Left on his own in his Massachusetts small town after his mother’s sudden death, Sneider’s character (also called Evan) begins to fixate on Candy (Woodward), who was once the prettiest girl in his high school class and is now a struggling single mom with a handsome, bad-news ex named Russ (Jackson Rathbone from the “Twilight” movies). With a combination of compassion and detachment, Lerner’s script captures the dilemma faced by many high-functioning Down syndrome adults (I apologize if that terminology is old-fashioned or imprecise). Evan has a vivid emotional and psychological life and is fully capable of an adult sexual response, but has difficulty reading social cues or understanding when he’s being lied to or manipulated.

Candy is genuinely conflicted about taking money from Evan, for instance, but she’s also facing eviction and cannot rely on Russ, and it’s not entirely clear what Evan means when he tells her, “I always thought we would make a good boyfriend and girlfriend.” Some of Lerner’s melodramatic plot elements involving Russ and Candy’s son feel a bit forced, but the menacing mood, bucolic scenery and slowly unfolding relationship between Candy and Evan are all highly effective. And don’t worry — “Girlfriend” never ventures into the truly dark places it sometimes threatens to, and the way things end with Evan and Candy is gentle, optimistic and just about right.

“Girlfriend” is now playing at the Quad Cinema in New York, with other cities and DVD release to follow.

“I’m a songwriter. I’ve written loads of music. Why would I try to put out a song and think I’m getting one over on everybody? That’s retarded.”

Whoops. For someone whose message is all about how it’s OK to be different, this was definitely a quotable misstep, especially after NME decided to put her r-word comment in the headline of their piece. Gaga has since issued an apology via CNN:

“I consider it part of my life’s work and music to push the boundaries of love and acceptance,” Gaga told CNN in a statement. “My apologies for not speaking thoughtfully. To anyone that was hurt, please know that it was furiously unintentional.”

She continues, “An honest mistake, requires honesty to make. Whether life’s disabilities, left you outcast bullied or teased, rejoice and love yourself today.”

It’s tough, because I don’t think Lady Gaga actually meant to make a demeaning slur. She was angry and cursing up a storm, and that was one of the words that popped out. But just like using “gay” in a negative context, a lot of times the problem is exactly that people aren’t thinking; they’re just using the first words that come to mind from the cultural lexicon.

I doubt anyone thinks Lady Gaga is hating on the mentally handicapped, but as a public figure — especially one who claims to speak for all the “freaks” and “outsiders” — she needs to be even more judicious about what she says. She should talk to Dan Savage, who faced a similar problem back in 2009, when a reader wrote in asking him to stop using the slang word.

That being said, Gaga’s apology was immediate and sincere. Do you forgive her?

“The girls in this movie, all they seem to do is complain and scream, that’s it.”

Somehow, with that one sentence Tommy managed to encapsulate the biggest problem facing this genre since its inception. Can’t wait for the next installment.

The revelation came in documents released by the state’s chief medical examiner shortly after officials in western North Carolina held a news conference about the second-degree murder charge. Authorities said Elisa Baker, who has been jailed since the weekend the girl was reported missing, desecrated Zahra’s remains to cover up the slaying.

Prosecutor James Gaither Jr. said at the news conference that there was no credible evidence to suggest anyone else was involved in Zahra’s slaying. Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins called the murder charge “a milestone of holding someone accountable that members of team Zahra have been working toward since the first words spoken on that 911 call.”

Attorneys for Elisa Baker did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

Investigators would continue to pursue leads until the trial begins, Adkins said.

Zahra, who used a prosthetic leg and hearing aids after being stricken with cancer, disappeared four months ago. Police eventually found the girl’s remains in different locations around western North Carolina, and Elisa Baker told authorities that she had been dismembered, according to warrants.

But until Monday, nobody had been charged in Zahra’s death. Elisa Baker was charged with obstructing justice in the investigation by writing a fake ransom note that was found when the girl was reporting missing in October.

Authorities still have not said how the girl died. The lack of a head may help explain why it took months for a charge in her death.

The indictment cites aggravating factors, saying Elisa Baker had a history of physically, verbally and psychologically abusing Zahra.

A search warrant unsealed last month said Elisa Baker led police to the places where they found Zahra’s remains. She claimed her husband, Adam Baker, dismembered the body. Adam Baker has denied that.

The warrant also said that cell phone records indicate Adam Baker was not in the locations where Zahra’s remains were found on the day Elisa Baker indicated, but that cell phone records showed she was in those places.

The 42-year-old woman led a nomadic life, with dozens of different addresses over a seven-year period. She was also married seven times and was wed to more than one man on several occasions. She met Adam Baker, seven years her junior, on a website where users create three-dimensional characters to represent themselves.

Adam Baker is free on bond, facing numerous charges not related to his daughter. He moved to North Carolina with Zahra from Australia after meeting Elisa online.

Baker reported from Raleigh, N.C.

City attorney’s office spokeswoman Cindy Shin said the office has not had a chance to fully review the decision and had no immediate comment.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2009, spurred by events during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans, when many disabled people were abandoned and left stranded during evacuations because of a lack of disability planning.

Advocates for disabled people said they hoped the ruling in Los Angeles would cause other cities to examine disaster preparedness policies.

“This is society’s moral duty to people with disabilities,” said Lilibeth Navarro, executive director of Communities Actively Living Independent and Free.

The lawsuit noted that Los Angeles is particularly vulnerable to disasters, including earthquakes, wildfires and possibly terrorist attacks. The city has some 800,000 disabled residents out of a population of about 4 million, according to the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles.

A disability disaster plan would include provisions for transportation and evacuation assistance, and wheelchair-accessible emergency shelters equipped with electricity for people on life-saving machines, refrigeration for medicines, and commonly used medications, said Shawna L. Parks, director of the disability rights center.

“These will be life and death issues for thousands of people with disabilities in the event of a major disaster,” she said.