Whoopsie!
An Ouch fan from NYC has contacted us following our request for comments from people who've witnessed Whoopi Goldberg cripping up in her Broadway show.
Kathleen has CP and says she felt like offering Ms Whoopi some pointers, as she "clutched one arm up against her chest, contorted her neck, slurred her speech, and internally rotated one leg" in an attempt to portray the condition. "Most people I know with only one side affected don't have nearly the contortion that she acted out," says Kath, who was equally unimpressed with the storyline. "For one, the woman works in a nursing home, and said something like: 'Nursing homes like to hire people like me because our presence makes the old people eager to die' (better to be dead than disabled?!) The guy at work asks her out, and she turns him down because she feels unworthy."
After a bit of convincing, Whoopi's character starts dating and having "life changing" experiences like, er, wearing a bikini and dancing for the first time (ahhhh). "He eventually proposes, with reasons like: 'you're my friend', and 'I want to take care of you'," says Kath. "To me, it came across as patronizing, as if he feels sorry for her. First she says no, but then accepts because 'how many proposals am I ever going to get?' (as if people with disabilities should take whatever we can get!)"
Not quite the next Ghost, then.
