Disability advocates are criticizing Alec Baldwin’s new movie, Blind, for its choice for the leading role.
The film, starring Baldwin as a man who loses his sight in a car crash, is being criticized for not casting a disabled actor.
The Ruderman Family Foundation, an organization advocating on behalf of disabled people, “expressed its disappointment in the casting of Alec Baldwin for the leading role of blind man Bill Oakland in the new film, Blind, set to be released later this month, once again overlooking the opportunity to cast actors with disabilities,” a statement on Facebook reads.
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Jay Ruderman, president of the foundation, spoke to The Los Angeles Times about the casting for the film, which will be released on July 14.
“Alec Baldwin in Blind is just the latest example of treating disability as a costume,” Ruderman said. “We no longer find it acceptable for white actors to portray black characters. Disability as a costume needs to also become universally unacceptable.”
Baldwin plays Oakland, a novelist who loses his sight in a car crash. Five years later, he meets a socialite, Suzanne Dutchman (Demi Moore), who is required to read to him as part of a plea agreement for her association with her husband’s (Dylan McDermott) insider trading. A love affair forms from their relationship and Dutchman must choose between Oakland or her husband.
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The Ruderman Family Foundation released a study last year that found more than 95 per cent of disabled characters on television are played by able-bodied actors.
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“This is nothing short of a social justice issue where a marginalized group of people is not given the right to self-representation,” the study states. “We must change this inequality through more inclusive casting, through the use of Computer Graphics (CG) to create ability, through the media holding the industry responsible, through the avoidance of stereotypical stories, and ultimately through the telling of stories that depict people with disabilities without focusing on the disability. We also provide a list of resources where actors with disabilities can be proactively reached.”
However, on the same day the foundation criticized Blind, the foundation praised actor Jamie Foxx, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of blind musician Ray Charles, for his advocacy work.
The foundation also criticized the 2016 romantic drama, Me Before You, for casting Sam Claflin as a young banker who was left paralyzed after an accident.
Baldwin has yet to respond to the criticism of his latest role.
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