Speaking of TV, a couple of important Asian-related announcements:
(This was going to be a brief aside on my last post. Then I got off on a rant. So here goes.)
First, Rosie O'Donnell gave a seriously limp-dick apology for her Asian ethnic slurs on "The View" a little while back. UNITY wasn't impressed, and frankly, neither am I.
Look, I'm the first one to tell a politically incorrect joke, but there's a difference between anything resembling humor and the kind of crap you see from elementary-school bullies.
Rosie's people first said "I certainly hope that one day they will be able to grasp her humor." Nope. Because it's NOT FUNNY. For somebody who's pretty goddamn sensitive about people maybe mocking her own particular minority group, she doesn't really give a rat's ass about anybody else's, does she?
Second, speaking of politically incorrect stereotypes, the smart, strategic, sneakily clever Asian won the million bucks on the latest season of "Survivor"
See, by my way of thinking, good stereotypes - we're smarter than y'all white folks - are at least acceptable, if not encouraged. Bad stereotypes, on the other hand - we no speak-a Engrish good - are fighting words.
So, Rosie, you can't tell me nobody teased the fat, obnoxious lesbian in your elementary school, right? Well, in my elementary school, they teased the smart, undersized Asian kid with words like, "hey, Chinaman!" (even though I'm not Chinese...) and "ching-chong" and that little ditty of Oriental music that comes with bowing and narrowed eyes. I'da thought you'd be a bit more sympathetic.
Or maybe you went to that special elementary school, where being different made you cool.
In that case, I forgive you. I guess you really DIDN'T know any better. You ignorant bigot.
But Barbara Walters, you I'm not going to forgive so easily. A major journalistic organization or two are condemning your co-host, and you, a pioneering journalist - and something of a minority as a woman, no less - sit silent. Silent.
Shame on you.
Everybody Okay Now? Conan Photo Dump Edition
3 days ago
10 Comments:
She shouldn't have apologized for what she said, but rather for not being funny.
The fact that people are demanding her to apologize bothers me.
Same with Michael Richards. Although the fact that people are looking for monetary reimbursement from Richards bothers me even more.
I agree. Her comment was just plain stupid.
And I agree with Steve that monetary reimbursement for Richard's comments is troubling. What's next, a fine for "offensive" comments? Think Demolition Man.
I had a really funny post, but I am afraid to post it. :(
We need to get over this PC bullshit.
Y'all know me. I'm very much opposed to political correctness.
But there's a different between political correctness and racism. The joke, such as it was, was directed at DeVito, not at Asians. Making fun of drunks is funny. The offhand stereotype, on the other hand, is what offends me.
Figures, I write a post about Asians being offended by racism and I get replies from three white guys. I need a bigger audience. :)
And somehow, Stewie, I knew exactly how you'd respond. I expected no less. But I don't see what's wrong with an offended party demanding an apology, as a general rule. It's common courtesy to apologize when you offend somebody, not to say "It's your problem." And demanding an apology seems to be the modern, polite way to avoid answering insult with insult.
Oh, and Shiki, go ahead. If your story's funny, I'll laugh. If it's offensive, I'll demand you apologize.
MitchJ, don't feel left out of the boldface name thing.
Ace, I agree. I should clarify. It's okay for someone to say "Hey, apologize." And it's okay for Rosie to say, "Hey, fuck you." (which, basically, is what she said).
And it's okay for it to bother you. I'm cool with all of that. (Cool meaning I can dig why it bothers you.)
I'm not defending what she said, but I also get tired of the thin skin of Americans. I think what irritates me the most is every time I see a non-white comedian either making fun of a cracker or mocking a cracker, I laugh, it's funny. Even if it's an over-the-top stereotype, I laugh. Even if it's wrong, I laugh. But, suddenly, if a white person says an over-the-top stereotype, they are a racist.
Fuck. That. She made a bad joke and she's not apologizing for it. While the joke sucked and, yes, could be construed as racist, part of me applauds her for the way she handled it.
Granted, 5 bucks says she may lose her job over this, and I won't be defending her to get it back, as she did f up. She even probably learned from it.
Or maybe not. She's kind of a knucklehead.
See, I feel the opposite way. If she'd just gone, yeah, you know, I f'ed up and I'm sorry 'bout that, I wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
It's the lack of remorse that grates on me, and the hypocrisy that just a couple of weeks before, she was all up in Kelly Ripa's face over something she (Rosie) perceived as homophobic (which probably wasn't) and then when she does something like this, she's like "you don't get me."
I get her. She's a hypocrite, and an ignorant one at that.
I don't like thin-skinned people, either. But that thin-skinned one is throwing stones in a glass house when she tries to defend what she said or blow off the offended parties.
I can't post it now, the moment is gone. :(
I don't want to be like Rosie and be unfunny. I wake up some nights in cold sweats with that fear.
Anyway. I am with Stewie on this. People need to grow the fuck up and get some thicker skin. Was it a racist comment? Yes, was the intent to be racist? No, I don't believe so. It was a joke, albeit a bad, unfunny joke.
I think the real question with htis is who's side is Margaret Cho on?!?1 ZOMG support the lesbians or her azn brethren??? DILEMMA!
and the hypocrisy that just a couple of weeks before, she was all up in Kelly Ripa's face over something she (Rosie) perceived as homophobic (which probably wasn't) and then when she does something like this, she's like "you don't get me."
See, that I can agree with 100%.
She can't have it both ways.
You all have good points. Rosie can't have it both ways...well, other than orientation, I guess :D And people that get offended at the drop of a hat need to get over it. People say stupid shit all the time, and most of them don't mean it as it's perceived.
What really annoys me is how the media runs it ad nauseam, and activist organizations latch onto these incidents to further their cause. That's why Rosie's comments are such a big deal.
I think the hypocrisy is what bothers me the most, too. When I heard about it, the first thing I thought of was how she had criticized Kelly Ripa for something that she misconstrued as homophobic, and now here she is being racist.
But Rosie has always been a hypocrite. Remember how she used to pontificate against guns on her show while she was the spokeswoman for KMart, the same company which at the time sold the most guns in this country? And remember when Howard Stern called her on it and then showed up at her studio while on the air demanding some answers? Best. Stern moment. Ever.
Oh and even if it were not racist the joke would SUCK. I bet DeVito is relieved that it got people to stop talking about his appearance on that show though...
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