Man, Who Saw THAT Coming?
After this week I don't think anyone's ever going to look at Kramer quite the same way again.
Perhaps we're giving Michael Richard's ugly, hateful meltdown (which everyone's probably seen by now so I won't directly link to it) more attention than it deserves, but like the Mel Gibson "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" rant, it's the sort of thing that makes you wonder: Just what kind of frightening, supposedly antiquated beliefs and attitudes still percolate just beneath the surface of our culture, a culture that some of us want to see grow more tolerant of our innate differences?
At least we can take consolation in the fact that after a little nervous laughter at the beginning of his tirade, the audience seemed to uniformally turn on Richards. Fifty years ago, a lot more people would have felt perfectly comfortable agreeing with him in public. Today, most people react with horror and revulsion. I guess that's some progress.
UPDATE: I've heard from a couple of sources now that an interesting theory is floating around. Apparently some people are starting to suspect that Richard's tirade, so obviously offensive and over the top, was probably an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt that achieved it's intended result, and that the real joke is on all of us for believing it was real. Proponents of this theory point to the historical oddity that Michael Richards was once involved on one of Andy Kaufman's great put-ons (or was it?!?!), the famous foiled-sketch brawl from the otherwise-forgotten TV show Fridays.
I don't give a lot of credence to this theory, clever though it may be. First of all, I don't think they could have planned the viral spread of the video. But more importantly, Andy Kaufman may have mocked wrestling fans, but I can't see him using the N-word in a context like this. Kaufman's fight with Jerry "The King" Lawler on Letterman may have shocked people at the time, but looking back on it now it seems pretty funny. What Richards said will never, ever seem funny.
Perhaps we're giving Michael Richard's ugly, hateful meltdown (which everyone's probably seen by now so I won't directly link to it) more attention than it deserves, but like the Mel Gibson "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" rant, it's the sort of thing that makes you wonder: Just what kind of frightening, supposedly antiquated beliefs and attitudes still percolate just beneath the surface of our culture, a culture that some of us want to see grow more tolerant of our innate differences?
At least we can take consolation in the fact that after a little nervous laughter at the beginning of his tirade, the audience seemed to uniformally turn on Richards. Fifty years ago, a lot more people would have felt perfectly comfortable agreeing with him in public. Today, most people react with horror and revulsion. I guess that's some progress.
UPDATE: I've heard from a couple of sources now that an interesting theory is floating around. Apparently some people are starting to suspect that Richard's tirade, so obviously offensive and over the top, was probably an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt that achieved it's intended result, and that the real joke is on all of us for believing it was real. Proponents of this theory point to the historical oddity that Michael Richards was once involved on one of Andy Kaufman's great put-ons (or was it?!?!), the famous foiled-sketch brawl from the otherwise-forgotten TV show Fridays.
I don't give a lot of credence to this theory, clever though it may be. First of all, I don't think they could have planned the viral spread of the video. But more importantly, Andy Kaufman may have mocked wrestling fans, but I can't see him using the N-word in a context like this. Kaufman's fight with Jerry "The King" Lawler on Letterman may have shocked people at the time, but looking back on it now it seems pretty funny. What Richards said will never, ever seem funny.
posted by Yukon Sully | 11:11 AM
3 Comments:
I stumbled cross your blog and have to say that your comments make me more sad than what Michael Richards said. In our society we have to learn to accept that there are many people that are raised and grow up in a racist community or family. I grew up in one of these areas of the nation and avoided that path to a degree. However, I have never been able to dicuss the topic with any sort of honesty as the subject is not open up for discussion.
Your article acknowledges this truth, "Fifty years ago, a lot more people would have felt perfectly comfortable agreeing with him in public." I completely agree with this statement, but think that the real truth of this statement is that of oppression and ignorance.
50 years ago our country made massive strides against racism and made huge strides in equailty of not only different races, but genders as well. I firmly believe that these advances came from frank and honest discussions, were both sides could vent their frustrations without fear of being labeled.
This honesty has recently been exchanged for polictical correctness and sensitivity which leads me to the belief that in the last 20 years our society has made little if any advances in addressing the issues of equailty and racism instead simply sweeping such issues under the carpet.
What Richards does seem horrific, but what is truely horrific are the millions of people that thought to themselves, Hell Yeah when they watched it the first time and then claimed how inappropriate it was.
people need to speak out over the
'niggafication' of america!
the media, businesses, gov.t, lawyers(see OJ), etc.., in all forms, promotes this behavior & appearance. This is one of the reasons America is failing.
Time to take a stand!!
I admit, I have an intolerance for EVERY group on the planet (i.e. White, Black, Mexican, Jew, Gay, Lesbian, Women, Religious, Handicapped, etc, etc), not because of their religious or sexual preferences or because of their color; it’s because the people who make up these groups DEMAND of me (and anyone who is not part of their group) that I (we) accept them without question.
These people expect and demand their full Constitutional freedoms while at the same time denying me (and by extension you) my Constitutional freedoms to choose what I am and am not tolerant of.
Interestingly enough I run a very high risk of being labeled a racist simply for having an opinion on this issue. Regardless of that fact, it is my opinion that “Nigger” is one of the most repugnant words in the English vernacular. A close second is the double standard that goes along with it. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been within earshot of a group of black people, all of whom were addressing each other as “Nigger”, much the same way white people address each other as “Dude”. Why can “Niggers” call each other “Niggers” and no one seems to mind? Why can “Niggers” call white people “Niggers” and “Cracker” and it’s perfectly acceptable? Why it is when a white man calls a black person a “Nigger” the whole country is up in arms about it? I seems to me the color of racism has changed and that people aren’t born racist, they are taught by their parents.
I once had a conversation with an unmarried, pregnant, unemployed (angry) black woman on welfare and essentially what she said was that her soon to be born child had hundreds of years of repression to contend with. While there’s no denying that that history exists in this county it had nothing to do with her unborn child. The fact of the matter is she was going to deliver a healthy baby with no history whatsoever. Rather than teaching her child about everything that is right and wonderful in this world, and how to deal with those things that aren’t so wonderful in a healthy way, it was pretty clear that she was going to regurgitate all of the accumulated bitterness, anger and hatred that her parents had heaped onto her as a child, and thereby perpetuate the cycle.
Here’s an idea lets all hate the Dutch. It is a historical fact that a Dutch ship, full of Dutch nationals landed in an American Port with a hold full of kidnapped Africans. And it was that same crew that traded, bartered and sold the cargo of “Niggers” so that they could re-stock their ship and get out of dodge.
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