Disability Culture Watch

Simi — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:10:03 +0000

A Close Encounter on Friday the 13th

Simi — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:01:32 +0000

^{^{The scene: A rehearsal studio on 42nd Street near Broadway.}}^{^{The occasion: Rehearsal for Gimp, the thrilling dance you should all see http://www.thegimpproject.com/gimp/}}

The personnel: Lawrence Carter-Long, Simi Linton, Heidi Latsky and Catherine Long and a surprise encounter with ………

The moment: As this crew is leaving the studio, heading for the elevator, we see a cluster of people outside one of the other studios. Holding forth in the midst of the circle is Jerry Lewis saying what a great show they are going to make, and how wonderful it will be. Jerry, in blue velour leisure suit, is surrounded by the composer Marvin Hamlisch, a woman in a mink coat and other theatrical types, all nodding agreement and smiling at him, saying what a wonderful thing this is. A sign on the door says: “Rehearsal for the Nutty Professor.”

The background: As many of you know, a group calling ourselves “The Trouble with Jerry” http://thetroublewithjerry.com/　organized last February to go to LA to protest the decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to give Jerry Lewis their Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award during the February 22 Academy Awards ceremony (”the Oscars”). Lawrence and Simi flew to LA for the protest, where we joined up with a contingent of some of the most righteous crips the world has known. For more on this go to site above and to http://similinton.com/blog/?p=133

The dilemma: What do we do? It is a narrow hall, Jerry is surrounded by well-wishers, and he is grinning and blabbing away.

The action: Simi and Lawrence move in (nothing parts a crowd quicker than a loud-mouth crip in a power chair and a louder-mouthed gimp with a cane) and introduce ourselves.

The ensuing dialogue:

Simi: Mr. Lewis, we are fans of your work (he smiles), but want you to know that we both flew out to LA last spring to protest the award you received. (His smile quickly fades and he gets a snarly look on his face)

Jerry: (He barks) I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Simi: You know, the award, Los Angeles, … (S trying to say more, and quickly. Lawrence says something at this point too, but we can’t remember it exactly.)

Jerry: I don’t know what you are talking about and when I’m confused, I go home. And that’s the end of that.

Jerry: This is not going to enrich my life. In fact, it’s going to make it more problematic.

Simi: I bet it does.

Group is heading toward elevator.

Man (a producer-looking type) sneers at us and says: Are you allowed to be here?

Lawrence and Simi: Yes, we are rehearsing next door.

Producer-type: Rehearsing? Why are you rehearsing? (Looking us up and down)

Lawrence: I’m a dancer; I’m rehearsing.

Simi: (sarcastically) Why are we rehearsing?

Lawrence: (Shouting out to the group scurrying on to the elevator) Happy to talk about it. C’mon out, we’re all right here. (Gesturing that they should come back out, we could talk.)

THE END

PHEW!!! We were breathing pretty heavy by then.

Here are some of Lawrence’s thoughts: Poof! Down the rabbit hole he goes. Funny, he’ll curse us out in Vanity Fair but when confronted face-to-face he dashed away like a scared child…

What strikes me about the whole thing is how taken aback Lewis was. Totally non-plussed. He has spent the last 40 years insulating himself from us and didn’t have the balls to engage with us right there in front of him. It’s all bluster. The man is a bully and a coward.

Creativity Unleashed

Simi — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:27:47 +0000

I mentioned in the previous post (4/22/09) an art exhibit featuring four disabled artists at the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in Chelsea (NYC) (529 West 20 Street – Wheelchair accessible).

I attended a screening at the gallery of the film titled Make about these four artists, Ike Morgan, Royal Robertson, Judith Scott and Hawkins Bolden. Filmmakers Scott Ogden and Malcolm Hearn’s documentary lingers on each of the artists, and we get to see a range of their work over the course of the film. The focus is largely on the artists’ process and it is fascinating. Each has crafted a singular style. Check out the trailer on http://www.makedocumentary.com/ or, if you can, Make has one more screening at the Ricco/Maresca this Saturday evenings May 2 at 6:00pm – RSVP to info@riccomaresca.com. Make reservation immediately – they were turning people away last weekend. The exhibit runs through May 16.

