Riding the Bus with My Sister

I like her Pee Wee Herman voice

Rosie O'Donnell- DYKE- ASAURIS

Well that was certainly typecast.

They'd have done better to get Tom Cruise to be the retard. Also when is Rosie going to be canceled for performing tardface.

Tomorrow night, a VERY SPECIAL special about special Rosie.

She's not just special. She's SPESHUL!

Didn't Anjelica Huston direct this?

I AM NOT RETARDED!!!

I'm sorry it wasn't DRIVING THE BUS OVER MY SISTER

If there ever was a DL convention, this would have to be part of the nighttime programming.

"Girl, are you going to Exhibit Hall A to watch Showgirls, or to B to watch Riding the Bus?"

We go overt this every year. It's based on a book, a true story. Rosie met with the sister and portrays her accurately.

I can't imagine what Angelica Huston was thinking. She knows good from bad and has taste. Rosie on the other hand...

"Rosie met with the sister and portrays her accurately"

So maybe it's "this didn't need to be a movie".

I felt so sorry for Andie McDowell. That's when she must have known her career was more or less over.

I like the movie.

I’m the Sheriff!

At the time this was broadcast, Rosie was heavily into blogging. Thousands of fraus posted on her blog about how great it was.

If I remember correctly, DataLounge dubbed it “Riding The Shortbus With My Sister.”

Was this the sequel to "A League of Their Own"?

Better than "Riding My Sister, The James Haven Story"

I'm going to Hall C to watch "Sliver."

They are currently filming the prequel called “Waiting For The Bus That Ran Over My Sister”.

To be fair before this movie, it was sort of a staple/trend in the TV movie business to have movies about physically or developmentally disabled people. I think trend started in the 70s with TV movies like the one where Richard Thomas and Julie Kavner played a developmentally disabled couple. I also remember Winnie with Meredith Baxter which was based on a true story of developmentally disabled woman who had spent most of her childhood and part of her adulthood in an institution. There was some tv movie where John Laroquette played a guy who had to do community service and coached a Special Olympics basketball team.

I think it was in the late 90s when Mary Steenburgen and Kellie Martin were in the TV movie called About Sarah. Steenburgen's character was developmentally disabled and Kellie Martin played the character's daughter. Another 90s tv movie I remember was The Yarn Princess with Jean Smart. The plot was that Jean's character was developmentally disabled and married to a guy with mental illness and she had to get or keep custody of her kids after the husband had a mental breakdown.

Riding the Bus With My Sister was a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie and the networks who produced those networks would sometime buy the rights to fiction and non-fiction books for adaptations. Anjelica Huston probably thought this would be a heartwarming TV movie that people would love, but it flopped badly. I"m sure if this movie and the ones I mentioned were shown today, some people would be pissed with dialogue used in these movies and they might be labeled "ableist".

CBS TV movies back in the late 90s/early 2000s were a guilty pleasure for me. Some of them were so cheesy and sappy, but were fun light hearted watches. CBS made a movie called Monday After the Miracle, which was billed as a tv movie about the later years of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. Roma Downey played Annie and Moira Kelly played Helen. Some reviewer in a magazine or newspaper panned it and said something to the effect that one of the subplots in it was a bit offensive.

I honestly have always disliked Rosie as a performer. I hated her as a stand up comedian and when she was on VH1. I never found her funny or entertaining. She’s like a lot of comedians that fit a certain niche and I found her loud mouth frau trope grating. Same with Roseanne.

R21 it all makes sense until "Angelica Huston". Her persona and career just doesn't scream movie of the week which makes the mystery of RTBWMS so much deeper.

You just know that every casting agency has a roster of actors they immediately refer to when a part calls for a developmentally delayed person based solely on their looks.

R2 is right I remember Winnie MBB talked in this weird falsetto voice. Then there were the Bill movies with Mickey Rooney. Awful.

Sorry R21 not R2

Its not my cup of tea but whats so awful about the Bill movies, based on true character as was the Rosie movie. And anyway Denis Quaid was so handsome so there is that.

Dennis Quaid was beautiful.. I think Helen Hunt is in one of the Bill movies too.

R21 There was another release around that time that was similar to Riding the Bus with My Sister called My Sister's Keeper and started Kathy Bates and Elizabeth Perkins.

I think those movies were at a time when they were trying to create a new awareness about people with disabilities. I think it came off kind of weird when, for example, Mrs Keaton from Family Ties suddenly popped up talking like a muppet as “Winnie” in a TV movie if the week.

