In my recent blog "Deformity, Heroes, Repulsion, and Love," I mentioned Richard III as a classic example of storytellers like Shakespeare demonizing someone with a deformity.* Even Disney --the current most trusted storyteller for children--has been caught doing it lately, as I pointed out in my blog about Johnny Depp's The Lone Ranger demonizing a villain with a cleft lip. Some academics, by the way, claimed Shakespeare was just taking literary license by giving his mean, murderous king in … [Read more...]
Standing up to Looksism and Gay Bashing
Eleven-year-old Caine Smith was choked, beaten, harassed, and was called a long list of names simply because he had two moms and long hair. Instead of staying locked away and hiding, he stood up and did something about it. Thanks to my friend Sabine Hathaway for alerting me to this great Upworthy video. … [Read more...]
Disney Demonizes Cleft Lips
So, the latest Lone Ranger movie tries to do justice to the oft stereotyped Tonto. It may succeed, but I haven't seen the movie since the trailers depict it as another violent action movie geared for young people. But therein lies the rub. Disney has created a cleft-lipped villain who is bound to influence children and youth for a generation (DVDs last a long time). The Lego Corporation is guilty, too, as it has created a figure for the villain. As the Lego ads say, "Butch Cavendish is a … [Read more...]
Deformity, Heroes, Repulsion, and Love
It may startle some, but people in a few countries still banish cleft lip and palate kids to back rooms due to beliefs, like those espoused in the Old Testament, that clefts have been touched by Satan and made imperfect and impure. Even in more recent times, great writers have promulgated backward beliefs regarding deformities. Shakespeare’s ruthless protagonist in Richard III, for example, convinced audiences for centuries that Satan had touched deformed people. A while ago I came across … [Read more...]
Cleft Heart Speaking Engagements Announced by Anti-bully Warrior
As visitors to the Cleft Heart FB Page know, I'm Karl Schonborn's dog, Monte, also known as the Anti-Bully Warrior. Get to know me by watching me for a few seconds below and visiting https://www.facebook.com/CleftHeartChasingNormal. Here are the exciting new bookings for Karl Schonborn: October 19 (Saturday), 2012 Talk re bullying, signing 3 pm--5pm Barnes & Noble 1149 S Main St. Walnut Creek, CA 925 947-0373 Free parking under store, enter via Olympic Blvd. October … [Read more...]
Another victim of cyberbullying is buried — less than 3 weeks after Bart Palosz.
What's shocking is this victim of cyberbullying, Rebecca Sedwick, was 12 years old. Cyberbullied Bart was 15. Rebecca's friends and family said goodbye to her today. Many of the 250 people at the funeral wore T-shirts with an anti-bullying slogan in neon green, the girl's favorite color. Family members had asked mourners to wear colorful clothing because Becca, as she liked to be called, hated black. Too dreary. A Tampa Bay TV news source, Grayson Kamm reported that Lyndsey Brown, Becca's … [Read more...]
Cyberbullying victim Starts SophomoreYear, Kills Self.
Excerpts from an August 30, 2013 New York Times article: "Boys picked on Bart Palosz almost from the moment his family moved to [upscale Greenwich, Connecticut] seven years ago. They taunted him for his accent — he was born in Poland — pushed him into bushes or down stairs and smashed his new Droid cellphone, his sister [Beata Palosz,18] said. … His death has left the community — which has 9,000 students in its school district — asking whether it did enough to address the bullying or to … [Read more...]