Just some quick comments (time, not interest, limits me):

Three of the artists spent considerable time in institutions. Two of them discovered their art outside of the confines of the institution – spontaneously, creatively and with absolute commitment to the work. The film reveals a largely unexplored aspect of the consequences of confinement and isolation from the community. Denial of culture and of artistic expression are among the pernicious evils of institutionalization.

In the film Make the term “outsider” art is not used to describe these artists. I spoke with Scott Ogden who said that he thinks it is more interesting to not use it and to focus on the artists at work. I agree. Further, I mentioned to him that I appreciated that diagnosis was not overtly mentioned. There are particulars to each artist’s condition/impairments that emerge in the course of the film, but those are more descriptive of their cognitive and sensory processes than a reductive label.

Disability: Almost There

Simi — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:39:08 +0000

I am interested in how prevalent disability is in all manner of cultural formations, and, paradoxically, how invisible. As I watch a film or read a book, I can (or think I can) guess when the impaired character, theme or trope will emerge, and then how she, he or it will serve the plot or the mood. How, most likely, it will serve a metaphoric function. And it all bores me to tears and irritates. So, while these representations abound, they rarely increase the cultural authority of disabled people, nor deepen audience understanding of our lives and thoughts, or the social contingencies that shape our experience.

What passes for disability representation in the arts is instead mostly fantasy about us. {What I am reluctant to tackle right now is the issue of authorship of these products. It is too simple to “blame” the fantastical representations on non-disabled writers who imagine disability experience. There are also people with impairments who write about their personal experience, with little or no reference to the larger disability community, nor to social determinants of experience. While that may be effective for certain types of artistic productions, if the work intimates that this experience is universal or inevitable, or that the impairment itself determines experience, then I ……………… struggle with it both artistically and politically. So, back to this at another point.)

The thing that got me going on all this: This past Sunday’s Arts and Leisure section of the NY Times is chock full of disability references. A significant portion of the articles are about disabled people or representation of disability in various art forms. Here is a sampling and a few comments:

The cover article that caught my attention is titled: “Still Dancing in Her Dreams”, dateline Beijing, about a young woman, “a 26-year-old dancer named Liu Yan (who) was supposed to give the performance of her life at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.” (NY Times, April 19, 2009, p. 1). She sustained a spinal cord injury during rehearsal, and is now paraplegic and a wheelchair user.

The focus of the article is on the loss, both Liu Yan’s personal loss, and the loss to China of an enormously talented dancer. One of China’s leading choreographers, Zhao Ming, said that she was one of the most talented, with a “perfect waist and the most flexible legs. Dance is the art of beauty, and it requires the perfect figure.”

The degree to which such notions of perfection and beauty dominate discourse about dance, in China and elsewhere, are rarely the subject of critical inquiry. Instead, these are assumed truisms.

The articles tone can be summed up in the title: “Still Dancing in her Dreams.” And that might accurately capture Liu Yan’s mood, just 8-9 months post-injury. She comments: “Life is not that sweet and beautiful after an injury.”

The writer states that Ms. Liu has started talking about studying to be a television broadcaster. This may be a hint that she is beginning to imagine a pleasurable life following injury, but I don’t trust the reporter to tell us that. Maybe Ms. Liu doesn’t feel that, maybe she never will. No way to know.

The second article, “Mental Illness, The Musical, Aims for Truth” is about a new musical on Broadway titled “next to normal” (all lower case letters in title) whose central character is a woman with an unspecified mental illness. There are a number of comments in the article on the “uses” of mental illness in theatre to convey ideas beyond the condition itself – authenticity, creativity, intellectual depth. I don’t have the sense, though, that the writer is commenting on how the use of metaphors of disability is problematic.

The playwrights describe their deep concern that someone might approach them and say: “There’s something wrong with that portrayal.” Their wish to present an accurate, unromanticized view of people with depression and other emotional conditions is admirable. Yet the composer’s other comment: “We want to do right by those people” irked me.

In part, of course, it is the “those” in “those people” – the distancing, othering quality to the term. Also, it is a reminder that they consulted with psychiatrists but, it seems, did not collaborate with people with these conditions themselves.

The third NY Times piece of interest is a profile of the actor John Goodman which comments directly and indirectly on the ways that Goodman’s weight and alcoholism determine his personality traits.

Another article is about the upcoming film “The Soloist”, based on a true story about “Nathanial Ayers, the formerly homeless musician and schizophrenic” played by Jamie Foxx.

