# Is it reasonable for activists to want a deaf of blind actress to play Helen Keller? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867 "2009-10-31T18:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/41 "2009-11-02T19:12:40Z")
Someone form the production was on the radio the other night talking about how Broadway productions are in dire straits – I can’t help but wonder if casting a disabled actor might actually help draw attention to the play and bring in audiences, though Jensen might then be worried about a sort of ‘freakshow’ appeal. Not sure how that might affect their insurance rates, though. Also, because I’m a fan of hell, here’s the [worst case scenario](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJtEzAW9WSw). ETA And yeah, what a weird and uncalled for bit of gay bashing there from **Rigamarole**. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/42 "2009-11-02T19:15:29Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Aren’t they just saying that they want a blind OR deaf actress? If they are, they’re being just as exclusionary as the people they complain about. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/43 "2009-11-02T19:27:31Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Because there are just so many well-known actresses who are deaf and/or blind. You know, though, there actually is a hearing-impaired\* actress the proper age to play Helen Keller as a small child: [Aryana Engineer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2954597/). She’s adorable, too. - she’s not so impaired as to be considered deaf, but her mom is ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/44 "2009-11-02T19:28:23Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > If they are, they’re being just as exclusionary as the people they complain about. True, just pointing out that one of those is more realistic. A deaf OR blind one makes sense, even though it still make be exclusionary. But one who is both? I can’t really imagine them becoming an actor, let alone a good enough one to be on Broadway. Anyway, even if there is a blind or deaf actress out there, how many of them are all that good? Most young actors just aren’t that good. Being in a movie is fairly easy compared to live theatre–so often you can coach them into a good performance, scene by scene. But honestly, you’d probably want someone you know will do a decent job. Abigail Breslin seems fairly good, and on top of that she’s got the box office draw. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/45 "2009-11-02T19:48:10Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > It’s her job to say things like this, and it’s interesting to debate, but Broadway producers have no obligation–moral, financial, or artistic–to bow to it. I agree completely. There can’t be many opportunities for blind and deaf actors out there, for starters, and you could probably argue that it’s more consistent with the message of Keller’s life to cast an actress who is blind or deaf. If you will, it’s a reasonable request but not reasonable to demand it. Broadway is at a point where you’re taking your life in your own hands if you are putting up a show that costs more than $50 and NOT casting a big name film or TV actor in the lead role. It sucks, but that’s the state of that business at the moment. I’m a little surprised that nobody here remembers a similar - but sillier - kerfluffle from a decade ago. [Some people were upset that the producers of Lord of the Rings decided to use digital techniques to ‘shrink’ Elijah Wood and co. instead of casting short people.](http://www.warwickdavis.co.uk/fantasy-films-help-little-people-actors) > [@](#): > > The current hiring surge is not without controversy. Some in the little people community are upset that the makers of The Lord of the Rings chose to cast regular-height actors such as Elijah Wood as diminutive hobbits and dwarfs. > > Says Elena Bertagnolli, a little person who manages Troyer: “They unemployed anywhere from seven to 700 little people by using computer effects and regular-size actors. It’s a sore point.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/46 "2009-11-02T19:54:25Z")
Why is this an issue? Helen Keller has been played in the past by non-deaf and blind actresses (Melissa Gilbert, Patty Duke.) Why now? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/47 "2009-11-02T20:00:57Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > True, just pointing out that one of those is more realistic. A deaf OR blind one makes sense, even though it still make be exclusionary. But one who is both? I can’t really imagine them becoming an actor, let alone a good enough one to be on Broadway. I don’t know. [If a unidexter can play Tarzan …](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFoagC5yGY0) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/48 "2009-11-02T20:50:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I wonder if anybody was irate that the role of Edna Turnblad didn’t go to an actual fat actress. Frankly- I think it’d probably work better than most of the actors- the man in drag thing as homage to Divine is gimmicky. I do get irked when actresses gain weight for a role – why not find a heavier actress? Minnie Driver wasn’t that well-known when she put on weight for Circle of Friends, nor was Toni Collette and Muriel’s Wedding. And Stacy Edwards was great in In the Company of Men, but they could easily have hired a deaf actress. I don’t know where you draw the line, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/49 "2009-11-02T20:57:12Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I do get irked when actresses gain weight for a role – why not find a heavier actress? Minnie Driver wasn’t that well-known when she put on weight for Circle of Friends, nor was Toni Collette and Muriel’s Wedding. > > And Stacy Edwards was great in In the Company of Men, but they could easily have hired a deaf actress. > > I don’t know where you draw the line, though. **gigi** , does it vex you when actors shed mass for a role, as Christian Bale so famously did for a movie whose name I forgot while typing this sentence? Or when actors gain mass for a role, as Pacino (or was it Deniro?) did for The Untouchables? ETA: I am not trying to catch you in a contradiction; I am simply curious. Thirst for all knowledge and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/50 "2009-11-02T21:02:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > **gigi** , does it vex you when actors shed mass for a role, as Christian Bale so famously did for a movie whose name I forgot while typing this sentence? _The Machinist_? (_El maquinista_.) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/51 "2009-11-02T21:03:11Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > **gigi** , does it vex you when actors shed mass for a role, as Christian Bale so famously did for a movie whose name I forgot while typing this sentence? Or when actors gain mass for a role, as Pacino (or was it Deniro?) did for The Untouchables? Apparently, it does for a lot of people. They talk about how it’s offensive to cast thin actors in fat roles, and that wearing fat suits is like the equivalent of black face. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/52 "2009-11-02T21:18:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > **gigi** , does it vex you when actors shed mass for a role, as Christian Bale so famously did for a movie whose name I forgot while typing this sentence? Or when actors gain mass for a role, as Pacino (or was it Deniro?) did for The Untouchables? > > ETA: I am not trying to catch you in a contradiction; I am simply curious. Thirst for all knowledge and all that. I guess I was taking the caliber/celebrity of the actor into account. In these cases, people will go see the film because of that actor, and there may not be (isn’t) an emaciated actor of that stature (so to speak). That’s why I mentioned Minnie Driver and Toni Collette and left out Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones. But I certainly take your point and am trying not to make it a fat person issue only. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/53 "2009-11-03T00:34:03Z")
It’s not just ‘name’ actors and actresses. Jewel Staite had to gain 15 pounds to play Kaylee. I don’t even get why, but hey. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/54 "2009-11-03T00:54:27Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > It’s not just ‘name’ actors and actresses. Jewel Staite had to gain 15 pounds to play Kaylee. I don’t even get why, but hey. Jewel Staite?! Wow. Catalina from Space Cases grew up to be someone! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/55 "2009-11-03T00:56:09Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > It’s not just ‘name’ actors and actresses. Jewel Staite had to gain 15 pounds to play Kaylee. I don’t even get why, but hey. The skinny-actors-shouldn’t-play-fat-parts thing is not my position, but even if I were, I don’t think it’d apply here. Kaylee was a long way from fat. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/56 "2009-11-03T14:30:21Z")
Yes, but the point is that even in someone who’s barely ‘not skinny’, the director tends to pick the actor or actress he likes, then says ‘go ahead gain this weight/this muscle mass/lose these pounds’ to follow. Not to mention ‘wear this wig/limp like this/go get a british accent.’ Tis acting! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/57 "2009-11-03T15:10:10Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > It’s not just ‘name’ actors and actresses. Jewel Staite had to gain 15 pounds to play Kaylee. I don’t even get why, but hey. Apparently Joss Whedon wanted her to look like a ‘real person’ instead of a Hollywood starlet (as if I didn’t love him enough already). ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/58 "2009-11-04T19:04:04Z")
Reasonable activists? Fascinating concept. But I don’t believe such creatures actually exist. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/59 "2009-11-05T01:24:05Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Reasonable activists? > > Fascinating concept. But I don’t believe such creatures actually exist. LOL in some sense that’s a truism, but in other senses it’s equally ridiculous to consider inactive progress to be reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867/60 "2009-11-05T01:38:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The skinny-actors-shouldn’t-play-fat-parts thing is not my position, but even if I were, I don’t think it’d apply here. Kaylee was a long way from fat. Watch her midriff when she’s in profile. There’s just a little bit of tummy there, slightly more than you’d see in a generic Hollywood starlet. I take your point, though, and I agree with you that Kaylee was still on the thin side of average. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-reasonable-for-activists-to-want-a-deaf-of-blind-actress-to-play-helen-keller/515867.md?page=4)