Random TV Thoughts

[Reed]

I have an answer to A&E's problems:

 

"The part of Phil will now be played by Sir Ian McKellan"

 

Dressed in full-on Gandalf mode.

[piranesi]

 

I do think his comments about black people were misinterpreted though. He was not saying slavery was better or anything like that. I think his argument was that when he was growing up in the 50s and 60s black people were happier, as opposed to now when they get told by everyone that they're victims and conditioned to life on welfare, etc. Dubious? Yes. But he was not saying slavery was OK or anything like that.

 

It's really inexcusable though for someone to go out of their way to express such an astoundingly ignorant belief, about something they are clearly bizarrely stupid on in a big public forum. He wasn't just talking to himself.  He was making some kind of "case" for something.  He knew people would read this and was hoping to convince them of something.  Something incredibly dumb.

 

Like, I don't blame him, I guess, for not at any point in his life bothering to learn about what the people around him were actually suffering through.  But it is blameworthy to turn that stupid personal observation into a public sermon of some kind.  Like, he's totally convinced he sees some truth that someone else is "hiding" from you.  And he wants everyone to know about it as a corrective.

 

But the truth he thinks he knows is almost unfathomably stupidly wrong...literally the opposite of reality.  And so he deserves scorn for so confidently stating it to an audience he hoped would be moved to...do what?  Feel more comfortable about resenting minorities for whining?

 

Fuck that.

 

This isn't even a "well that's what i believe" thing about morality.  He's just making up a reality that isn't real and proclaiming it as some Emperor's clothes thing.

[piranesi]

I have an answer to A&E's problems:

 

"The part of Phil will now be played by Sir Ian McKellan"

 

Dressed in full-on Gandalf mode.

 

 

It's reality t.v.  Best they could afford would be Michael Gambon.

[EVA]

Oddly, I thought the racial comments were far more eyebrow-raising than the comments that actually got him in trouble.

His thoughts on homosexuality were ignorant, to be sure, but pretty far removed from hate speech. I mean, the lead quote is straight out of a middle school lockerroom. Its almost adorable that a senior citizen is still capable of such a juvenile remark, but I guess when you consider that he has spent almost his entire life isolated in backwater Louisiana, maybe he kinda is a middle schooler in terms of his experience with society at large.

[BrianS81177]

I hope to hell this means I won't see any more Duck Dynasty shit every 10 feet when I go to Walmart. 

[tigertooth]

I just don't who exactly is being aided by all this furor over what is, essentially, an eccentric old dude sounding off.

 

I'm glad to hear about it.  I've never seen any DD, but I've heard so much about it I thought I might check it out during some holiday downtime.  Now I won't bother.

 

Also there's the fact that when people in prominent positions say ignorant things, there's going to be backlash.  There should be.  No advancement has ever been made through people shrugging their shoulders and rolling their eyes.  The huge gains in popular acceptance of gay people in the past few decades didn't occur spontaneously.  They happened because people spoke out, made their case, and convinced people they were right.

[Brian Fowler]

I think the homophobic quotes got the most attention because GLAAD is such a well organized response machine that they were subtly hinting at a sponsor boycott 3 seconds after the issue hit the stands, and they are well and truly capable of pulling off said boycott.

[Reed]

 

I just don't who exactly is being aided by all this furor over what is, essentially, an eccentric old dude sounding off.

 

I'm glad to hear about it.  I've never seen any DD, but I've heard so much about it I thought I might check it out during some holiday downtime.  Now I won't bother.

 

Also there's the fact that when people in prominent positions say ignorant things, there's going to be backlash.  There should be.  No advancement has ever been made through people shrugging their shoulders and rolling their eyes.  The huge gains in popular acceptance of gay people in the past few decades didn't occur spontaneously.  They happened because people spoke out, made their case, and convinced people they were right.

 

 

I'm not qualified to go into an in-depth discussion about just how gay people became more accepted in American society. But I'm fairly sure the issue didn't hinge on freaking out every time some irrelevant reality show celebrity said something dumb.  

 

GLAAD need to learn to pick their battles. And this is one clearly not worth bothering over.

[Victator]

They need to fight the small battles right now, not wait until they are being put in prison. 

It actually shows how far gay people still have to go. That some people are acting as if this is some "Oh it is just his opinion" shit and not hate speech. 

[Victator]

If a Face In The Crowd came out today, Lonesome Rhodes would write an Op-Ed titled "Why I think you are stupid puppets and I am your master."

Then Sarah Palin defends him. 

[EVA]

I hope to hell this means I won't see any more Duck Dynasty shit every 10 feet when I go to Walmart.

Ha. You'll be lucky if you don't see twice as much. I'm going out on a limb and assuming the vast majority of DUCK DYNASTY's enormous audience is made up of people with similar views on homosexuality, and they are going to come out in force to support those guys.

[RandomAct]

The problem with the nuts who are crying "free speech" and all that shit, have zero understanding of what free speech implies.  Free speech does not extend to your employers.  He violated a company policy, he was punished.  Simple as that.  If I did shit like that at work, I'd be fired.  First amendment means he can't go to jail for saying it, that's it.

[Reed]

They need to fight the small battles right now, not wait until they are being put in prison. 

It actually shows how far gay people still have to go. That some people are acting as if this is some "Oh it is just his opinion" shit and not hate speech. 

 

Seriously: if GLAAD don't do everything in they're power to squash this guy, gay people are going to jail and getting executed? Dude, come on.

[EVA]

It actually shows how far gay people still have to go. That some people are acting as if this is some "Oh it is just his opinion" shit and not hate speech.

It's definitely not hate speech.

[Victator]

 

I hope to hell this means I won't see any more Duck Dynasty shit every 10 feet when I go to Walmart.

