Goldenkey might be referring to the euphemism treadmill mentioned in the summary of that article; the never-ending cycle of replacing neutral words for a group of people when they have (inevitably) shifted in meaning to a pejorative (like 'imbecile' and 'retard').

"a retard" is different from "retarded person".

Tropic Thunder mocked retarded people, it didn't use those terms in neutral usage.

Tropic Thunder was all about putting offensive stereotype behind a layer of indirection ("actors playing actors playing X", and used that layer to dodge criticism, but it's a complex scenario to try to untangle. Much of the entertainment value that the audiences perceived was in "making fun of X", not "making fun of actors playing X"

From Arc's broader statements made at the time, I'm not sure they would agree with your first statement, or agree that there _is_ a neutral usage:

> “In our culture, `retard’ and `retarded’ carry a lot of baggage from the days when people were institutionalized in large state facilities,” [...] They don’t deserve to be treated in such a dehumanizing way.”

> Leaving aside the movie’s offensiveness or lack thereof, the uproar also serves to highlight the evolving standards of acceptable terminology [...] “Adults with retardation self-advocated. They clearly told us that the use of the word `retarded’ was very hurtful.

https://www.dailynews.com/2008/08/13/some-give-tropic-thunde...

FWIW, I don't necessarily agree with them in totality -- I have various disabilities and have zero issue with "disabled person" or "the disabled" (unlike the linked article) -- but linking to Arc doesn't appear to support the use of "retarded", even where the intent is neutral.

Thanks for clarifying. Fun fact, in the years since "person-centered language" ("person with X") has now also fallen to the euphemism treadmill, as modern advocates say it stigmatizes the disability X by separating from the person as a modification, instead of accepting it as part of a respected whole person.