I've posted another article at UPI. After a week since Gibson's insulting remarks the day after Ledger's death, silence from the Fox executives. I have to ask, why?
Why? Because Bill O'Reilly dodged the bullet, Michael Savage is still on the air, and Don Imus is close to getting back into the broadcasting game as well. Fox News in particular seems to me to be an organization rather impervious to the criticisms directed their way for any number of egregious violations of journalistic ethics.
Yeah, I know that's a crappy and insufficient answer to your question, but I think it's the one that applies.
Nice job with the activist rabble-rousing though! I hope you and your colleagues can prove me wrong and get some results.
Oh I agree. As I state in the second line: he won't get fired. And I couldn't agree more that Michael Savage is the personification of his very name: savage. His remarks on hearing of Ledger's death made me sick to my stomach. I literally caught them in passing and he maligned him as much as Gibson, short of preparing a segment with music.
Bill O'Reilly... don't get me started.
Muslims are the other group anyone can feel free to villify without fear of reprisals.
So actually, my editorial is a shout down a well, but someone's got to start shouting at some point.
I agree with you that Gibson should be fired (and will not be because of the reasons you mention). There is another group where it is considered socially acceptable to ridicule...the middle class white male...this is usually seen in sitcoms or commercials...but that is a discussion for another time.
your probably not going to like this point of view but...I think we have to keep Ledger's role in BBM and him as a person separate...yes, it was an extremely brave and challenging role for such a young actor to play and yes, he did it supurbly and potentially put his career on the line to do it..but to make him an icon for repressed gay men I think elevates him to a status that should not be afforded him. He was an actor playing a role in a very well done movie that spoke to a lot of people..myself included...but he was just that. From his interviews I don't think he thought much more of it than that.
I am very sorry that he died...I think we will miss a tremendous talent..but let's not make him into something he wasn't.
Sorry if this is somewhat hurtful given the rawness of his recent death...I do not mean it to be...it is just the way I see it.
Michael, you make my point. Why would the media such as Gibson feel that Heath Ledger's death was at all related to having played the *role* of a gay man? He was an actor, not a symbol of gay rights.
Anyone who is a fan of his or the movie knows that better than those who scarcely paid attention to him in life.
I would say, though, that Heath's interviews during the year of BBM clearly demonstrated to me that he understood the impact of his choice to play a gay man and felt humbled by it.
But as you said, he certainly moved on! He has enjoyed many roles and wanted to play many more.
I only disagree with one little part of your article. I believe that free speech is the one vehicle that will take us to a place where prejudice finally dies. I am thankful to live in a country where men who hold ridiculous views are free to speak their mind, giving the rest of us the opportunity to repudiate their views or to simply ignore them.
Political Correctness keeps racism and homophobia hidden and institutionalized. Fred Phelps psycotic ramblings helped me come to grips with my own homophobia. Recently, on my blog, I confessed, asking forgiveness to those gay men and women I knew in my younger days. Recently, I have come to know several gay people as friends. I regret missing out on such relationships in the past.
Hearing Fred Phelps or John Gibson rant simply causes me to want to be everything they are not. Two years ago, I stopped watching Fox News, convinced they had become the sales vehicle for a war that should have never been started. Their ratings are down. And I am one of those no longer watching.
I appreciate your passion and willingness to speak out on this particular injustice. I don't say much about this subject publicly, and maybe I should, but I have not had a particular problem with homosexuality since my best friend, who was a missionary with YMAM, came out of the closet 17 years ago. That experience helped "humanize" and change my perspective on the subject ever since. I currently go to a church that accepts homosexuals as they are and we currently have one open homosexual who is in leadership...and...No matter what side of the fence one is on regarding this subject I do think and feel, as you do, that homosexuals should "NOT" be treated as they often are by the media, the culture, and many Christians...and...I am ashamed to admit, that sometimes, I even find myself participating in laughing at some of the jokes made by colleagues at work...Thanks for bringing this subject up...
Greg, good comments. I do support free speech, even ugly speech. I agree, too, that racism and homophobia are institutionalized.
But I disagree that people are generally led to reconsider their own views based on cruel rantings by others. When the marginalized are silent or silenced, bigotry grows. Language is the battle ground because what I say, what I hear, becomes how I think.
Whatever one may think of the Jews, for instance, it is the Jewish anti-defamation league that has risen up to stop the recurrence of slander and antisemitism.
The NAACP (whatever you think of them) has helped to turn the tide on racist language and our young people show the effects of it. They are not as racist as we've been.
Homosexuals need the same level of collective outrage, imho, at the misuses of who they are for cheap laughs.
The institutionalization of homophobia is one that I fear will take a long time to dispel. I think this is related to what we feel are the root causes of homosexuality...which are still emerging. Most people still view homosexuality as a choice...and a bad one at that...just to fulfill "deviant" sexual urges...and this view has been mostly propogated by the church. Hopefully we will one day fully understand the complexities of homosexuality and the "right" we feel to criticize will be gone.
10 comments:
Why? Because Bill O'Reilly dodged the bullet, Michael Savage is still on the air, and Don Imus is close to getting back into the broadcasting game as well. Fox News in particular seems to me to be an organization rather impervious to the criticisms directed their way for any number of egregious violations of journalistic ethics.
Yeah, I know that's a crappy and insufficient answer to your question, but I think it's the one that applies.
Nice job with the activist rabble-rousing though! I hope you and your colleagues can prove me wrong and get some results.
Oh I agree. As I state in the second line: he won't get fired. And I couldn't agree more that Michael Savage is the personification of his very name: savage. His remarks on hearing of Ledger's death made me sick to my stomach. I literally caught them in passing and he maligned him as much as Gibson, short of preparing a segment with music.
Bill O'Reilly... don't get me started.
Muslims are the other group anyone can feel free to villify without fear of reprisals.
So actually, my editorial is a shout down a well, but someone's got to start shouting at some point.
I agree with you that Gibson should be fired (and will not be because of the reasons you mention). There is another group where it is considered socially acceptable to ridicule...the middle class white male...this is usually seen in sitcoms or commercials...but that is a discussion for another time.
your probably not going to like this point of view but...I think we have to keep Ledger's role in BBM and him as a person separate...yes, it was an extremely brave and challenging role for such a young actor to play and yes, he did it supurbly and potentially put his career on the line to do it..but to make him an icon for repressed gay men I think elevates him to a status that should not be afforded him. He was an actor playing a role in a very well done movie that spoke to a lot of people..myself included...but he was just that. From his interviews I don't think he thought much more of it than that.
I am very sorry that he died...I think we will miss a tremendous talent..but let's not make him into something he wasn't.
Sorry if this is somewhat hurtful given the rawness of his recent death...I do not mean it to be...it is just the way I see it.
R. Michael
Michael, you make my point. Why would the media such as Gibson feel that Heath Ledger's death was at all related to having played the *role* of a gay man? He was an actor, not a symbol of gay rights.
Anyone who is a fan of his or the movie knows that better than those who scarcely paid attention to him in life.
I would say, though, that Heath's interviews during the year of BBM clearly demonstrated to me that he understood the impact of his choice to play a gay man and felt humbled by it.
But as you said, he certainly moved on! He has enjoyed many roles and wanted to play many more.
Great article, Julie. I agree with you. Also some good points by your commenters.
I only disagree with one little part of your article. I believe that free speech is the one vehicle that will take us to a place where prejudice finally dies. I am thankful to live in a country where men who hold ridiculous views are free to speak their mind, giving the rest of us the opportunity to repudiate their views or to simply ignore them.
Political Correctness keeps racism and homophobia hidden and institutionalized. Fred Phelps psycotic ramblings helped me come to grips with my own homophobia. Recently, on my blog, I confessed, asking forgiveness to those gay men and women I knew in my younger days. Recently, I have come to know several gay people as friends. I regret missing out on such relationships in the past.
Hearing Fred Phelps or John Gibson rant simply causes me to want to be everything they are not. Two years ago, I stopped watching Fox News, convinced they had become the sales vehicle for a war that should have never been started. Their ratings are down. And I am one of those no longer watching.
Hi Julie,
I appreciate your passion and willingness to speak out on this particular injustice. I don't say much about this subject publicly, and maybe I should, but I have not had a particular problem with homosexuality since my best friend, who was a missionary with YMAM, came out of the closet 17 years ago. That experience helped "humanize" and change my perspective on the subject ever since. I currently go to a church that accepts homosexuals as they are and we currently have one open homosexual who is in leadership...and...No matter what side of the fence one is on regarding this subject I do think and feel, as you do, that homosexuals should "NOT" be treated as they often are by the media, the culture, and many Christians...and...I am ashamed to admit, that sometimes, I even find myself participating in laughing at some of the jokes made by colleagues at work...Thanks for bringing this subject up...
I don't understand people that get their grins (or ratings)this way! ugh
OK, here is something that might make you smile, Julie. I know this little song lifted my spirits last night!
http://susanmc.blogspot.com/
Hugs,
Susan
Greg, good comments. I do support free speech, even ugly speech. I agree, too, that racism and homophobia are institutionalized.
But I disagree that people are generally led to reconsider their own views based on cruel rantings by others. When the marginalized are silent or silenced, bigotry grows. Language is the battle ground because what I say, what I hear, becomes how I think.
Whatever one may think of the Jews, for instance, it is the Jewish anti-defamation league that has risen up to stop the recurrence of slander and antisemitism.
The NAACP (whatever you think of them) has helped to turn the tide on racist language and our young people show the effects of it. They are not as racist as we've been.
Homosexuals need the same level of collective outrage, imho, at the misuses of who they are for cheap laughs.
The institutionalization of homophobia is one that I fear will take a long time to dispel. I think this is related to what we feel are the root causes of homosexuality...which are still emerging. Most people still view homosexuality as a choice...and a bad one at that...just to fulfill "deviant" sexual urges...and this view has been mostly propogated by the church.
Hopefully we will one day fully understand the complexities of homosexuality and the "right" we feel to criticize will be gone.
R. Michael
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