BY JULIA CORDEROY
Comedian Ricky Gervais wasn’t getting any laughs for a string of jokes he made on Twitter. He was attacked over the frequent use of the word “mong” to describe people he thinks are stupid. The Daily Mail quotes the tweets…
“These have included phrases such as ‘good monging everyone’ and ‘two mongs don’t make a right’...”
The term “mong” is short for “mongoloid” and is often used as a derogatory term for those with Down Syndrome. But Gervais claims-- he didn’t realize the word was still used to insult people with disabilities. The Sun quotes Gervais as saying…
"The meaning of words change over time – ‘gay’ for example. The modern use of the word 'mong' means dopey or ignorant – it’s in slang and urban dictionaries."
But, for many, ignorance isn’t a defense. BBC Radio 2 spoke to a mother who has children with disabilities, here’s her take on it.
“I think, if you use a word like mong as an epithet for ugly, stupid, weird – all you’re doing is reinforcing a stereotype. It’s clearly identified by many people as being a word referencing disability.”
But others counter – it’s making a fuss over the word that reinforces the stereotypes. Daybreak Talk Show speaks to a spokesperson for a charity for people with learning disabilities.
“I think that comedy should be able to deal with everything and I don’t think that anything should be off limits, which may sound interesting. But I think that comedy needs to deal with issues like disability intelligently, so that it deals with disability in a way that it exposes prejudices.”
Ricky Gervais eventually apologized via Twitter-- saying his remarks were naive.
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