The final article with disability at its core is “Communicating Across Barriers Few Could Imagine” about an art exhibit featuring four artists with significant impairments at the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in Chelsea (529 West 20th Street – Wheelchair accessible according to the Gallery). Also at the Gallery are screenings of a film titled “Make” about these four artists, Ike Morgan, Royal Robertson, Judith Scott and Hawkins Bolden. “Make” will be shown Saturday evenings April 25 and May 2 at 6:00pm – RSVP to info@riccomaresca.com. The exhibit runs through May 16th.So here is a prime example, in one issue of the Arts and Leisure section, of the prominence of disability in cultural reporting, and yet, paradoxically, its opaqueness. In all of this coverage what is missing is the active voice of disabled artists. While some of the artists described here or portrayed in some of the work may have limited mechanisms to comment on their work or collaborate with writers on renderings of their experience, others could it seems. Also, we don’t have a sense that efforts have been made. For instance, it is psychiatrists that are consulted, not people with mental illness. Further, outside of disability studies, we never read cultural commentary about the phenomenon of disability representations in culture/arts. What disability studies has done is provide context, perspective, critical commentary, language etc. When are journalists/critics/filmmakers etc gonna wise up to the meaning of what they are doing??

If You’ve Imagined - or Never, Ever Imagined - You Are a Dancer….

Simi — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:11:38 +0000

An extraordinary opportunity to study with AXIS Dance Company http://www.axisdance.org/, the exciting, ground-breaking, vital, physically integrated dance company. Thrilling to behold on stage, and wonderfully talented educators off. This will change your life!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Prepare to leave all your preconceptions at the door — AXIS Dance Company, one of the world’s most acclaimed and innovative ensembles of performers with and without disabilities, will change the way you think about the possibilities of the human body forever.

AXIS Dance Company is hosting it’s 4th Physically Integrated Dance Summer Intensive August 1 – August 7, 2008 at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland, CA. Adults with and without disabilities at all levels of dance experience are invited to submit an application to attend.

Application receipt deadline is June 1st.
Tuition: $500 (Limited scholarships available)
Additional information and an application form is available at http://axisdance.org/education_summerIntensive.php
Questions? T: (510) 625-0110, annika@axisdance.org

The Gimp Project - like nothing you’ve ever seen

Simi — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:01:21 +0000

Raves keep coming in on the Gimp Project. One more night – Saturday, March 21.

The audiences have been over the moon!!!!!!! See info below for ticket info.

Here is a glimpse from the Newark Star Ledger:

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2009/03/the_gimp_project_examines_move.html

GIMP is coming…..to New York City, March 19-21.

New York City tickets call # 212 -352-3101 or visit: www.theatermania.com
Cool Video and more info @ www.thegimpproject.com
The Abrons Arts Center Presents

GIMP
(New York Premiere)

Choreographed/Directed by HEIDI LATSKY
An ALLIGER ARTS and Heidi Latsky Dance Production

GIMP: gimp (gimp)
1.a ribbon like, braided fabric
2. fighting spirit; vigor
3. a lame person
4. slang; a halting, lame walk
5. to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically

GIMP revisions everything you NEVER knew about dance and disability

“GIMP beautifully resets preconceptions about bodies and movement.”

THE NEW YORKER
MARCH 19-21 [Thu*-Sat at 8:00PM]
Location: The Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street at Pitt, Manhattan
(F to East Broadway or Delancey; D or B to Grand Street; J or M to Essex Street)
General Admission: $20
($10 for students, seniors and people with disabilities; $15 for groups
Reservations: Call 212-352-3101 or visit www.henrystreet.org/arts

**Wheel Chair Accessible -Advance Booking Strongly Recommended**

To see a video clip and for more info on GIMP go to: www.thegimpproject.com

Horton Foote on Disability

Simi — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:09:05 +0000

Ah. Horton Foote. He wrote the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird, and then some 45 years later put his arm around me for this photo.

Horton Foote died March 4 in Hartford, Conn, at the age of 92. He was working on a production of “The Orphans’ Home Cycle,” his award-winning collection of nine plays, which will be produced this year.

Commissioner Matthew Sapolin, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities.

