Sarah Palin Taken to Task by Actress With Down Syndrome

Chances are, you haven't heard of Andrea Fay Friedman. Though an actress, she's no Sandra Bullock or Kate Hudson. On "Family Guy," the animated comedy series on Fox, she lends her voice to Ellen, a character with Down syndrome. Friedman has Down syndrome herself.

And recently, she lent her voice to an important issue, coming through loud and clear.

Controversy erupted over a recent episode of the show in which a teenage character has a dinner date with Ellen. Talking about her family at one point, Ellen says: "My dad's an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska."

Sarah Palin, apparently taking the line as a jab against her youngest son, Trig, who has Down syndrome, lashed out on Facebook that the episode "felt like another kick in the gut." She and her daughter, Bristol, then went on to attack the show and its writers as heartless and worse.

Ms. Friedman, a 39-year-old actress and public speaker, gave as good as she got. "My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes," she told the New York Times.

The thing is, in the broader context, Ellen represents a tremendous step forward in Hollywood. For too long, the public image of people with disabilities in this country has hinged on the heroic or the tragic, many disabled actors told me when I wrote on the subject a few years ago. Members of the disabled population don't want to be defined by their disability, just like so many other minorities don't want to be defined only by, say, race or sexual orientation.

The drive to expand beyond the stereotypes, as it turns out, has been particularly visible on television, which in recent years has depicted amputees rock climbing on reality shows such as "The Amazing Race" and doing the jive on "Dancing With the Stars." Even Simon Cowell got a pass when he teased a Special Olympics athlete with a mental disability about his weight during an "American Idol" televised audition a few years back. When critics jumped on him for having crossed a line, Special Olympics International fired off an open letter thanking the show. "Whether on the stage of 'American Idol' or on the field of competition for Special Olympics, people with intellectual disabilities don't want to be pitied," the group's statement read.

Not surprisingly, Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, took the same tack. She told the Times that whether people found the "Family Guy" episode funny was not the point. "Within 'Family Guy,' the character was fully included, well-rounded, dynamic, not dealing with stereotypical Down syndrome issues," she said.

"If we're asking for full inclusion in the schools and full inclusion in the world, we should appreciate full inclusion with other genres. Even if those genres are not what we appreciate."

Friedman told the Times she was raised by her parents "to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life."
"I was doing my role," she insisted. "I'm an actor."
I think it's safe to say she's a role model too.