Too-Real Problem Just Not Laughable Manipulation? We Have To Wonder If Disney Doesn’t Know Exactly What It’s Doing When It Produces These Movies With A Controversial Edge.

Mr. Magoo, a cartoon character who bumbles and stumbles due to impaired vision, is coming this winter to a theater near you. Disney honchos, reeling from criticism by the blind community about the movie, defend Mr. Magoo. They insist he is not totally blind. Mr. Magoo just can’t see very well, that’s all.

The estimated 3 million men and women in our country who have macular degeneration aren’t totally blind, either. They just can’t see very well, that’s all. Their vision is cloudy. They experience blind spots when looking straight ahead. They have difficulty doing fine-vision tasks such as driving and reading. The world shuts down for them.

They share many of the symptoms old Mr. Magoo displays. Objects appear fuzzy to him. He mistakes stuffed animals for live animals. If those men and women who have macular degeneration could see the movie well enough, they probably wouldn’t laugh too loudly at Mr. Magoo. It’s not a funny kind of blindness in real life, why would it be funny on the big screen? Yet pundits and others are saying the Mr. Magoo controversy is another example of political correctness gone awry. Another example of overly sensitive people overreacting to a cartoon character. That’s a seductive defense, but really, there is no good reason to resurrect Mr. Magoo.

The Mr. Magoo controversy is manipulative on some other levels. Reviving Mr. Magoo is one more attempt by Hollywood to make money off baby boomer nostalgia. “George of the Jungle” is the current rip-off, but we’ve witnessed dozens of them in past years. Some, like the Addams Family movies, have been clever and fun. But the others show a lack of originality. Where are the new ideas?

And we have to wonder if Disney doesn’t know exactly what it’s doing when it produces these movies with a controversial edge. Disney has saved millions of dollars in advertising because its movies generate news, which is free.

American Indians protested the movie “Pocahontas” and hundreds of articles were written. Now, Mr. Magoo is grabbing the attention. The Wall Street Journal featured a story about the movie on its front page last week. Great publicity.

Don’t let yourself be manipulated, no matter how well you think you see.

, DataTimes MEMO: See opposing view under the headline: Don’t offend even one witless drone

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