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A few posts ago I wrote about a ridiculous meme I found on Pinterest where someone described themselves as clapping like a retarded seal. I found the whole thing to be utterly offensive and I was really surprised that grown up men and women would use such a horrible word so indiscriminately. So many of my readers told me they NEVER hear the word retarded any more, which was wonderful, but not my personal experience.
Then the other night, as I was catching up on shows I DVR’d I heard it again. Right in the middle of a Glee episode. Finn, while telling Sue Sylvester off, uses the word retarded to describe Sue’s baby who was born with Down Syndrome. Of course Sue takes the blow and Finn realizes what he said crossed the line, but there that word was again. Out there, in the air waves.
Glee has a tendency to take on controversial topics and show the human side to what many like to think are black and white issues. Glee often shows that they are anything but black and white, and introduces a whole rainbow of colors. So although I despise the word Retarded I am interested in where this goes; where the writers will take this story line. Of course Glee has already written about two other characters with Down Syndrome including Sue’s own sister and Becky, a student and Cheerio.
Maybe this is the kind of exposure the word needs to show just how horrible and undignified that word really is.