History YMMV / TheRinger

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Being as the Farrelly Brothers and Creator/JohnnyKnoxville are all people known for pushing limits to dangerously uncomfortable territory many assumed it would be a movie making fun of people with disabilities. On the contrary it’s done in a very respectful manner that shows people with disabilities as Human Beings and gives notable roles to them as well. (Among other things, it's made clear that, disabled or not, the competitors are still ''athletes'', and Steve wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance if they weren't helping him.) The film was made with the full support of Special Olympics and is universally loved by people with disabilities and people who work in that community.

* LessDisturbingInContext: A movie about a man faking being mentally handicapped for money should be hideous, right? Well, actually, no. The ''actual'' mentally-handicapped people don't buy it for a second, they all turn out to be ''significantly'' better at their sports than the neurotypical guy, and the only reason he gets anywhere is because the actual disabled people ''help'' him (they want him to take out the JerkJock they all hate). And he wants the money to help an injured friend of his, not just out of greed.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Being as the Farrelly Brothers and Creator/JohnnyKnoxville are all people known for pushing limits to dangerously uncomfortable territory many assumed it would be a movie making fun of people with disabilities. On the contrary it’s done in a very respectful manner that shows people with disabilities as Human Beings and gives notable roles to them as well. (Among other things, it's made clear that, disabled or not, the competitors are still ''athletes', and Steve wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance if they weren't helping him.) The film was made with the full support of Special Olympics and is universally loved by people with disabilities and people who work in that community.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Being as the Farrelly Brothers and Creator/JohnnyKnoxville are all people known for pushing limits to dangerously uncomfortable territory many assumed it would be a movie making fun of people with disabilities. On the contrary it’s done in a very respectful manner that shows people with disabilities as Human Beings and gives notable roles to them as well. The film was made with the full support of Special Olympics and is universally loved by people with disabilities and people who work in that community.

* BackedByThePentagon: Special Olympics supported the film. Likewise the film is very popular with people with disabilities and those who support people with disabilities due to being a film that portrays them not as objects of pity or inspiration, but simply as people.

* MemeticMutation: The "I can count to potato!" gag is probably one of the more enduring jokes from a film on the internet, largely because it gave rise to the use of "potato" as a slang term, first for mental impairment before eventually being used to denote poor-quality audiovisual recording technology.

* MemeticMutation: "I can count to potato!"

* MemeticMutation: I can count to potato!

* UnfortunateImplications: Surprisingly averted. Many critics praised the film for the respect with which it treated its mentally disabled characters, neither disparaging them nor treating them as InspirationallyDisadvantaged. Hell, Steve is the butt of the joke far more often than the other Special Olympians are. It also quickly dispels the notion that the Olympians would be easily beaten; they may be mentally handicapped, but they're still athletes.

* UnfortunateImplications: Surprisingly averted. Many critics praised the film for the respect with which it treated its mentally disabled characters, neither disparaging them nor treating them as InspirationallyDisadvantaged. Hell, Steve is the butt of the joke far more often than the other Special Olympians are.