GLADD: Freedom for us.. but not for Tracy
I enjoy, occasionally, the Opie and Anthony Show on XM Radio.
Sure - sometimes their humour is a bit juvenile, and sometimes it crosses the line respecting good taste - but they provide something there that we really don't see anywhere else in the world today.
Free speech.
While somewhat muzzled by their own station's lawyers, Opie and Anthony still say more or less whatever is on their mind - and then often open the phone lines for people to challenge them - knowing, however, that when they call, they may get as good as they give - and then some.
Yesterday, however, there was a moment when I wasn't amused or shocked, I was saddened.
They played a clip of Tracy Morgan giving an apology at the behest of GLADD (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
It was tragic.. clearly, Tracy is a man of some sensitivity who happened to make what was clearly a facetious joke respecting how he would react if his son told him he was gay - "I would pull out a knife and stab him".. or words to that effect.
Politically correct? Nope.
Funny? Not really.
Worthy of public shame and censure - being paraded about, figuratively in chains, to appease the politically correct gestapo. Not a chance.
Comedians are an interesting segment of our communities. Like no other aspect in our society, they have an ability to throw out ideas that are very difficult for us to have open and honest conversations about - and under the umbrella of humour they can force us to consider things that we might not feel comfortable about considering in open, polite conversation.
Comedians used to be (and to some extent still are) a big part of the back bone of liberal ideas - in fact, numerous blogs and articles have been written about how conservatives just don't have any sense of humour as they find offence with people like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Janeane Garofalo.
People like Lenny Bruce truly led the way to expand our conceptions of what "free speech" truly means - finding himself arrested and charged with being "obscene" for daring to discuss sexuality openly and in public.
People like George Carlin held up to ridicule our conservative notions of how "words" can do damage.
How odd, then, that after liberals and, specifically, the homosexual community rode the backs of comedians (no pun intended) to help them press mainstream society for acceptance of all lifestyle choices - when those same comedians continue to do what they do and they now offend homosexuals - they cry, "Enough".
Well, GLADD, you can't have it both ways.
You can't have Bill Maher attacking Catholics and Christians, holding them to ridicule and, frankly, inciting hatred against them - but shackle Tracy Morgan like some modern-day Kunta Kinte.
And, while I'm at it - why no vitriol over Bill Maher suggesting that American Christians convert to Islam so "
"..we can stone homosexuals instead of just bitching about them on talk-radio."Why?
Because he wasn't really advocating stoning homosexuals.
Just like everyone knew Tracy Morgan wouldn't really stab his son if he were gay.
It's called a joke. And GLADD knows it was a joke - but by pretending it was something else, it gives them press and allows them to pursue their agenda with greater publicity. And that's dishonest, it's offensive, and it actually cheapens the reality of the work that needs to be done to help the broader society evolve towards full acceptance of homosexuality in our communities.
Abusing and manipulating a black man for offending us was something I had hoped we had moved beyond in the 21st century.
3 comments:
With activists,it's all about POWER,isn't it? The power to make you afraid to say anything they disagree with.
Doesn't matter who they are or what their cause,it all eventually comes down to control. They want to control not only what you say, but eventually what you think.
Some unkind person once referred to activists of this type as "Nazis", and they are much like the Nazis, refusing to hear any dissent from a cowed public.
One of the worst group of offending activists had been the gay lobby activists,who have gone from the days when they were a weak minority with no influence,to the most powerful lobby on the planet, and they love exercising that power.
No other activists have the ubiquitous influence of Hollywood as adamantly on their side.
And they DO NOT tolerate dissent,period. Either agree with them or be labelled a "-phobic". That label has been career ending or damaging for many an unwary politician,and now,comedians.
Like every other activist group, the gay lobby doesn't want equality,they want to rule,over all of us. Between them and the environmental lobby,they can make the world a truly miserable place to exist,if we let them.
This is an account of Morgan's routine from someone who was in the audience: "He took time to visit the bullshit of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being pussies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying. He mentioned that being gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little fuckers that bully them, not whine about it. He said that if his son was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little nigger to death."
I know that humour is subjective, but I don't find anything funny about this. It may not be illegal, but it is cruel and offensive, and Morgan deserves all the shame and controversy he's getting. He may have been exercising his right to free speech, but now he has to take responsibility for what he said.
His comments are indefensible - why are you defending them?
Look.. I'm not suggesting that what he said was "defensible" - but it was in the context of a comedy routine - and the subtext is that we are, to use the vernacular, "pussifying" our children - suggesting that the view themselves as victims and that if they feel offended, they had best complain to "the man" to make the bad people go away.
The point Tracy was making - which was perhaps poorly made, is that being gay doesn't, by definition, make you a weak victim.
I get it.
Guess you didn't.
Which is fine.
And as for GLADD.. I have nothign wrong with EVERYONE expressing their freedom of speech, including GLADD to say, "I think this is bullshit and that this guy is a homophobic asshole!!" - which I woudl disagree with, but the discussion would be more than valid.
However, when we start allowing pressure groups to seek to exert control over WHAT WE DO.. ie) Appologize or we will boycott your network - well, that smacks just a little too much of McCarthy-style pressure..
"Oh, you believe in socialist efforts respecting health care.. well, we have a group that will put you out of business if you share that opinion or associate with others who share that opinion."
It's garbage.
Particularly when it's aimed at someone like Tracy Morgan who is not known as being offensive, in general, towards homosexuals or otherwise..
So.. anyway, I didn't find it particlarly humorous, but I got the point - which, clearly most didn't - but the overkill - particularly from people who know him like Tina Fey is much more dispicable than anything Tracy said that night.
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