"Retarded"

[buffffy]

DISCLAIMER: I am not offended by the word, but I realize that some are and that is why I'm posting this thread


I am very confused to how Joss and the writers of BtVS and AtS got away with using the word "retarded" so freely and as an insult. In today's society that is a terrible word to use as an insult and offends many people; I was too young when Buffy and Angel began to even have interest in the shows, but was it ok to use the word "retarded" between 1997-2005? It baffles me...

 

[NY State of Mind]

Honestly it doesn't bother me aslong as its not abusive towards an actual mentally challenged person, but I could see how it would bother somebody. I have quite a few family members who are and I still use the word once in awhile but I'm not a politically correct person. I use any word but Im not sensitive unless people are being harrassed with it. I don't believe in having to sugar coat the world I believe people should use the word if thats how they think. The show portrays real people so viewers should see how it really is. I don't think Joss should of had to pretend you won't hear those things in High School even though obviously its a fake tv show

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I think it was because people might not have been so 'uptight', in a sense, about useage of the word as they are now. I mean, you can see full-blown sex in a regular TV show now, but when Buffy was airing, Willow and Tara couldn't kiss on screen until "The Body". How the times have changed

 

[OFAWB]

It's really a word I try to use only in a very specific context. I'll say things like, "Putting avocadoes in the refrigerator will retard the ripening process." I don't think the phrase 'mental retardation' is in itself offensive, but to call a person "a retard" or "retarded" is mean, in my opinion.

 

[Robb Stark]

The difference is that television, and entertainment in general, is just more politically correct today than it was in the 90's. That's the whole answer.

Do I say the word "retarded"? Yes, but I don't mean it in the sense of mental retardation or disability. That's just a context the political correctness machine trumpets around. Certainly, it can mean that, but as a word it has several other meanings as well. Saying, for example, "Ray Bourque's new contract retarded the NHL pay scale for defensemen" is accurate, and an appropriate meaning for the word. That's what it actually means. So when I use the word retarded, I mean it in that context, that something has been screwed up. It's not meant as an insult. I can't recall, since I was a kid, ever calling or labeling someone with a mental disability as retarded.

 

[itssmiletime]

yeah, honestly, when it comes to mental illness, the Buffyverse is terrible.
It's a show where the sociologist in me hates it to bits, yet the tv fan in me is obsessed with it.

Look, I get people's frustration with 'political correctness'- yet, please, people, drop the word 'retarted' from your vocabulary as much as possible. People with mental illnesses suffer enough, and they don't need your added insults. It does nothing good at all- it makes people feel like freaks. Fact is though, most people with OCD, Autism, Schizophrenia, Bipolar are often labelled as such- and they deserve to be in a community and environment that is sympathetic, not one that labels them endlessly.

Robb Stark's point about different contexts- yeah, I get that and I do understand it.

 

[November]

The word doesnt bother me at all (and I have a mental illness). I also work with disabled children... I dont use the word at work but I will use it to describe someone who has done something a bit slow. Politically incorrect? Probably. Does anyone around me care? Nope.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think it was because people might not have been so 'uptight', in a sense, about useage of the word as they are now. I mean, you can see full-blown sex in a regular TV show now, but when Buffy was airing, Willow and Tara couldn't kiss on screen until "The Body". How the times have changed

Well said.

I don't think people are being "uptight" if they don't want to hear that word used as an insult. I have said it before, and my kids have said it, but I always correct them. For me, it's just like using "gay" as an insult; I don't think it's appropriate.

 

[PassionBecoming]

For me, it's just like using "gay" as an insult; I don't think it's appropriate.

Pretty much my thoughts. There is a correct way to use the word, but it shouldn't be used as an insult.

I have also wondered this a lot, because they use the term fairly often in these shows! If they did that today, there would be multiple groups calling for the writers' heads.

