News and Casting calls

First_name:       Sasha
Last_name:       Adkinson
Company:         Creative Extras Casting
Address:           2461 Santa Monica blvd. #501
City:                 Santa Monica
State:                CA
ZIP:                  90404
Phone:              310-391-9041
Fax:                  310-391-9043
Email:                cecasting@gmail.com

This is for the movie 'I Know Who Killed Me' starring lindsay Lohan.  We
start shooting December 11th in LA.

We are looking for one or two girls who have the following amputation. Their
right hand from the wrist, and her right leg from the knee.  We are trying
to get someone who looks like Lindsay, but we are not going to limit
ourselves.  This will be ongoing SAG work from December through February.
We will use you as a consultant with Lindsay so you will be working with her
to help with character development.  The rate is negotiable.

"Lohan plays Aubrey, the young daughter of affluent parents who is abducted and mutilated by a sadistic serial killer, she then manages to escape, sans a hand and a leg and lots of blood."

"Lohan–she plays a stripper who is almost tortured to death."

I am Jonathan Walker Spencer and I'm the Casting Director on a
Horror/Comedy feature film that will be shooting in Atlanta beginning
late March.  

You can read about the movie here:

http://www.SouthEastCasting.com

You can read about me here:

http://www.JonathanWalkerSpencer.com

I'm contacting you to ask your advice on how I should best go about
contacting people for this part. We are professionals and not out to
exploit anyone.

There is a large scene at the end of the movie that will involve tons

of special fx [effects] as the Zombies battle the Nerds. 

Some of the zombies are principal actors with speaking roles, but
most will only be in this one big scene w/out dialogue.  We would
love to cast some people from the amputee community who are
comfortable  with special fx shots that would involve limbs
detaching. We seek all ages and all ethnicities.  
 

Cherry Darling for Halloween & Cosplay

Taken from a Rose McGowan interview:  "[Playing] Cherry [Darling] was amazing and I think, probably til I die; she will always be one of my favourite characters I've ever played. And I feel quite protective towards her, so hopefully nobody will put her down. And if they do, she can just shoot them in the face with her machine gun. [Laughing] I think the whole thing in expecting to see this movie, I think you should expect to laugh and dry-heave at the same time and just go in knowing… just sit in that roller coaster seat, you know, buckle up and go along for the ride. And have fun… gosh. And I hope to see people with a machine gun leg for Halloween outfits next year."

And that is just what happened. The evil sinister one legged pirate with a peg leg has been replaced by a modern sexy feminine heroine with a machine gun leg prosthesis killing off zombies.

With the release of the Robert Rodriguez movie Grindhouse (Planet Terror) there may have emerged a positive image of the amputee played by actress Rose McGowan to replace the negative amputee stereotypes that has been portrayed on the screen for some many decades.

Following are but a few of the Cherry Darling costumes that were seen for Halloween this year, and they are not stopping there. A number of the costumes will be refined further and entered into Cosplay costume contests. If you look close you will note many of the costumes are worn by real amputees.

I am currently working on a website that will show and tell how-to-make a Cherry Darling gun leg prosthesis for a Halloween or Cosplay costume. http://amputeeresource.org/CDH.html If you are interested in getting involved with this project please contact me at alpikecp@aol.com

	Most authentic non-amputee costume
well, my own take on her for my Halloween costume =]
Hi-tech C-Leg with machine gun attached
The "Real" Cherry Darling at Comic-con 2007 Amputees In Hollywood - Lacey Henderson Photography by Heather Erikochan

The one legged pirate has not gone completely away as we see a feminine version below with a real peg leg. Next year we hope to see her as Cherry Darling if we can find someone to make Amber a gun leg prosthesis.

"I wanted to be Cherry Darling this year but couldn't find anyone to make a gun prosthetic."

On the movie set of Charlie Wilson's War
staring Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Thanks to Larry a member of Amputees In Hollywood for the photos.

Amputee crew waiting to be called to be on camera - Leanna Burke Photos

Larry with another amputee cast member - Leanna Burke Photos

Larry with Saddam - Leanna Burke Photos

Leanna Burke Photos

Leanna Burke Photos

Leanna Burke Photos

Leanna Burke Photos

AIH in the news! - O&P Business News Jan 15, 2008

Cover Story

January 15, 2008

Progression of Perception: How Media Shapes the Way the World Sees Amputees

In a visually charged culture, it is important to consider what effect the bombardment of images has on our outlook and on each other.

By Jennifer Hoydicz

"It's wood. It's fake. Five years ago I was engaged to be married. Johnny came in here, he ordered bread from me. I put it in the slicer and I talked with him and my hand got caught 'cause I wasn't paying attention. The slicer chewed off my hand. It's funny 'cause when my fiancée saw that I was maimed, she left me for another man."

Those lines were featured in the 1988 Academy Award nominated film, Moonstruck– which highlighted the story of Ronny Cammareri, played by Nicholas Cage, and his inner struggle to identify himself as a man following several great losses in his life – first his hand, then his fiancée.

This is just one example of the many images of amputees that the general public has been witness to over the years – arguably one of the more memorable. But what effects do images like that of Ronny Cammareri or amputee athletes, or wounded warriors have on the general public's lasting perception of amputees? What, if anything, needs to be done to educate people on the truths and dispel the myths of amputees in the United States?

News broadcasts

As mainstream media outlets, television news broadcasts, as well as print and online news editions, are large factors in shaping American perceptions of the surrounding world. Currently, many of the images of amputees being channeled through these outlets deal with worldwide military conflicts, making it difficult to talk about perception without entering these depictions into the equation.

David Serlin, PhD, associate professor of communication and science studies at the University of California at San Diego, recalls earlier images of the effects of war and how they differ from today's media onslaught.

"I think a lot of Americans who read the newspaper or watch television are under the impression that they are seeing a new set of representations of amputees," Serlin said. "But every war since the Civil War has included engravings or photographs depicting veteran amputees as part of the way that media deals with war. In World War II, in Korea, and even by journalists during Vietnam, Americans have seen …beautiful black and white photos taken by official photographers."

Censorship

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Enlisting photographers to capture images also allowed for censorship in the past – a sensitive topic covered in a book by George H. Roeder titled, The Censored War: American Visual Experience During World War Two. Serlin said Roeder's book offers compelling images of wounded soldiers, some of whom were fatally injured during World War II. These images were later censored by the State Department and hidden away in the National Archives.

This kind of censorship limited the exposure the general public had to veteran amputees and fed them only positive images of prosthetic rehabilitation, or other promising and purposefully engaging moments, such as a soldier returning to school or work. Furthermore, such positive images were made available only through the mainstream media, a much different reality when compared to the images of today.

Raphael Raphael, MA, a professor of film studies at the University of Oregon, suggests that military "representations of disabled men especially … are relatively rare [when] compared to their rate of incidence."

Also, the narratives that feature these men, he continued, "are usually … within some kind of 'praising technology' narrative, [which] places priority on the technological advancement that the wounded soldier is taking advantage of, rather than their larger embodied experience with a disability."

New media sources

New media sources are forcing change as far as determining what images are available to the public. YouTube and other media outlets, as well as personal digital images taken by returning veteran soldiers are allowing the sharing of images in their rawest forms with the public.

Serlin's research reveals that little has changed on the part of the mainstream media despite the addition of these new media. As was evident in previous military conflicts, these outlets continue to paint an encouraging face on rehabilitation in order to dilute the negative effects of war.

"Mainstream media sources tend to show positive rehabilitation; veterans with their families, or else golfing or fishing or doing all of the 'normal' things that they would be able to do if they did not have a prosthetic device," Serlin told O&P Business News. "But the more vulnerable [images of soldiers or veterans are the ones I] tend to see via YouTube or through 'alternative media sources.'"

Essentially, images are coming from every outlet possible. Serlin explained that this proliferation of media is allowing for different images to surface that break away from the traditional. These new images, combined with on-the-ground narratives by soldiers on active duty or veterans undergoing rehabilitation, invite the public in, and inevitably shape their overarching views of amputees.

Al Pike, CP suggested that these new types of media are creating change over time.

"I feel the media is still a bit out of touch with reality, but making progress," Pike said. "In recent times, [representations of amputees are] becoming much more positive and accurate, but I would credit the Internet and the amputee's presence on the Internet for that."

Film and television

Present military conflict and the current events representations thereof aside, television programs and films have featured an array of amputee characters over the years – some with the solitary intention of comedic effect.

Take the role of Chubbs Peterson, played by Carl Weathers in the 1996 film Happy Gilmore for example. A former professional golfer, Peterson, takes Gilmore under his wing to mold him into a championship golfer. Peterson, depicted with an ill-fitting prosthesis, can no longer golf due to a previous altercation with an alligator that bit his hand off while he attempted to fish his ball out of a body of water. This representation pokes fun at this loss throughout the storyline.

Not all experts think this is a negative view.

"I think some of the most valuable representations of disability can be found in the genre of comedy," Raphael told O&P Business News citing films that have been produced under the direction of the Farrelly brothers as an example.

The duo has directed films such as, Stuck on You, Kingpin and Shallow Hal, all dealing with some form of disability.

Raphael admits that oftentimes these films are dismissed as negative representations of people with disabilities but he also acknowledges that these images offer viewers the opportunity to "negotiate their own hang-ups about disabilities."

Conversely, the Cage storyline in Moonstruck sends a different message.

"The initial storyline suggests that the prosthesis has made Cage less manly, a broken man," Serlin said. "In other ways, and I think this is because of the emergence of disability rights awareness, the film sends the message that a man can have a prosthetic device and still be sexy."

Television seems to be aiming to broaden exposure as well, with amputees being featured in not only sitcoms, like Arrested Development, which features Steve Ryan as J. Walter Weatherman, a one-armed man who subdues children into good behavior by frightening them, and My Name is Earl, but also in reality programming.

Amputees have been featured on The Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, and Survivor. Audiences and cast mates alike were stunned to find out that Chad Crittenden, cast member of Survivor: Vanuatu was a transtibal amputee after competition was already underway.

Cultural definitions

"Representations of disabled bodies … can serve to … broaden our cultural definition of what a 'normal,' acceptable or beautiful body can look like," Raphael said.

But under what conditions does this apply?

Raphael argues that "increased representations of disabled bodies in media are a good thing regardless of genre," while also calling attention to the opposition citing some film and media scholars' desire to catalog "positive" and "negative" representations of disability.

"I disagree with this way of looking at representations of disability," Raphael said. "The way that different viewers can create meaning … are far too varied … so suggesting that all of these images fall neatly into a pile of 'positive' or 'negative' representations simply doesn't do justice to the reality of viewers' experiences."

Outlook

The disabled body incites an ideological crisis that goes against the prescribed American ideals, Raphael suggests.

"The disabled body seems to be perceived as a challenge to … independence and self-sufficiency, especially challenging our – largely mythological – notions of masculinity," he said.

To overcome these perceptions, the public needs to be challenged to evaluate its own prejudices and value systems, Serlin explained. Additionally, more attention needs to be paid to "ordinary" people with amputations rather than individuals who are often identified critically as "super crips" by the disability rights advocates.

"Why does someone have to exhibit super abilities in order to be recognized as productive or 'normal'? That I think is frustrating," Serlin said. "Part of the goal for those within the disability rights community or people who work with orthotics or prosthetics organizations should be able to make non-disabled people aware that disability can be an ordinary phenomenon that does not define who a person is. People who use prosthetic devices or deal with amputation should not have to be superheroes in order to get respect."

Raphael suggests inviting the general public to view those with disabilities, not through a medical lens, which focuses predominantly on the disability itself and means by which that disability is surmounted, but through a social model.

Overall, take responsibility for your own perceptions with some forethought.

The idea of 'disability,' Raphael said, is "something that we as a culture create together and, most importantly, is something for which we are all together responsible."

For more information:

• Roeder GH. The Censored War: American Visual Experience During World War Two. Yale University Press; 1995.

Jennifer Hoydicz is a staff writer for O&P Business News.