Rosie was so good playing a 'tard she even made Andie MacDowell (who actually IS semi-retarded) seem believable as the "smart" sister.

And who will ever forget Mickey Fucking Rooney’s turn in “Bill; On His Own” which was required viewing because the social studies teacher needed a dark room break from teaching in high school?

[quote] There was another release around that time that was similar to Riding the Bus with My Sister called My Sister's Keeper and started Kathy Bates and Elizabeth Perkins.

And also The Other Sister with Juliette Lewis.

In 1979, Like Normal People starred Shaun Cassidy and Linda Purl as a mentally challenged couple who de ide to get married. The families were not thrilled and Linda Purl looked like Shirley Feeney.

[quote]CBS made a movie called Monday After the Miracle, which was billed as a tv movie about the later years of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

Based on the flop Broadway play with Jane Alexander as Annie and Karen Allen as Helen. It closed after a week on Broadway.

It would have run longer if it had been Jason Alexander, R35!

“Wa-ehr!”

Ching Chong!

I wonder if Rosie revived the tard character when she would get fed up with her retarded children.

I watched this when I was in like 5th grade when it originally aired. I was pissed I missed the last half because it was a school night and I had to go to bed.

She kept riding the bus. People like her do the same thing over and over. They like routine.

Hmmmm

The Other Sister actually was a theatrical release (by Garry Marshall). It probably would have done better as a TV movie. Also, Anjelica Huston wasn't completely new to the concept when she directed "Riding the Bus with My Sister." She won an Emmy for "Family Pictures," a miniseries about a "perfect" family tested when one of the children has needs.

cultural appropriation

Cast a real "tard!

Whoops, I was wrong -- Anjelica was only nominated for a Golden Globe. My point still stands, though.

Patti LuPone should have been cast in the Andie McDowell role.

The NY Times called it “deeply, even thrillingly, embarrassing.”

As crass as this may sound, I wish there was a chart to discern various levels of development disabilities, or levels of functionality. I know it is different with every person, but I get a bit thrown off when I read about people of this nature living alone. How does one know that this is doable and safe? Obviously, through knowledge and experience, etc., but I like clarity and I wish I knew HOW disabled or functional one was.

[quote]In 1979, Like Normal People starred Shaun Cassidy and Linda Purl as a mentally challenged couple who de ide to get married. The families were not thrilled and Linda Purl looked like Shirley Feeney.

I remember that one. There were similar movies later on like the Lifetime movie Different in the 90s. Annabeth Gish played a woman who had a severe brain injury as a teenager and later married a mentally challenged man and had a daughter with him. Lynn Redgrave played a grandparent who tried to get custody of the grandchild. There was also the tv movie Bonds of Love with Treat Williams and Kelly McGillis. Treat's character was mentally challenged and Kelly's character wasn't. The movie was based on a true story of a real couple like that who had to go through several legal challenges in order to get married. IIRC, a judge had to grant permission.

Also the movie with Christina Ricci. I think it was called Pumpkin. She's a pretty popular high school/college girl who becomes ostracized from her peers after she falls in love with a guy who's mentally handicapped.

[quote]I think those movies were at a time when they were trying to create a new awareness about people with disabilities. I think it came off kind of weird when, for example, Mrs Keaton from Family Ties suddenly popped up talking like a muppet as “Winnie” in a TV movie if the week.

I agree. I think the networks were trying to do a good thing, but the end results sometimes were weird. I recall another TV movie Meredith Baxter did where she played a single mom who was schizophrenic or bipolar. The character would take in muppet voices to entertain her son. I can't the name of that movie, but it was made after Family Ties had ended.

R49 That's one of my favorite black comedy movies. I"m surprised the SJW crowd hasn't gone after that movie and the people who were in it. Amy Adams was also in that movie and she played a student who along with other two girls were taunting Christina's character for falling in love with the mentally handicapped guy.

Even Blair Warner fell for a hot retarded boy on FOL. You know he was retarded because they kept saying ‘retarded’ in the episode.

The term is now "intellectually disabled" which is more respectful.

"Life Goes On" was on TV in the early 90s on a major network. Today, people still call each other "Corky" as an insult. A lot of people who are social justice warriors still think it's ok or funny to insult people's intelligence, even people with disabilities.

They all want cake.

Was this worse than Exit to Eden where Rosie dressed up in leather sex gear and Paul Mecurio from Strictly Ballroom got his arse out?