 

[Blaze]

When I was younger I used to use the word (as an insult), because honestly I never even associated it with someone with a mental illness, or retardation. In fact I went to a school that had a program for kids with mental retardation and that insult was never aimed at them. Most kids would join them at recess to play basketball, so I don't think anyone meant the word retarded as an insult towards them, mostly everyone got along great. In reality the only reason I ever used it in the first place is because I didn't know any better, and never knew the real meaning of it. Of course that's when I was a kid. I feel like the time have maybe changed a bit, words like that change all the time to become "politically correct". Nowadays I don't say it because I don't want to offend anyone or don't want it to be associated with something negative. Just like I don't say "that's gay". I feel like in the 90s things were just a bit different with what people could say and couldn't say.

 

[Robb Stark]

To me, saying "this situation is retarded" doesn't have a negative context in the sense of insulting someone with a mental disability. That's not at all how I mean the word when I say it. However, saying "Person X is such a retard" is an inappropriate use of the word.

 

[The Bronze]

Words are very tricky. The meaning of words changes over time, one word can have multiple meanings and be interpretted very differently depending on context. There's a brilliant South Park episode that looks at this subject around the word "fag". I don't think there was any offence intended by the writers or characters on the show, it's just how people would speak at the time.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I have a problem with a lot of the nomenclature surrounding mental defects and "retarded" is one of the things that is inaccurate - it implies that someone is behind in development whereas the reality may be that the person will never be at all "normal" (which is another word I hate). Diagnoses of Attention Defecit Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome are thrown around as if they had some meaning. But think of it:

1. There is no consistent description
2. There is no test for it
3. there is no physiological distinction

These are the really dangerous terms that can lead to overmedication into an endless stupor (which I have seen) or transfer to a special ed system that effectively prevents people from living their lives without hassles or getting an education of any real use. If you want the real offensive terms, those are far more damaging than "retarded". It is the modern way of saying someone "has the evil eye" - and just as unfounded.

I only use the term "retarded" in reference to ignition timing in a car.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

I use the words "retarded" and also "Gay", but never to anyone that has mental retardation or is a homosexual. I would never purposefully offend any person with mental or neurological illness nor would i want to hurt any of my close friends or any one else that is of a homosexual or bisexual orientation. Still i use the terms with my friends in a context that they would never misconstrue because they know my heart and how i feel about these sensitive issues. Its merely the way a lot of guys relate by insulting each other. These terms don't mean their actual specific definition when we use them,but rather are stand ins for other words. It is merely a term that can mean anything;"you're gay",or "you're retarded" is just the same in context as "you're dumb" or "you're weird." While i see how this could seem heartless or cruel its within the context of people who understand what each other means by said words and in no way implies or is an indication of our individual political or social world views. So to get back to your question as to how this was acceptable or okay in the 90's, the answer is quite basic: People were not quite as sensitive as they are now. We seem to have been the victim of a spell that makes us all overly sensitive,i think that Wolfram & Hart are behind it,but Im probably mythtaken 😛

---------- Post added at 12:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 AM ----------

Ok,i felt i should add for the record that I'm mentally ill myself. I truly hope my words don't seem insensitive,i care a lot about the mentally challenged and those with suffer from mental illnesses,i just want people to appreciate context of our specific situations.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Just wait a few more years and the word "challenged" will take on the same negative connotation as "retarded" does now. I despise political correctness - it is used to force people to speak about something a viewpoint that has been foisted on them, like when the Maoist Chinese used to call an American a yankee imperialist running dog. Not all Americans are yankees, not many are imperialist and I would prefer a world with more dogs and fewer people anyway.

The word "challenged" originally meant someone who was being invited to participate in a fight or sporting event or contest of some sort. It has branched out from "mentally challenged" to "vertically challenged" for short people or "financially challenged" for poor people. There is no contest of mental ability or height or wealth. I would say something like the Mensa application is a mental challenge and the person who takes it is being mentally challenged to prove his IQ is in the 140+ range. In the same sense, "vertically challenged" makes no sense - is the short person being invited to a contest to see how much he can grow? There are other similar aberrations of the language like "financially challenged" which can mean impoverished or simply that a person does not yet have the money to do some specific thing.

