Dutch comedian and talk show host Arjen Lubach, who appears on his own show De Avondshow Met Lubach, is fed up with so-called down entertainment. It seems that there are currently many programs on Dutch television in which people with Down syndrome play an important role. And while that is often well-intentioned, it is also harmful, as he says in his column “And now it’s over”.
Dutch television is flooded with shows that focus on people with Down syndrome. “Downtown Dinner” (cooking show), “Downistie” (family in which many members have Down syndrome), “Down with Johnny” (people with Down enlist the help of the presenter), “Upside Down” (comedy Show) and yes, a version of ‘Down The Road’ too. “Entertainment below“, Arjen christens the phenomenon. “To paint a too rosy picture of Down Syndrome just for the sake of entertainment.”
Not representative
Lubach complains that what you see is not representative. “Only a very small percentage of people with Down function at the level that you see on these programs. Because traveling alone by train, for example, is only possible for 1 in 10.” He also lets an expert speak to formulate these numbers. “In Down’s case, you have about a 40% chance of having a child with a moderately sensitive disability,” says pediatrician Michel Weijerman. “And then there is the group with severe intellectual disabilities, which is 30%. And the severely disabled group, that’s 10%.” Taken together, this means that 80% of people with Down syndrome are ineligible for such programs, Lubach notes. Because only people with a mild intellectual disability are selected. “There are also people with Down who function at a baby level and never learn to walk or speak. They hardly mentioned that while skydiving… As well as the fact that half of people with Down syndrome have a congenital heart defect, they are also at high risk for a thyroid defect and 50 to 80% get Alzheimer’s.”
Never the downside in the picture
And while some of those programs were good for the emancipation of people with Down syndrome, he thinks that was enough for a while. “It’s just about entertainment, not about the downside of the disease.”
He also criticized the Dutch “Down The Road” presenter Gordon. He has repeatedly stated on talk shows that he wishes “everyone had Down”. “It’s just a way of letting someone who doesn’t understand anything have their say.”
Relatives of people with Down syndrome are sometimes annoyed by the cheerful depiction of the disease, as are doctors. “Parents who are expecting a child with Down syndrome usually only know about it from television. They sometimes have an unrealistically favorable attitude towards it,” it sounds. “They’re funny, they’re cuddly, they’re cute, Down is TV’s most useful syndrome. But the result is that people often misjudge the syndrome and the people who have it.”
“Of course, people with Down syndrome have to be on television, even if they want to,” concludes Lubach. “But preferably in programs that take them seriously. For example talk shows or series where they play a serious role that is not about their condition.”
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Source : HLN
