Beckretary

This past week’s episode of Glee drove home the overwhelmingly negative effect Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has on Becky (Lauren Potter), a Down’s Syndrome student to whom Sue has become attached. It is an opportunity for Sue to be a positive role model, yet she chooses to “teach” Becky by example how to be derogatory and disrespectful both to staff and her fellow students.

When Sue first took an interest in Becky and then revealed that she had a special needs sister, I felt that it would be an opportunity for Becky to grow into her potential within the realities of her disability. However, Sue took that opportunity to put Becky into conflict with other students through both her words and her actions, refers to her as Sue’s “Beckretary,” and has given unrestricted power to be rude, disrespectful, and derogatory with impunity. Why the writers of this popular show would morph Becky into a mini-me Sue is beyond my comprehension, but that isn’t my primary concern: what about the actress with Down’s Syndrome who has been taught through her role on this TV show to be disrespectful to the people with whom she has contact?

When I searched for the name of the actress portraying Becky (Lauren Potter), I found an interview with her and her mother: (Posted by Rob on Jun-16-2009 under Glee Episode Spoilers, News, Videos)

[Mom says} Lauren enjoyed the two-day shoot but said it bothered her that when people looked at her, they first saw the Down syndrome.

[Lauren's reply] “It’s really hard for me when people see me as a Down syndrome kid,” she said. “I want them to see me as typical.”

Can this actress understand that the behaviors and language she uses as the character Becky are not typical, and are inappropriate for use in her interactions with people off the set? Is Lauren able to make and then understand the distinctions between real and a role? Does she understand that the nastiness of her character would be inappropriate in her daily interactions with peers and adults and in no way will distinguish her as typical? And, if her goal is to be a role model for other differently abled people, does Lauren understand that this is the wrong role for that goal to be achieved?

When I see Becky being nasty, mean, and vindictive, I see a character who is far from typical in a very negative way, and not because she has Down's Syndrome.