Wednesday, August 13, 2008 --- 11 p.m.
On its opening night a movie that was supposed to be all about laughs is infuriating people across the country.
For one Madison Family the use of the word retard has never been funny and they're giving the movie Tropic Thunder two thumbs down.
For Lexy and Russ Austin the news was shocking. A movie they'd heard so much about is now hitting them where it hurts most.
Lexy says, "When people say it, it's like finger nails on a chalk board."
For the Austins it's the "R-word" refusing to even say the word retard especially around their 4 year old son Mac who has down syndrome.
It's a word drawing a lot of attention for its use in the movie Tropic Thunder. The following is an excerpt.
"There were times when I was doing Jack that I actually felt retarded, like really retarded. In a weird way I had to just free myself up to believe that it was OK to be stupid or dumb, to be a moron."
"You went full retard man. Never go full retard."
The scene is drawing a lot of criticism with the phrase "never go full retard" becoming a focus of some advertisements and t-shirts. In a press kit sent to us by DreamWorks Pictures, the scene is one of only six clips included.
Russ Austin says, "It's one thing to say the word. That's one level, but to actually build a scene around it and then to market it?"
Lexy Austin says, "I have a really good sense of humor. This is not funny. It's not funny to pick on those people that can't defend themselves."
The scene is drawing criticism from many different angles.
Andrea Wipperfurth with the Madison Area Down Syndrome Society says, "Nobody is trying to take away someones summer entertainment but I would ask that people be really thoughtful and mindful about maybe the movies we see and definitely the words we use."
Words that the Austins will tell you, can do a lot of harm when used as slurs and heard by the wrong people.
Those involved with the movie say it's an industry spoof and the scene is not making fun of the disabled but the actors who play them to get ahead.
DreamWorks changed some marketing materials and removed a web site that contained the tag line Once there was a retard, but it did not change the film.