For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dr. Ronald E.
Milliman, Chair, Public Relations Committee
Phone: (270) 782-9325 or (270) 996-7356
E-mail: rmilliman@insightbb.com
Tens of
Thousands of Blind Americans Object to the Movie ‘Blindness’
“The movie ‘Blindness’
is a demeaning depiction of people's reactions to losing their eyesight,"
stated Mitch Pomerantz, president of the American Council of the Blind. Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, a blind university professor
and also a member of the ACB, says, "In a very mythical sense, something
like what is being shown in the movie might have happened hundreds or thousands
of years ago, but certainly not in any civilized society such as what we have
in the
In the movie,
fearing that the blindness is contagious, the government quarantines the
victims in an abandoned, dilapidated mental asylum, with orders that anyone
attempting to leave is to be killed immediately. The prisoners are supposed to be given food
and supplies, but food deliveries are inadequate and increasingly become
irregular. The asylum becomes filthy
because the blind inmates, as portrayed in the movie, cannot find their way to
the bathroom and simply relieve themselves on the floor or in their own beds. Some of the inmates die from infection, disease, or from gunshot wounds when they try to escape.
The blind are
portrayed as being unable to do anything for themselves. As food supplies diminish, one group of blind
inmates, whose leader has acquired a gun and proclaims himself "the king
of Ward Three," begins to terrorize the others. The armed clique in ward
three hordes all the food, extorting money and valuables from the other inmates
and eventually demanding sex with the women from other wards in exchange for
allowing the rest of the inmates to eat.
One of the women is beaten to death as she is raped.
One of the
members of this clique, who was born blind and is not a victim of the “white
sickness,” knows how to read and write braille and is
given the task of taking inventory of the valuables stolen from the other
inmates. Rather than helping the other
inmates adjust to their blindness, he uses his knowledge of how to function as
a blind person to assist the criminal gang.
The rest of the
inmates finally decide they have nothing to lose and do
battle with the gang in ward three.
During the fight, someone sets fire to a pile of bedding; the fire soon
engulfs the entire asylum. When the
surviving inmates escape the burning asylum, they discover that no soldiers are
standing guard and they are free.
Outside the makeshift prison, everyone has gone blind and the city has
descended into total chaos; no government services or businesses are
functioning, and nomadic groups of mostly naked blind people wander through the
streets, squatting in abandoned houses and shops for shelter and taking food
where they can find it --including in rubbish heaps. There is no electricity or running water, so
the streets and buildings of the city are as filthy as the asylum was. Gradually, people begin to regain their sight
just as suddenly and mysteriously as they went blind.
From this
description, it is quite obvious why blind people would be outraged over this
movie. Blind people do not behave like
uncivilized, animalized creatures.
Admittedly, blindness can be a frightening experience to those who lose
their eyesight. However, there is an
enormous amount of assistance that is available to newly blinded people. There are support groups around the country,
such as the more than 70 affiliates and chapters of the American Council of the
Blind. There are also all kinds of
assistive devices, equipment, and aids specifically designed and produced to
assist blind people with their daily living such as computers that talk, braille and talking watches and other time pieces, kitchen
aids like the talking microwave, devices that can detect and tell the blind
user the color of his/her clothes, and thousands of digitally recorded audio
books, and much more.
Most blind
people lead normal lives, just like everyone else. The only difference is that they simply
cannot see. But their other senses work
just fine, and they learn to replace the lack of eyesight with the keen use of
their other senses.
The
American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization. Its members are blind, visually impaired, and
fully sighted individuals who are concerned about the dignity and well-being of
blind people throughout the nation. Formed
in 1961, ACB is one of the largest organizations of blind people in the world,
with more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates and a nationwide
network of chapters and members spanning the globe.
For
more information about the American Council of the Blind,
contact Melanie Brunson, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind,