I'm a supporter of political incorrectness, but this Michael Richards thing is beyond the pale

[Stinky The Clown]

I did a search for "michael richards' in this forum and find no matches. I can't believe this hasn't been discussed. If it has, please excuse this post.

I never have been able to do 'political correctness' real well. Nowadays, I no longer even try.

But there's a HUGE difference between PC and that disgusting spew that came from his mouth. I saw the tape for the first time on teevee tonight, the last time just now on my local 11.00 newz.

PC - or the lack of it - in ordinary conversation, free from rancor, is bothersome to some and inoffensive to others. But any form of PC or the lack thereof in ordinary conversation is orders of magnitude different from that hateful, non stop rant we have probably all seen by now.

That was the verbal bursting of a hate filled pustle that has obviously lived in the man's heart for a long time.

There is a huge difference between being politically incorrect and being a hater. He has apologized and it will be shown tonight on the Letterman show. The apology is fine - and necessary - but it does not a whit to excuse or cause me to ignore what I saw. I can mete the only 'punishment' of which I am capable to mete to Michael Richards.

I will never forget that. And I will never overlook it or put it aside to say something nice about him.

I wish I had some snappy close to this OP, but I don't. Its too serious a matter and I am too disgusted by it.

[LoZoccolo]

1. That's because Michael Richards is not a member of the DLC. n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Nope. It hasn't been discussed at all. What Michael Richards thing?

:rofl:

[DuaneBidoux]

3. It's funny how someone you think is so nice in character turns out to be a jerk.

I'm convinced now however that at the time he was very seriously impaired with alcohol, heavy drugs, or both.

[Bad Penny]

29. me too.

you can see he was totally hooped

[Catherine Vincent]

4. I'm disgusted by what he said too.

I may forgive him but I will never forget what he said.

[EFerrari]

5. I'm going to regret this but maybe there's too much time on my hands.

My husband could beat me up, spend all my money, wreck the car and then get on stage and get applause for our last anniversary.

Why are any of you taking one word of what this guy spewed so seriously? For most performers, the stage is another world. No matter what horrible thing (or, great thing) you hear, you have to take it with a pillar of salt.

You have no idea who this guy is or what he thinks. You only heard what he said on stage when he was trying to hurt a heckler as badly as possible. That he hurt himself worse is besides the point and deserved. But mistaking the stage for life is, well, a mistake.

[beaconess]

34. Stand up isn't "acting" - this guy went on a tirade of hate and racist venom

He was not acting nor was he in character. He also wasn't dealing with a "heckler" since no one was heckling him when he started on his rampage - he was apparently angry because some people were talking during his act and he took off after them with a racist attack that bore no connection to his standup.

No one is mistaking the stage for life. What we saw was Michael Richards, not a character.

[Frank Cannon]

37. I know exactly what he is: He's a shitty comedian and a racist.

EVERY professional comedian knows they have to have a decent amount of material at hand in their "bag of tricks" to deal with hecklers. Hecklers are a part of a stand-up's life.

Richards obviously had jack shit. I know he's a racist because he devolved into the screamed epithets so fast.

I never have thought the guy was all that funny. He's been playing the same character for 30 years. I imagine that makes the comedy muscles a little bit flabby.

[BlueCaliDem]

6. My 15 yr young daughter is a HUGE fan of "Seinfeld", and she saw...

...the horrible rant which saddened her.

Being 15, she's not any "wuss" when it comes to rants (don't I know it!).

She says she'll now have trouble watching Seinfeld.

That's sad.

[Mojambo]

9. It is sad. Hopefully when she gets older she'll learn how to separate the art from the performer. nt

[BlueCaliDem]

15. Not: "the art, and the racist bigot?" Yeah. That's sad (sarcasm). eom

[Mojambo]

17. Apparently you can't do that either.

No big. Some people can't.

[BlueCaliDem]

19. Nope. And contrary to what you apparently think, that's a GOOD thing. eom

[Mojambo]

21. Everyone is free to procede in the manner that they think is best

If I found out Arthur Conan Doyle was a pedophile it wouldn't (and shouldn't, IMHO) lessen my appreciation for the characters he has created.

Some people can separate the two, some people refuse to. That's fine. I'm not saying anyone has to, but I do.

Feel free to consider me a bad person. I won't judge you in return.

[Toots]

25. But if he were alive today would you still buy his books?

IMO one could not provide a living for a pedophile in good conscience. Buying his books would do that very thing. The same goes for such an angry bigot. I can not in good conscience support him.....

[Mojambo]

26. I'm not talking about supporting him, financially or otherwise.

I'm talking about appreciating the art. I think there's a difference.

The fact that Michael Richards is a bad guy is going to have nothing to do with my enjoyment of the character he created. I'm personally not going to have a hard time enjoying Seinfeld re-runs, because that character has nothing to do with Michael Richards the person.

Clearly, other people feel differently. That's cool.

[BlueCaliDem]

40. The difference between Sherlock Holmes and Kramer...

...is that Arthur Conan Doyle doesn't, and has never played Sherlock Holmes on stage visibly therefore it's easier to separate Doyle from Holmes, while Richards embodies and brings to life, and is the Kramer character.

That's the fundamental difference here.

Compare it to, say, Adolf Hitler.

Hitler was an incredible artist, having made masterpieces no art lover can deny, but these works of art will forever be polluted by Hitler's horrific misdeeds as dictator and mass murderer, and it's unfair to expect people to just "overlook" this dark part of the artist in order to continue to admire the works of art he created as well.

I'd be hard pressed to enjoy Hitler's art without being reminded of his horrific misdeeds against humanity. Perhaps you may not be.

Does that make either of us "bad" or "good"? I don't think so.

It just underscores I have more trouble connecting to a work of art mentally, and emotionally when it's "tainted" with scandal, than you do.

Some people can separate the two, some people refuse to. That's fine. I'm not saying anyone has to, but I do.

It's not a matter of "refusal". It's a matter of having the capacity to do so. Just because you can, doesn't make you a better or worse person, or more mature person than my 15 yr. young daughter ; likewise, just because my daughter doesn't have that capacity, doesn't make her any better or worse than you.

[qwlauren35]

20. Interesting....

I consider it acceptable to decide to shun a performer for expressing him or herself in an extreme manner, or a manner I find intolerable.

It's already happened to: the Dixie Chicks, Jane Fonda, Mel Gibson...

In fact, boycotting a performer is a completely acceptable way of sending a message in my opinion.

It's not that I don't understand how often it is that we don't know the person behind the art, and as such we accept the art. I have no idea how many of my favorite authors or actors have personal opinions that would make me barf. HOWEVER, performers will always have to accept their life in the public eye, and that controversial words or actions will last in people's minds.

When you look at how many entertainers stayed in the closet, it pretty much makes the case. It's not that a performer doesn't know how critical image can be to success... or failure. It is a choice to self-censor or not. And there's a consequence that comes with the job.

[Mojambo]

22. That's entirely fair

I'm not saying people shouldn't vote with their feet.

I'm just saying that I don't. I think of all performers (athletes, actors, musicians etc...) the same way I think of racehorses. I enjoy watching them run, but I never give a second thought to what they are like outside of the sphere of performance.

It's just how I approach things. It's not for everyone, obviously.

[kestrel91316]

7. Who the heck is Michael Richards and what did he do that I am

supposed to care about?

[fuzzyball]

24. He used the "N" word several times to people in his audience

and then ranted about how 50 years ago there would be
fork in their ass and they would be hanging from a tree
(paraphrasing).

[msongs]

8. why do people care about this useless "celebrity" in the first place?

does he actually contribute anything to society or your lives? is it just the urge to gossip? what's the big deal about any of these people that gets regular people to care in the first place? well whatever he did it sure is getting him a ton of promotion and publicity.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[BlueStorm]

10. Is this up on YouTube by chance? n/t

[TheBaldyMan]

18. link here , but it is tagged as advisory content, you have to be YT member to view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7uKvpzVXI

[Catchawave]

28. It's free on MSNBC

but with fuzzed out dirty words. Oy.

