Ricky Gervais has a new show premiering on Channel 4 in the UK on Thursday entitled Derek. In it, he plays the titular character, a nursing home employee who sure appears to have some mental disabilities of one kind or another. He’s coming under some fire for making fun of the disabled, but he defended himself by saying that “Derek is a fictional character and is defined by his creator. Me. If I say I don’t mean him to be disabled then that’s it. A fictional doctor can’t come along and prove me wrong.” Which is a fair point! But it’s also fair for people to assume the worst from a guy who found a lot of hilarity in using the word “mong” over and over again on Twitter and then posting pictures of himself making “mong faces.” So, you know, he’s kind of earned the skepticism at this point.
