Okay, brief history.
For those who have never seen Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, this might be a waste of your time. For people who have seen it, this is DEFINITELY a waste of your time.
Basically, all you have to know is that the hero, Mad Max, ends up in a gladiatorial situation (as we all do at times) and fights this huge dude to the death. But then, right before striking the final blow, the helmet comes off and you can see that the gladiator is a retarded man.
I know “retarded” isn’t the most friendliest word, but I’m not an expert enough to tell exactly what’s up with him, plus this is a post-apocalyptic future and I think that using nice terms for things would probably be one of the first courtesies we dropped. Why waste time figuring out how to best address a man of a different race when you could just run him over with a jeep that has spikes on the front?
PLUS, whoever cast this role must have said, “We need someone who looks really retarded. You’re only going to see his face for a split-second, and in that time your brain needs to look and say, ‘Oooo, yeah. Real retarded.'” So don’t blame me for what is clearly a prejudiced casting move.
Back in the world of Mad Max, however, I have a question: How does a baby born with Down Syndrome survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland? I don’t want to get into abortion rights and whatnot here, but it seems like these babies have it pretty rough in the current state of the world, the one where people don’t fight to the death on bungee cords and Mel Gibson (probably) doesn’t eat dog food straight out of the can.
I just don’t understand how a handicapped child would make it in a world as savage as the one presented in MMBT.
What I’m proposing is a prequel/sequel. It follows the character from his birth, up to the fight, then cuts back in after his failure to kill Mad Max. What happens to him?
I was hard at work on the screenplay (really!) and I googled Down Syndrome to get a little background, plus I can never remember if the syndrome is “Down” or “Down’s.”
And what is the image at the top of the Wikipedia page?
Really? A kid with a goddamn drill? Why is that necessary, and what am I supposed to learn about Down Syndrome by watching a kid with a drill? I don’t want to see ANY kids with drills.
To compare, here’s the picture from Mowat-Wilson Syndrome:
Right? They don’t pose the guy with a chainsaw using it to slice up a side of beef at midnight. …I don’t want to say too much…but c’mon. Do they really have to give him the Moe from 3 Stooges haircut from birth until age 18?
How about the Asperger’s picture:
See? Fine. We can see a child doing something “normal” without putting him into a situation that crosses over into creepy.
Anyway, you can see how I lost steam on the whole screenplay thing. But if you’re ever bored, look up all these syndromes they have nowadays. It is nothing short of shocking.