Jerry Lewis was never a hero to the disabled community

[Dbasb]

66. Jerry Lewis

My understanding is that the telethon was intended to raise money for research to cure MD. It wasn't intended to change the perception of those with disabilities. While that's a laudable goal, it wasn't the purpose for the telethon. Making people understand the suffering and difficulty of MD patients demonstrated the great need for funds. Some MD patients have a normal life span and don't suffer greatly. Others die in their teens and do suffer and their families watch them waste away. I only saw the telethon a couple of times, but it seemed like it presented real life issues of people living with the disease. It's a terrible disease and seeing people suffer with it makes you want to do something. I'm sure JL had his faults. But, unless the telethon was a scam and MDA never received the money, I'd say his efforts put him in the positive side of the ledger.