It sounds like there are lots of fictional works where a neurotypical woman falls in love and has a relationship with someone who isn't neurotypical, and it's acceptable. However, if you reverse the genders, then you have a case of abuse. The only example I can think of is the movie Where the Lillies Bloom.

This one too

To think that Sean Penn got an Oscar nomination for that performance over Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, Guy Pearce in Memento, Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums and Jake Gyllenhaal for Donnie Darko.

Now I want to play a retard in a Hollywood picture. I remember when we were kids and played retard, and it was a lot of fun!!!!!!!

[quote]"Life Goes On" was on TV in the early 90s on a major network. Today, people still call each other "Corky" as an insult. A lot of people who are social justice warriors still think it's ok or funny to insult people's intelligence, even people with disabilities.

But Chris Burke actually has Down Syndrome, so his performance wasn't like the rest of the cringeworthy Hollywood scenery-chewers mentioned in this thread. Has there ever been another actor with Downs?

R61 Yes, Ryan Murphy used a woman with Downs on a few seasons of American Horror Story.

[quote]Has there ever been another actor with Downs?

Becky on Glee

And Call the Midwife has an actor with Downs

You are all forgetting the BEST TV film retard: Kriesti Ally in Profoundly Normal. It is hilariously bad, and has everything: a girl getting raped in exchange for licorice, Ally speaking in a southern accent, interracial love, a woman obsessed with mustard who runs around naked in a super market.

Riding the Bus with Defacto.

[quote]In 1979, Like Normal People starred Shaun Cassidy and Linda Purl as a mentally challenged couple who de ide to get married. The families were not thrilled and Linda Purl looked like Shirley Feeney.

"RAH-JAH!"

"VUH-JIN-YUH!"

NO MORE BABEEEEEES RAHJUR!!!

Sheesh there are hundreds of these movies!

Look at yourself

Don't forget this one!

What was that one with Jodie Foster where she is a feral woman

Not one mention of DiCaprio playing a tard in Gilbert Grape?

Who hasn't played a 'tard?

Crossover heaven: Riding the Bus with Nell and My Sister

Tay in the wind

I have always wondered about Ryan Murphy use's of Down syndrome actors and storylines on his shows. Nip/Tuck had an episode where a patient with Down Syndrome wanted plastic surgery to look more like his siblings. There was the Becky and Jean storylines on Glee and the characters played by Jamie Brewer on AHS. Murphy's short lived The New Normal had a episode that featured a guest star with Down Syndrome. Most of the storylines and use of the actors on the shows was fine for the most part. I thought Becky was overused on Glee and the reason Jean was killed off was because the actress who played her had developed dementia.

My Dad as a little boy was a bit of a rascal . He liked to embarrass his big and prim brother by acting like he was spastic and retarded when they took the bus, embarrassing his brother into heading to the top deck to get away from him.

Retarded Sisters were the late-90s / early-00s era's "it" group... much like today's Trans Women of Color.

I think there should have been a porn spinoff: Riding My Sister on the Bus.

Maybe G could finally get an Oscar if she'd just play.....well, herself.

[quote] BEST TV film retard: Kriesti Ally

Sounds like maybe you caught a bit of that brain damage.

Crusty Alley?

R53, if you're going to presume to instruct us, please learn enough basic English to know to use commas for parenthetical phrases.

So, will Rosie be CANCELLED for her insensitive, stereotyped, and bigoted portrayal?

who says it is those things?

[quote]But Chris Burke actually has Down Syndrome, so his performance wasn't like the rest of the cringeworthy Hollywood scenery-chewers mentioned in this thread. Has there ever been another actor with Downs?

There's an actress Andrea Friedman who played the girlfriend of Chris Burke's character on Life Goes On. She would pop in guest starring roles on TV shows here and there. She voiced the character of Down syndrome character on Family Guy. Sarah Palin bitched about that episode and Friedman responded to that and said it was just for humor and sarcasm. She also said that Palin was using her son with Down syndrome for sympathy.

The situation reminded me of the controversy with the movie, The Ringer. People raged about it early on while not knowing that Special Olympics was involved with the filmmakers and studio.

Rosie admitted to cornering Chris Columbus at the Oscars and begging him for the role of Mrs. Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. She even did a British accent for him.

Can you imagine his reaction?

Inspiring.

[quote]And also The Other Sister with Juliette Lewis.

I remember my brother making the joke that Juliette Lewis probably rewartched What's Eating Gilbert Grape to learn again from Leo.

