM, I certainly didn't care for it, but I suppose only those with disabilities or medical disorders would find it very crass.
I went to a friends birthday party years ago, it was her 60th and her birthday falls near Halloween so she dressed up like an old lady with a walker that had streamers, air-horn, the whole nine yards and I was very upset about it. She also took on an older affectation as well with her voice. The reason it really bothered me is my husband has to use a walker, and I wondered how he felt about it, since he was at the party. Anyway, it didn't bother him at all but I thought it was discusting since this was a family member who knows very well of his extreme trouble walking. When ever she'd leave her walker somewhere, she'd make a big deal about finding it and having others help her.
I don't know what the answer is, but I see things like this all the time and I get mad, then calm down and find again it didn't bother my husband or so he says.
I do believe if you have empathy you wouldn't do these things, but then I could be wrong to say that this one incident meant this person isn't empathetic, because she probably is.
Don't feel alone in how you felt, I think a lot of us feel the same way, and many don't, but what can you do?
We are in a society now where "tolerance" is preached about everyone, everything. Yet most people I know are not tolerant of mental illness. And a lot of it is lack of education...or too many false representations of what MI is about. Would I be offended if a costume represented a breast cancer victim with only one breast? Yes. Or glorified addiction to alcohol? Yes. Or depicted a person with a horribly burned face? Yes. These are true personal tragedies with real consequences, real scars. They aren't funny to me. Neither is a dance costume that involves straitjackets and cages.
Oh, I'm all for handing out candy and dressing up -- I think it engages a child's creativity. I'm even for the scary stuff. But not for degrading commentary on society's unfortunates. In the work environment, I have attended sexual harassment seminars, cultural sensitivity seminars, and all sorts of training sessions along this line. But I have never heard of a mental illness educational or sensitivity training course. Have you?
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The picture and accompanying story about the Chinese mother and son did it for me. What will she do? Who will care for him? It hurt to read because I don't doubt you can multiply that story by millions around the world.
Despair in the fullest.
No, I don't think mental illness should be used in entertainment, advertising or anything meant to perpetuate the stereotype, to depict fear, it is not funny. It is so deeply ingrained.
Did the wardrobe department, choreographer, the show mean any harm? No, I doubt they did. But then neither did people who told jokes about certain races or nationalities until, things changed.
I agree with you Paul.
Even in this day and age...there are horrible stories like this around the world of people with mental illness being chained, caged, and forced to live in deplorable conditions. As I said in my post...the straitjacket is a symbol for me of maltreatment of people who have either mental illness or some sort of mental disability.
Dancing with the Stars should: A. Know better and B. Be a little more creative with their wardrobe. Straitjackets? They couldn't come up with a better idea than this? And the cage as a prop? Come on guys. Not cool.
Thanks so much for your comment!