Disability activists slam Eastwood for Baby plot

Readers wishing to see Million Dollar Baby without prior knowledge of its conclusion are hereby advised of a spoiler alert. If you don’t want to know what happens, read no further.

The film revolves around an up-and-coming boxer, Maggie, played by Swank, and her relationship with her seen-it-all manager, Frankie, played by Eastwood. Although the film has been marketed by Warner Bros. as a kind of girl-power version of Rocky, the tone of Baby changes when catastrophe strikes and characters are forced to make life-and-death decisions. According to Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association this narrative development spreads a socially irresponsible message.

‘‘The movie is saying ‘death is better than disability,’ ’’ she said. The group contends that the movie is part of a larger bias Eastwood holds against the disabled.

A news release on its website carries the headline, ‘Eastwood Continues Disability Vendetta with Million Dollar Baby.’ Labeling the movie a ‘‘brilliantly executed attack,’’ it also details a 1997 lawsuit in which a disabled woman sued the actor-director, saying he did not provide handicapped-accessible restroom facilities at the Carmel resort he owned.

The news release goes on to divulge the movie’s plot.

Eastwood said he has no vendetta against disabled people, adding that he has contributed time and money to their cause. He also noted that the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. —LAT-WP