R85 I doubt she'll get cancelled. This movie isn't on the radar of the SJW crowd like that recent movie Music.

Dats da suck job!

Hi. This is Wilford Brimley. Welcome to Retardation: A Celebration. Now, hopefully with this book, I'm gonna dispel a few myths, a few rumors. First off, the retarded don't rule the night. They don't rule it. Nobody does. And they don't run in packs. And while they may not be as strong as apes, don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

I found I am Sam equally offensive

We get these now. So much more... dignified:

"What is a d&c abortion?

Dilation and curettage (D&C) is a procedure to remove tissue from inside your uterus. Doctors perform dilation and curettage to diagnose and treat certain uterine conditions — such as heavy bleeding — or to clear the uterine lining after a miscarriage or abortion"

There was a young man with Down syndrome on Stumptown, a good TV show that wasn’t renewed after the pandemic hit last year.

I want to watch this.

Actors ADORE these kinds of roles. It’s hella fun to play them and it can be awards bait.

They must be sad these roles are completely off limits now.

[quote]I want to watch this.

No. No, you don't. Really. Just, no.

[quote] I’m the Sheriff!

No you’re not, I am!

R100 Shouldn’t you be getting your Uterus scraped in a jacuzzi?

She would ride the bus ALL DAY?

[quote] Crossover heaven: Riding the Bus with Nell and My Sister

Maybe, this could be G's Oscar winning role.

[quote] [R21] it all makes sense until "Angelica Huston". Her persona and career just doesn't scream movie of the week which makes the mystery of RTBWMS so much deeper

She recently started in a TV remake of The Watcher In The Woods playing the Bette Davis role. It was directed by Melissa Joan Hart (!)

[quote] The term is now "intellectually disabled" which is more respectful.

That’s so retarded.

SLIDIN AROUND ONNA TOILET SEAT!

I preferred the remake, "Riding the Buszh with Shister and Brother", co-starring Lizsha and Lorna and Joey

[quote]She recently started in a TV remake of The Watcher In The Woods playing the Bette Davis role. It was directed by Melissa Joan Hart (!)

OMG the original used to scare me shitless. I used to write NERAK in misty windows for years after.

[quote] In 1979, Like Normal People starred Shaun Cassidy and Linda Purl as a mentally challenged couple who de ide to get married. The families were not thrilled and Linda Purl looked like Shirley Feeney.

I think LNP was an after-school special. My younger sister, who was about 12 at the time, was obsessed with it and would run around imitating the way the retarded characters spoke, until our mother couldn’t stand it anymore and would make her shut up.

As someone said upthread, I think the networks thought they were doing a good thing with their Retard of the Week programming, but often they were just affording kids an opportunity to make fun of the disabled.

Wasn't Chris Burke a giant cokehead?

I thought Jamie Brewer was good in AHS. I wonder whether she still gets any work. Can’t be a lot of demand for actors with Down Syndrome.

[quote] I think LNP was an after-school special. My younger sister, who was about 12 at the time, was obsessed with it and would run around imitating the way the retarded characters spoke, until our mother couldn’t stand it anymore and would make her shut up.

I was 11 when it came out and everyone in 5th grade spoke that way the next day on the playground.

"WOGER, I WANNA HAVE A BAY-BEE!"

Wow 2 Oscars, please!

[quote]Actors ADORE these kinds of roles. It’s hella fun to play them and it can be awards bait.

[quote] They must be sad these roles are completely off limits now.

I remember Norm Macdonald on SNL's Weekend Update making some joke about Tom Hanks and Jody Foster competing for "best retard" at the Oscars. Yeah, years ago it was clear that actors knew the best way to get award was to play a person with a mental or physical disability.

Several years ago, Emma Stone was attached to play Rosemary Kennedy in a biopic. A couple of years later, it reported Elisabeth Moss was replacing her. I think Stone may have considered the part as possible Oscar bait material, but then just realized that the project was likely to cause controversy and decided to pass on the project. The biopic has probably been shelved for various reasons.

Playing mentally disabled characters are off limits at this point. But, playing able bodied actors playing physically disabled characters will still happen for awhile. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Emma Stone, Amy Adams, or Michelle Williams took some gig playing a wheelchair bound woman or blind woman for Oscar bait.

Dats da suck job!

Rosie running to the bus screaming "I'm first" reminds me of a certain alcoholic Trumper who is a constant fixture on CDAN and believes anything and everything Enty writes.