The photos here were taken (Photographer: Douglas Gorenstein) on April 18, 2006 at an event called: Written on the Body: A Conversation about Disability. Horton was the guest of honor. In his welcoming remarks he spoke about authentic portrayals of disability and the American literary tradition. He said: “We are at an exciting time, when the stories of disabled people are increasingly becoming part of the social landscape.” I urge you to read the Executive Summary of that event http://www.inclusioninthearts.org/Written_on_the_body/ExecSummary418CB.htm, when a group of writers—and actors, directors, and filmmakers—gathered at HBO headquarters in New York City to discuss how to write about disability today. It is a document with rich insights and a wealth of information. It can be found, along with an array of wonderful photos, on the website of The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, an organization I have been working with for several years. As their mission states: “The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts is the nation’s leading advocate for full diversity as a key to the vitality and dynamism of American theatre, film, and television.” The Alliance has incorporated disability perspectives and issues for decades, and has been a frontrunner in non-traditional casting, responsible for putting many disabled actors on stage and screen.

Examining Life/Disability

Simi — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:53:51 +0000

The documentary film Examined Life opened Wednesday, 2/25, at the IFC Theatre in NYC – check their site for schedule for film in NYC (through Tuesday, March 3), and then check film’s website for screenings around country.

“EXAMINED LIFE takes philosophy out of the classroom and into the street, as filmmaker Astra Taylor (Zizek!) accompanies a veritable who’s who of contemporary thought on a series of brief, invigorating journeys.”

Examined Life has significant and interesting disability subject matter, and I recommend it for that reason, but also because it is a beautifully made film. Taylor has filmed segments with philosophers Cornell West, Martha Nussbaum, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Peter Singer, Avital Ronnell and others.

Two of the segments directly take on disability. Martha Nussbaum, in a walk along the shore of Lake Michigan, discusses how “disability” can be used to interrogate 18th century notions of the social contract.

The segment that most interested me, though, was with Sanaura Taylor and Judith Butler. Sanauara, known as Sunny, is filmmaker Astra Taylor’s sister. She is a disabled woman, a painter and disability studies thinker. Sunny takes on disability directly in her painting. (I am having difficulty getting her website up and posted here – but DO check it out). The segment with Sunny and Judith Butler follows them through the streets of Berkeley, talking. Sunny is a wheelchair user, Butler walks. When the pair set out, Butler raises the question to Sunny of what it means to her to “take a walk”

It is the only segment that shows on screen a pair of people talking, and I wondered about that decision. In recent correspondence with Sunny, she indicated that Butler was slated to do the segment, and she asked Sunny to join her. A few of the reviews of the film that I have seen, talk about this as Butler’s segment. One said that Taylor “accompanied” Butler (AO Scott – NY Times). I thought they contributed equally to the segment and that the focus of the conversation was on how disability functions in society and in thinking about society.

Reviewers have minimized or ignored the disability content in the film. My opinion is that the film highlights the way that the question of disability is central to many of philosophy’s moral arguments.

One on-line reviewer did have this to say about disability subject matter:

“Early on, Martha Nussbaum discusses the oft-ignored concept of physical disability and impairment and how when we discuss these issues, we don’t factor these limitations into the equation,” writes Michael Tully at Hammer to Nail. “Later, we meet the wheelchair-bound Sunaura Taylor and acclaimed professor and author Judith Butler as they go for a ‘walk’ and shop. Watching Taylor go through the exhausting process of trying on a sweater and then buying it is a welcome punch to the gut. As she explains to the cashier that she must be handed the bills and coins separately, this one scene doesn’t just work as a visceral representation of Nussbaum’s point. It brings a sobering reality to the entire film.”

He is referring to a scene where they stop in a used clothing store so Sunny can buy a sweater. While I was watching it, I grinned to see Sunny pick out a red sweater with spangles on it (Sunny is one of my fashion gurus) and how she and Butler teamed up to get the tight-fitting sweater over her head, and her arms into the sleeves. They seemed to enjoy the process. Similarly, I was struck by the clarity and specificity of Sunny’s instructions to the cashier, and the ease of that interaction. I was neither punched in the gut nor sobered.

And this gets to my points: When I mentioned earlier that the fact of the pairing of the two thinkers on screen in this segment concerned me – it was because I felt that it could be construed as (and reduced to) an example of the interdependence that they were discussing. And that might eclipse the very important ideas about disability that Sunny articulated so vividly here. Further, that “interdependence” might seem to the audience to mean “helping” disabled people.

