Pluralism on CBS

This is a real-time recap of 30 minutes from a TV movie, Riding the Bus With My Sister.

Rosie O'Donnell plays a retarded lady who gives moral support to a karate-practicing black man in a park. She holds a stack of cookies and demands that her sister photograph the "cookie mountain." A dour waitress looks down on Ms. O'Donnell's character because she is developmentally disabled. Ms. O'Donnell's character does a lot of shouting -- a real know-it-all, bossing everybody around. She denies that she loves "all mankind," but encourages her sister to hook up with bus drivers. Bus passengers resent Ms. O'Donnell's overacting and get snippy. Ms. O'Donnell declares Ricky Martin and Will Smith "hot" while standing in a laundromat. Then she says some stuff that hurts her sister's feelings -- goddammit, just because you're developmentally disabled doesn't mean you get to be an asshole. But now it's wacky because a washing machine overflows with soap, Brady Bunch style. Cut to a shot of Ms. O'Donnell eating a lollipop. Now the karate-practicing black man defends himself from robbers. Some completely wild acting ensues, and I turn off the TV.