BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
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Saturday, September 06, 2003
Who's a freak? Gary Coleman
is a former child star who's fallen on hard times and is now trying
to raise his profile by running for governor in the California recall
election.
At 35, he doesn't come across as
either unusually smart or breathtakingly dumb. (Although it's pretty
amazing that he couldn't name the vice-president.) He has no more
business running for governor of our largest state than most of the
other 135 candidates. And, oh yeah, he's four-foot-eight.
So how does the
New York Times' Charlie
LeDuff describe him this
morning? As "a captive of a freakish body." Right in the lead
paragraph.
Gary Coleman is a normal person
whose dwarfism is caused by a serious kidney disease. For a
Times reporter to call him a "freak" is offensive. No human
being should be described as a freak because of his physical
attributes. What was LeDuff thinking?
posted at 4:01 PM |
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MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
