Rosie Jones isn’t sad; she is angry. And viewers will feel likewise by the end of the grippingly heartfelt Am I a R*tard? (Channel 4, Thursday, 10pm), the comedian’s film about ableism – the discrimination against or abuse of disabled people – and social-media trolling that paints a grim picture of a sick society.
So charged is the subject of ableism that Jones’s documentary has itself become a point of debate. The divisive issue is the title and its use of a slur against the disabled. In June several contributors were reported to have withdrawn from the film because of the presence of the word.
Jones justifies it on the basis that it lays bare the hate and ugliness people in her situation face daily. “I understand it will be upsetting to many,” she says. “We need to confront this word head-on for people to realise how damaging it is. I said to Channel 4, ‘Let’s use that word in the title.’ Hopefully by the end of the film people will think twice before using that word again.”
The presenter, who has cerebral palsy, says she was never bullied growing up. The abuse started in earnest only when she became a comedian and began appearing on British panel shows. Immediately, a toxic sludge of hate came her way. It was mindless and hurtful and got under her skin. “Because of how I walk and how I talk,” she says, “I get abuse on a daily basis.”
She meets Bethan and Dave, whose daughter, Lydia, was born with a rare genetic disorder. When they launched a charity campaign to help her receive treatment in the United States, they were shocked at the comments on social media.
Bethan explains that, after their daughter died aged five, one of her regrets was spending even a minute poring over the hate.
“We have tried our absolute best not to let us bother us,” she says. “I’m sitting here crying seven years later. It’s obviously having some hold on us.”
Jones reports an abusive tweet to Twitter and is shocked when the company refuses to take it down. So she delivers a specially baked “cookie” to Twitter’s offices in London and is later informed that the offending tweeter has been suspended. She is aghast it took so long.
“If a tweet was racist or homophobic that would be picked up,” she says. “I don’t believe they take ableist abuse seriously.”
She interviews a real Twitter troll, who was jailed for making death threats. He lives up to the caricature of social-media abusers as tragic cases projecting their low self-esteem on to others. “We’re not necessarily evil people,” he says. “We’re people that are broken inside and need a bit of help.”
It’s been an educational journey for Jones – and for viewers. But the core message is the same throughout: treat those with a disability as you would anyone else. “If you see anyone being ableist online or in real life, call it out,” she says. “It’s not okay and it never has been okay.”