Is the youtube Letterman segment up yet, with Jerry?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

11. Was he trying to do Andy Kaufman's act?

Without the talent?

[Frank Cannon]

38. Kaufman did a lot of crazy, shocking, enraging stuff

But no way would he do something like this. He doesn't strike me as being THAT coldhearted and mean.

If Richards was trying to emulate Andy Kaufman, then he's a bigger idiot than I thought.

[Zookeeper]

12. I just saw a clip a little while ago...

it struck me that he thought he could get away with using the "N" word towards his hecklers because he considers himself "hip" and "urban."

They were being jerks and his response made him a bigger jerk. So much for his career.

[FormerDittoHead]

13. It's been / being discussed to death in general and lounge, but NOT in the political forum.. n/t

[EST]

14. I really don't give a shit and suspect that most people don't.

This is strictly a media thing and would have gone nowhere had they not seized on it and used it to try to divide people...again.

One used up, brain dead, so-called "humorist" gets pissed at some ill mannered hecklers and makes an ass of himself. Good grief! Whyinhell would anyone give a second thought to it, except, possibly the people at the scene.

The rest of us can live well enough without all that crap and I am disappointed that K O even brought it up.

[AZBlue]

16. There are quite a few threads in GD.

eom

[mtnsnake]

30. Yup. The keyword to search on would've been Kramer, not Michael Richards

Anyway, I was also extremely disgusted and disappointed. The guy blew a gasket. Did he reveal his true colors? Who the heck knows. Regardless, it was despicable.

[fuzzyball]

23. And all this time I thought Michael Richards was black based on his hair

Good thing I am not employed as a racial profiler...

Now that his rant is making the news, I realized he
is not African-American. He is jewish.

Again I am not that familiar with jewish history, but
did the jewish people originate in Egypt and then
crossed the red sea into Palestine?

[Catchawave]

27. I'm a huge fan of NYC Caroline's.....

and I try and catch'a'set whenever I'm in town.

I just saw the Michael Richards TMZ tape, MSNBC cut, so am I the only one who thought "set up"? Those hecklers sounded too professional and equally hateful, it almost sounded scripted, especially when they kept prodding Michael.

I'm not familiar with the L.A. clubs, but I know when one goes to a COMEDY CLUB, you win some, you lose some of your audience. I've seen comedians who really suck, but comedy fans should be encouraging.....Jim Carrey, David Letterman and Jerry Seinfeld all started out bombing.

The Richards tape is disturbing, but I question the motives of the hecklers more.

One needs to see and appreciate the movie "Lenny" to appreciate my concern.

[Jed Dilligan]

31. I think his mistake was

thinking he was smart enough to use "edgy" humor to defuse the situation. I'd be willing to accept that this was just really, really, really, really bad comedy... trying to do Lenny Bruce and coming across as David Duke.

[beaconess]

35. This wasn't humor at all. It was an out-of-control tirade

Lenny Bruce made a point through his edgy humor. Michael Richards made no point nor did he attempt to do so. He just screamed and yelled and hollered racist attacks at an audience member. That's not humor, it's not edgy and it's not any kind of comedy, bad or otherwise.

It was just a vile, racist meltdown. The fact that he was standing on the stage of a comedy club when it happened does not change anything.

[Stinky The Clown]

36. Tonight, on Olbermann, they were talking about Richard Pryor in the context of this story

I thought I knew a fair amount about Richard, having admired him for as long as I can remember. But I never heard this. According to the story on KO, Richard was asked in later life why he used the word 'nigger' so much in his comedy.

"To drain it of its power," he said.

[beaconess]

39. Who uses the word and in what context makes all the difference in the world.

While I don't like hearing anyone say it, it just doesn't have the same meaning coming out of a Black person's mouth as it does when said by a White person - especially when that White person is shouting it at a Black person. There is no rational or valid reason for the latter. Ever.

[ruggerson]

32. But he has such good hair n/t

[Zhade]

33. He's a washed-up one-note unfunny hack - isn't that punishment enough?

:evilgrin: