ADAPT WV calls for Carmike Cinemas to pull the plug on Million Dollar Baby February First.... but it's still playing.... over a month later. What's wrong with this picture? Does Carmike care about the disability community's reaction or just the big bucks?

To whom it may concern, 2-1-05

I would like to take this opportunity to voice my objection to the dissemination of the movie “Million Dollar Baby” by Carmike Theaters in West Virginia. This film presents a very skewed and stereotypical view of life with a disability and sends the general public the message that we are all better off dead.

Acquiring a disability does not mean your life is over. Many people I know
in the disability community have told me that they were headed down a
road which would have led to incarceration or death if they had not acquired a disability and have gone on to gain an education or skills they would not have developed otherwise. They have described it as a turning pointing their lives, a new beginning, not an end.

It is not uncommon that people who acquire disabilities are depressed during the first few years, however, with the right supports individuals can
go on to achieve new accomplishments and live rich, full lives. Although many
people become temporarily depressed, I do not think that is a death sentence is
a solution.

Mr. Eastwood has a long, well documented history of a adversarial
relationship with the disability community. During the last several
years, he has actively campaigned to eliminate the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for business owners, all because he did not want to make the minimal alterations to the bathroom of his bed and breakfast for patrons with disabilities. I do not understand what a few thousand dollars would matter to someone who is a multi-million dollar movie star. Is it really worth gutting the most important civil rights legislation of the past decade?

There is no scene in Million Dollar Baby where Hillary Swank’s character
is provided with an understanding of the support options available to her.

Life with a disability is just different, not automatically over. This is an
unbalanced portrayal of life with a disability and sends the wrong message
to the general public. The average person should not receive all of his
education regarding disabilities from Jerry Lewis and Clint Eastwood.
We would like to ask that Carmike Cinemas stop its distribution of
Million Dollar Baby.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter,

Ken Ervin
ADAPT WV
304-319-0143