How Did I Miss This?

I'll confess, I've never been considered to be someone who's on the cutting edge of things.   Okay, some (I won't mention names) have even accused me of living under a rock.  But, I thought at least when it came to my little corner of the world, as it applies to Down syndrome in the media, that I at least had a clue.

Somehow, I completely missed this one.

Schooled by Mom

Yep I heard about it from my mother.   (LOL!  Love ya Mom!)

We were talking on the phone and she brought up the show "Shameless."  I'd never seen it so I had no idea what she was going to say next.   When she finished relaying the story, all I could say was "how did I not hear about this?"

Requires Further Investigation

Once I looked it up and realized that it happened last March I was really confused.  None of the disability advocates that I read and listen to mentioned it - or if they did I completely missed it.  One of the articles I found about it (and there aren't many) said that the episode in question aired during the "Spread the Word to End the Word" week... seems like somebody would have said something that I would have noticed.

In case you're as clueless as I was, here's a clip from the episode.

I haven't found the full episode yet, but the premise is interesting.

• First, there are actors in the scene who actually have Down syndrome.
  
• Second, there is a philosophy of thought (whether you agree with it or not) that use of the word by the people who it's meant to demean takes away its power.
  
• Third, is a comedy show the best place for this discussion/on the flip side/ is it the only place this discussion might occur?
  

Other Comments?

Like I said, there isn't much out there in the way of commentary.   What exactly does that say?  Is it because the show isn't that popular?   According to "TV By the Numbers" there were 1.66 million live viewers - it was in 25th place among original cable shows the night it aired (whatever that tells ya).    Or does it not warrant discussion?  We had more discussion about the "Guinness" ad when it came out and it was a 30 second beer commercial.

So the one interesting comment I found was the person who recognized the significance of when it aired:

The article she's commenting on is from DaveTV on ChicagoNow.com - not exactly mainstream, or even disability related media.

So the question is?

What were they trying to do/say and did it work?

I figured if I hadn't heard about maybe I wasn't the only one.  It wouldn't be the first time if I am the only one who missed it, but still, it's worth throwing it out there for discussion again.

So let's go on record.   What do you think?