SCORSESE’S WOLF OF WALL STREET GETS UNEXPECTED REPRIMAND

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, already attacked for allegedly glamorizing criminal behavior among the rich, is now being lambasted by disability groups. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, Peter Berns, CEO of disability group The Arc and Stephen Bennett, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy, protested against the use of the word “retard” in the film and a scene in which Leo DiCaprio’s character, Jordan Belfort, describes the effects of a drug experience as reaching the “cerebral palsy phase.” Said the two: “The Wolf of Wall Street is “getting a lot of attention for how it offends audiences on many levels, but one aspect that hasn’t been discussed is its use of the R-word and its unacceptable mockery of people with cerebral palsy. Hollywood just doesn’t seem to get it.” Neither the studio nor Scorsese has responded to the criticism.