The Hammer to Nail reviewer’s comments indicate he read it that way. Of course, he also described them as: “the wheelchair-bound Sunaura Taylor and acclaimed professor and author Judith Butler” – those two identity descriptors revealing his biases.

All said, Examined Life is top-notch fare, particularly for you theory wonks out there. The title harkens to the philosophers’ credo: The unexamined life is not worth living. My interest here is that the film questions the validity of that other credo floating around: The disabled life is not worth living.

UNDERMINING JERRY LEWIS’S PITY MONGERING

Simi — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:42:13 +0000

It has been eons since I’ve posted to Disability Culture Watch, but I am moved to post by the events of the last week. Namely, the protests in Los Angeles and around the country at the decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to grant the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Jerry Lewis. Many members of the disability community were alarmed and outraged by their choice. You can read about our mobilization efforts, the letter we wrote to the Academy, the letter we got back from Executive Director Bruce Davis etc at thetroublewithjerry.net site and you can follow that for updates on press coverage and ongoing trouble-making (I’ve provided a lot of info here – but it is not complete pix).

A significant number of us were able to make the trip to LA in advance of the Oscars – from Texas, Colorado, Chicago, Bay Area, New York, D.C. and other hot spots. Our issues:

> Lewis’ defamatory public statements make it clear that he lacks the kind of character and integrity the Academy is committed to honoring. For example: “…if you don’t want to be pitied for being a cripple in a wheelchair, don’t come out of the house.” (for more examples of his bigotry, go to defamatory-remarks section on site.

> Ostensibly, the reason he was being given this award was because of the money he has raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). But, The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon frames people with disabilities as objects of pity living on the margins of society, unable to contribute to the common good.

So, on Friday, February 20th, we gathered outside the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills. We were a robust and noisy crew:

Simi Linton of New York protests the humanitarian award for Jerry Lewis. Photo by Tom Olin.

Check out this article, with an 11 second video of us shouting our best chant: No award for Jerry Lewis http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/02/jerry-lewis-oscar-protest.php

After about an hour on the street, chanting, singing, leafleting, we entered the lobby of the Academy and planted ourselves in the midst of the flurry of preparations for a pre-Oscar party scheduled for that night. Guards, security guys, secretaries tried to reason with us. We would not be moved. We chanted louder and louder. At one point the receptionist said, to no one in particular: “This is a place of business, you must be quiet. We are trying to do business here.” I replied: “So are we, sister.”

Our goal was to deliver our petition, signed by over 2600 people, to the Exec Director of the Academy. We were told no one was at the office. After about 45 minutes two Beverly Hills policemen showed up, and they had no luck evicting us. A third arrived. She had no luck. Finally, Bruce Davis (the man who was supposedly not there) came down to the lobby. He was as snarky and dismissive in person as his letter to us lead us to expect. But we kept him down there and insisted that he, and others gathered around, listen to us. We got what we demanded: Delivery of petition to the Exec Director.

At one point, the cops said if we didn’t leave, they would start taking names. Laura Herhsey said: “Are you going to arrest us?” The cops were squirming. “No one said anything about arrests.” The cops met their match in these seasoned activists, and each tactic they tried was unsuccessful. It amuses me, in retrospect, to think that the Beverly Hills cops were issuing warnings to us on Friday, and then the filmic representation of a Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy, presented the award to Jerry Lewis two days later. Another musing: If we had gotten arrested, and then went to trial, I wondered if we would have been known as “The Beverly Hills 30″ (Doesn’t have quite the political bite of “The Chicago 7″, or “The Catonsville 9″ – would school children in the future wonder if we’d been arrested for maxing out on our credit cards on Rodeo Drive?)

On Saturday, we focused on the crowds flowing past The Kodak Theatre. An anecdote:

At one point on Saturday, we were passing out flyers in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. We struck up a conversation with a man who stopped to read our flyer. His wife and two young children stood by.

He said, with clear outrage: “He actually said these things? No wonder you are protesting.”

He read further. “This is terrible. They shouldn’t give him that award.” Then the man added: “And didn’t he marry his 13 year-old cousin?”

We worked hard not to laugh. “No,” we said “that was Jerry Lee Lewis.”

“Oh. So who’s Jerry Lewis?”

A reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger did a full article on our protest. Lisa Rose took a great deal of time, took care and put forth a terrific piece

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/02/activists_protest_award_for_co.html

I went back to New York Saturday night, and did not get to join the Sunday Academy Award action. Check out this Associated Press video featuring Lawrence Carter Long http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOBXCLmR1QA

On Sunday, I joined a hearty group in the cold rain in front of ABC Headquarters in New York. They did not send any press out to cover our demo – though the ABC affiliate in LA did cover our LA activity – but I don’t have that link yet. AbleNews was there in New York, and I assume they will post on their site: http://www.ablenews.com/

Check out Jerry’s acceptance speech on YouTube (I can’t locate it right now). The best line of the speech: “The humility I feel is staggering.”

There were times as I was planning to go, and while shlepping through airports and such, that I wondered if it was worth it to go to LA. Was the issue important enough to warrant the expense and difficulty of the trip? Once I was on the ground, and in the trenches with this righteous band of crips, doubt slipped away. It was, in part, the opportunity to vent and take the moral high ground in the face-off with the Beverly Hills police and Academy Exec Director, Bruce Davis. Ultimately, though, it was the numerous “aha” moments that I witnessed as people stopped to read our flyers and talk with us. The shift in thinking. The way the whole notion of “charity” was called into question by our stance. The protest got to the heart of our matter:

> That we need to control our message

> That Lewis’s (and others) pity-mongering defeats us and impairs our every effort to achieve equal rights and social integration

> That our pursuit of our happiness needs to be on our terms.

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

MORE LINKS and some choice quotes:

Check out Beth Haller’s blog for ongoing coverage:

http://media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.com/2009/02/protest-against-jerry-lewis.html

From Rochester, NY, where Diane Coleman and Steven Drake and a hearty band protested in the cold, and got some pretty darn good press coverage: http://www.rnews.com/mediaplayer/players/wmplayerlite.aspx?sid=69642

Art Blaser’s article on Independence Today site http://www.itodaynews.com/december2008/jerrylewis.htm

A quote from Chicago Sun Times about Jerry’s backstage behavior”
“Given his poor health, Jerry Lewis “needs to be forgiven,” said a Hollywood matron, practically knocked on her kiester by the impatient comedy legend as he angrily stormed around the Governors Ball. “Come on!” he barked at several people he thought were blocking his way through the ballroom. “Get out of my way!”

“But then,” said the woman, staring at the drink Lewis’ jolt had caused her to spill down the front of her gown, “You’d think the guy who won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award would be a little more polite.”

From USA Today:

Still ‘Nutty’ after all these years

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar was given to the original Nutty Professor by a new generation’s Nutty Professor.

Eddie Murphy was stoic backstage before presenting the honor to Lewis. Murphy stood by himself, not smiling, not talking, but pacing briefly, maybe nervous. He had never appeared as a presenter on the show.

Lewis, on the other hand, was a jokester. The comedian walked to the wings of the stage as Murphy walked out, and stage manager Dency Nelson presented him with a place to sit, a stool with a leather cushion.

“Aww, are you serious? For the old man,” Lewis said, sitting down.

“You gotta joke about the padded stool,” Nelson said.

Lewis laughed. The bait was too easy. “Well, I’ve done it before.” Then he took a sip from his water bottle and feigned a choke with one of his signature high-pitched, tongue-wagging sound effects.

As he came offstage after collecting the honor, he let out a little “woohoo” and walked to his wheelchair in the back hallway and sank into it.

He cursed. “It’s great to get old.”

For those of you who can’t get enough, here are links to news items and blogs that include mention of the award and Lewis:

The Oscars as seen from the Kodak Theatre audience
The Associated Press
Jerry Lewis, who is being bestowed with a prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and his family have their own box on the orchestra level. … See all stories on this topic

Backstage Oscar pass: Secret celebs, jokes, tension
USA Today - USA
One of the first stars to arrive backstage was Jerry Lewis, who would receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Looking somewhat stooped and a bit frail … See all stories on this topic

As expected, ‘Slumdog’ sweeps to Oscar victory
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
The one genuine touch of pathos came when a visibly frail Jerry Lewis accepted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Over the past decade, the academy has … See all stories on this topic

Quotable Oscars: Award-Winning Stars Speak
Sky News - UK
Jerry Lewis was in reflective mood after receiving the Jean Hersholt humanitarian award: “For most of my life, I thought that doing good for someone didn’t … See all stories on this topic

