Alec Baldwin slammed over blind role in new movie

The decision to cast Alec Baldwin in the lead role in a new movie about a visually impaired writer has angered disability groups.

One organisation has gone as far as to suggest that the move is akin to ‘black-face’, in which white actors used to be cast in black roles.

“Alec Baldwin in Blind is just the latest example of treating disability as a costume,” said Jay Ruderman, the president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, a charity which champions inclusion for people with disabilities.

“We no longer find it acceptable for white actors to portray black characters. Disability as a costume needs to also become universally unacceptable.”

In the movie, Baldwin plays a novelist who loses his wife in a car crash which also claims his sight.

He’s then cared for by Demi Moore’s character, a socialite who reads to Baldwin’s character as part of a plea bargain deal after her businessman husband is indicted for insider trading.It’s not the first movie to anger the foundation – it also took serious issue with the drama ‘Me Before You’ last summer, starring ‘Hunger Games’ star Sam Claflin as a man who is paralysed and then seeks assisted suicide.

“The upcoming release of the movie Me Before You presents a deeply troubling message to our society about people with disabilities,” a statement read at the time.

“To the millions of people with significant disabilities currently leading fulfilling, rich lives, it posits that they are better off committing suicide.”

Research by the foundation has found that 95% of disabled characters on screen are played by able bodied actors.

So far, neither Baldwin nor the movie’s studio, Michael Mailer Films, has commented on the matter.

It currently has no release date confirmed for the UK.

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