 

[Blaze]

Just wait a few more years and the word "challenged" will take on the same negative connotation as "retarded" does now. I despise political correctness - it is used to force people to speak about something a viewpoint that has been foisted on them, like when the Maoist Chinese used to call an American a yankee imperialist running dog. Not all Americans are yankees, not many are imperialist and I would prefer a world with more dogs and fewer people anyway.

The word "challenged" originally meant someone who was being invited to participate in a fight or sporting event or contest of some sort. It has branched out from "mentally challenged" to "vertically challenged" for short people or "financially challenged" for poor people. There is no contest of mental ability or height or wealth. I would say something like the Mensa application is a mental challenge and the person who takes it is being mentally challenged to prove his IQ is in the 140+ range. In the same sense, "vertically challenged" makes no sense - is the short person being invited to a contest to see how much he can grow? There are other similar aberrations of the language like "financially challenged" which can mean impoverished or simply that a person does not yet have the money to do some specific thing.

I agree to a certain extent. The example you gave is great, how far will we go to be politically correct?! Most of it is just non sense.

I do think though that in some example it is very important to be politically correct. I don't think it's acceptable to use terms like the n word, "fag" etc that once use to be acceptable. I think when a word serves the purpose to bring down a group of people, then it is not acceptable. Words like retarded (in the sense of delayed) and challenged are not meant to bring down a group of people, so I can see how exaggerated it is that they become politically incorrect.

 

[Blaze]

Just putting another example out there, today I heard a few people say that the term "hearing impaired" was offensive and that we shouldn't use it. I thought that it was absolutely ridiculous, being hard of hearing myself. I'll often say to people that my hearing is impaired, and I fail to see how anyone could find that offensive. Maybe it was just that group of people that thought it was offensive, but in my head all I could think of is that soon enough we won't be able to say anything without it offending someone.

 

[Kean]

I don't use the word and honestly, I really don't care to hear it being used. You can talk about different uses and meanings of that particular word but when it is used in the context it was used in BTVS and ATS, when it is being directed at an individual or being used to describe someone, it simply cannot be heard as anything but a word of belittlement and insult. My uncle has special needs (he has the mental capacity of an 8 year old) and that word (which he has been called several times in his life - because people are crap) is something that upsets him. He understands that when he is called that word, it's because someone is being cruel and trying to upset him.

So yeah, I don't see the non-use of the word as PC at all. There is no reason for anyone to call anyone that word other than to insult them.

 

[Robb Stark]

I don't use the word and honestly, I really don't care to hear it being used. You can talk about different uses and meanings of that particular word but when it is used in the context it was used in BTVS and ATS, when it is being directed at an individual or being used to describe someone, it simply cannot be heard as anything but a word of belittlement and insult. My uncle has special needs (he has the mental capacity of an 8 year old) and that word (which he has been called several times in his life - because people are crap) is something that upsets him. He understands that when he is called that word, it's because someone is being cruel and trying to upset him.

So yeah, I don't see the non-use of the word as PC at all. There is no reason for anyone to call anyone that word other than to insult them.

As a point of discussion (and I do understand your view), where is the line then? Does stupid become a taboo word in the near future? Does dumb? Certainly, there are people out there without a disability who aren't very intelligent.

I'm not saying using the word retarded is a good thing, I don't use it regularly, but where is the line? Do we enter a place where any word used in a negative connotation that might offend someone should be scrapped?

 

[Kean]

As a point of discussion (and I do understand your view), where is the line then? Does stupid become a taboo word in the near future? Does dumb? Certainly, there are people out there without a disability who aren't very intelligent.

I'm not saying using the word retarded is a good thing, I don't use it regularly, but where is the line? Do we enter a place where any word used in a negative connotation that might offend someone should be scrapped?

To be quite honest, any word used for the sole intention of offending or hurting someone is probably a word that doesn't need to be used at all.

To my mind stupid is nowhere in the league of "retarded" (ugh- I hate even typing it.) In my mind that word is a slur used with the sole intention of hurting someone. Stupid is innocuous in comparison and certainly not a word so closely associated with being offensive to a group of people.

I know everyone doesn't hear the offense in the word but my general rule is intention doesn't mater with words like this, perception does. If people with special needs are saying this word is offensive, then it is, and that's enough for me.