Soaring ‘Slumdog’ fetches 8 awards
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
Accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a somewhat winded Jerry Lewis kept his speech brief - “The humility I feel is staggering,” he noted - but … See all stories on this topic

Romance blooms and heels break at the Oscars
The Associated Press
___ LOS ANGELES (AP) — A relaxed Jerry Lewis joked with photographers backstage before accepting Oscar’s annual Jean Hersholt award for his humanitarian … See all stories on this topic

Oscars: It’s not an honor just to be nominated
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
… had caused her to spill down the front of her gown, “You’d think the guy who won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award would be a little more polite. … See all stories on this topic

Jerry Lewis: Jean Hersholt Award Oscar Speech (Video) | Bitten and …
By Meg
Comedian Jerry Lewis was the 2009 recipient of the Jean Hersholt Award. The presentation took place during the 81st Annual Academy Awards. SPEECH VIDEO, PHOTO.
Bitten and Bound - http://www.bittenandbound.com/

Live for Films: Oscars 2009 Acceptance Speach - Jerry Lewis - Jean …
By Live for films
Oscars 2009 Acceptance Speach - Jerry Lewis - Jean Hersholt Award. Discuss in the Forum. Posted by Live for films at 23:12. Labels: awards, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Lewis, Oscars. 0 comments:. Post a Comment. Older Post Home … Live for Films - http://liveforfilm.blogspot.com/

Jerry Lewis Winns Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 2009
Jerry Lewis gestures after winning the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award during the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2009. Jerry Lewis, whose success as a philanthropist relie.

jean hersholt | Popular News
By admin
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Oscar Statuette & Other Academy … The Jean Hersholt Award is given from time to time at Academy Award ceremonies for outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes. … Popular News - http://proinvest24×7.com/

Jerry Lewis: Jean Hersholt Award Oscar Speech (Video) - Celebrity …
Feb 17, 2009 … Jerry Lewis: Jean Hersholt Award Oscar Speech (Video) - Comedian Jerry Lewis was the 2009 recipient of the Jean Hersholt Award .

Oscars 2009: Jerry Lewis Receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Jerry Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on February 22, 2009 during the 81st Annual Academy …

June 20th - Unprecedented! Exciting…

Simi — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:04:18 +0000

The Society for Disability Studies &
New York University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality
Presents an ALLIGER ARTS Production

OUTSIDE THE BOX/
PERFORMING DISABILITY

An International Cabaret Showcasing Music, Spoken Word, Dance, & Drama

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

June 20, Friday - 8 PM

Eisner and Lubin Auditorium
NYU Kimmel Center
60 Washington Square South, 4th Floor
between LaGuardia Place and Thompson Street
New York, NY 10012

Outside the Box/Performing Disability presents an international array of provocative, exotic, and cutting edge performers.

There has been a seismic shift in disability arts over the last decade, both in form and content. Using unique configurations of body, voice, and mind, disabled artists are constructing new art and new art forms.

Mat Fraser, internationally known actor and playwright (Sealboy: Freak, Thalidomide: The Musical) will emcee the event. Fraser was most recently featured as Puck in The Kaos Dream, a revisioning of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which toured Britain last Fall, where it enjoyed rave reviews, sell out audiences, complaints from Catholic School teachers, and standing ovations.

Featuring:

Mat Fraser, MC — Actor, writer, cabaret performer, musician, occassional stripper
Excerpts from GIMP, Choreographed by Heidi Latsky — featuring dancersJeffery Freeze, Lawrence Carter-Long & Catherine Long
Lezlie Frye, Spoken Word
Four Wheel City, Krip Hop (Rap)
Honi Harlow & Mystique presents Bawdville, Deaf Burlesque
Nancy Ostrovsky, Performance Painting
Theatrical Readings - staged by Carrie Sandahl & Victoria Lewis
featuring Nikaury Acosta, Christine Bruno*, Jason Fisher*, Pedro Hidalgo*, Anita Hollander*, Neil Marcus, Gregg Mozgala* and Dathan B. Williams*
*appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

$18 tickets available online and at the door

Go to http://www.disstudies.org/conference/2008/events/nyu to purchase tickets

For accommodations or other information, contact Howard Hines @ 646-344-7261

Event presented with Sign Language Interpretation, Audio Description and Open Captioning. Space is Wheelchair Accessible. Assistive Listening Devices, Large Print & Braille Programs Available Upon Request.