Disability Rhetoric

Jerry Springer’s Labor Day Telethon (in partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association) aired on television in America for over 48 years, collecting donations intended to increase accessibility to wheelchairs and medication—as well as fund research towards a cure, or eradication, of the disease. Always a lavish affair, the telethon kept a keen spotlight on “Jerry’s Kids”, a rotating set of poster children living with dystrophy, often brought out for PR events and photoshoots, as well as for stage performances during the annual fundraiser. 

Springer’s televised affection for the kids was intensely marketable for the charity, but as the years went by, growing numbers of “Jerry’s Kids” felt more abandoned, alienated, and pitied than supported by Springer and the MDA. That, in combination with an obvious misappropriation of funding by the parent charity, was impetus enough for former poster child Mike Ervin to establish his activist group, “Jerry’s Orphans”, in honor of those exploited by the fundraiser—and with the goal of ending Springer’s telethon for good. 

Shot in the mid-to-late 1990s, the documentary The Kids are Alright follows Ervin, and Jerry’s Orphans, as they attempt to infiltrate an MDA charity event in Chicago, bring awareness to those present of the exploitation they support, and encourage the public not to endorse such dehumanization of the disabled by the MDA. 

Much of the film is carried out interview-style, as Ervin details the history of his own activism and experiences of discrimination as a wheelchair-bound individual⁠—but a large part still is devoted to recording the late-night meetings of Jerry’s Orphans as they do telephonic outreach and event coordinating towards the big day. Arriving on site in Chicago bearing slogans such as “Piss on pity!”, the protesters dodge past guards to try to invade the event. Partially successful, the group engage in discussions with several of the event’s attendees and staff, establishing their presence and dispelling the white lies of the “charity mentality”, which promotes blanket pity as helpful. Pity, to Jerry’s Orphans, is but a detrimental pigeonhole for those on the receiving end. And with the money pity collects, the MDA’s proposed ‘cures’ for dystrophy (mainly of prenatal detection and abortion), just stands as another flagrant offense to Ervin’s growing community. Of course, in protesting the charity event, Jerry’s Orphans were quickly requested to leave the premises by its administrators.

Something major to take away from this film? The blatant irony of an event designed specifically for the livelihoods of its poster children turning its back on the many, desperate voices of those same children, grown up. Though no official statement was given by Jerry Springer (or the MDA) in the film, Springer reportedly spoke of Ervin’s activism as such: “Pity? You don’t want to be pitied because you’re a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!”. Ervin spoke of Springer’s contempt coolly, stating: “I pity those who pity me”.

Worthy of four stars, The Kids are Alright is a low-polish, yet intimate showcase of grassroots activism, moving only as quickly as events unfold from the foyers, basements, and local pizza parlors of real Americans with real grievances, working together to bring justice to their cause.