Ha. You'll be lucky if you don't see twice as much. I'm going out on a limb and assuming the vast majority of DUCK DYNASTY's enormous audience is made up of people with similar views on homosexuality, and they are going to come out in force to support those guys.

 

Did not work out for Paula Deen. 

[EVA]

I hope to hell this means I won't see any more Duck Dynasty shit every 10 feet when I go to Walmart.

Ha. You'll be lucky if you don't see twice as much. I'm going out on a limb and assuming the vast majority of DUCK DYNASTY's enormous audience is made up of people with similar views on homosexuality, and they are going to come out in force to support those guys.

Did not work out for Paula Deen.

Paula Deen was caught redhanded using slurs. Actual hate speech. This dude used no slurs of any kind. Just expressed a super-ignorant opinion on...pretty much everything.

[Victator]

 

They need to fight the small battles right now, not wait until they are being put in prison. 

It actually shows how far gay people still have to go. That some people are acting as if this is some "Oh it is just his opinion" shit and not hate speech. 

 

Seriously: if GLAAD don't do everything in they're power to squash this guy, gay people are going to jail and getting executed? Dude, come on.

 

Why should they not squash him?

I once saw a roach on my ceiling. I thought it was not bothering me and I let it live. Thirty minutes later I saw it on the wall by the back door. An hour later, it was trying to crawl on my shoe. At that point I did what I should have done in the first place and killed it. 

Not squashing this man would have emboldened him and those who support him. Now the weaker ones see there is a price for being a bigot. 

Mercy is wasted on vermin, it does not appreciate it and views it as a sign of weakness. 

[Victator]

 

 

 

I hope to hell this means I won't see any more Duck Dynasty shit every 10 feet when I go to Walmart.

Ha. You'll be lucky if you don't see twice as much. I'm going out on a limb and assuming the vast majority of DUCK DYNASTY's enormous audience is made up of people with similar views on homosexuality, and they are going to come out in force to support those guys.

Did not work out for Paula Deen.

Paula Deen was caught redhanded using slurs. Actual hate speech. This dude used no slurs of any kind. Just expressed a super-ignorant opinion on...pretty much everything.

 

Won't matter once boycotts start. 

[Reed]

 

 

They need to fight the small battles right now, not wait until they are being put in prison. 

It actually shows how far gay people still have to go. That some people are acting as if this is some "Oh it is just his opinion" shit and not hate speech. 

 

Seriously: if GLAAD don't do everything in they're power to squash this guy, gay people are going to jail and getting executed? Dude, come on.

 

Why should they not squash him?

I once saw a roach on my ceiling. I thought it was not bothering me and I let it live. Thirty minutes later I saw it on the wall by the back door. An hour later, it was trying to crawl on my shoe. At that point I did what I should have done in the first place and killed it. 

Not squashing this man would have emboldened him and those who support him. Now the weaker ones see there is a price for being a bigot. 

Mercy is wasted on vermin, it does not appreciate it and views it as a sign of weakness. 

 

 

 

I like that your response to intolerance is...well, more intolerance.

[Victator]

I am not advocating killing him, I am saying he should not have a television show. 

But hey keep enabling homphobes and racist. 

[Brian Fowler]

What happened is that GLAAD flexed a little muscle, got what they wanted (the public repudiation of Robertson from A&E) and they will safely move on.  Even if it hits a backlash effect that gets A&E and/or Duck Commander more money, GLAAD won any public battle in a matter of hours.  Because increased viewership and merch sales won't do A&E much good if sponsors flee the show.

[Johnny Sorrow]

It isn't intolerance to call out against and publicly berate predudice. This whole "they aren't tolerating my ignorance" trend is fucking stupid.

That being said, who fucking cares what this hillbilly whose 15 minutes is gonna be done in a couple more seasons says? It's bullshit news that distracts from real news.

[tigertooth]

 

 

I just don't who exactly is being aided by all this furor over what is, essentially, an eccentric old dude sounding off.

 

I'm glad to hear about it.  I've never seen any DD, but I've heard so much about it I thought I might check it out during some holiday downtime.  Now I won't bother.

 

Also there's the fact that when people in prominent positions say ignorant things, there's going to be backlash.  There should be.  No advancement has ever been made through people shrugging their shoulders and rolling their eyes.  The huge gains in popular acceptance of gay people in the past few decades didn't occur spontaneously.  They happened because people spoke out, made their case, and convinced people they were right.

 

 

I'm not qualified to go into an in-depth discussion about just how gay people became more accepted in American society. But I'm fairly sure the issue didn't hinge on freaking out every time some irrelevant reality show celebrity said something dumb.  

 

GLAAD need to learn to pick their battles. And this is one clearly not worth bothering over.

 

 

Here's what GLAAD said:

 

-----------------------

The Robertsons, the family whose duck hunting products have made them a fortune, are breakout stars featured in A&E’s Duck Dynasty. GQ Magazine’s profile of Phil Robertson included some of the vilest and most extreme statements uttered against LGBT people in a mainstream publication. His quote was littered with outdated stereotypes and blatant misinformation.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.

 

And later in the article:

Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

 

The statement is far outside of the mainstream understanding of LGBT people. In Louisiana, which passed a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, 56% of the population support some sort of legal recognition, marriage or civil unions, for gay and lesbian couples according to Public Policy Polling released in August 2013.

 

"Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil's lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe," said GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz. "He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans – and Americans - who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil's decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families."

 

GLAAD reached out to A&E to speak about if the network stands behind Robertson's comments.

 

-----------------------

 

Is it hyperbole to say these are "some of the vilest and most extreme statements uttered against LGBT people in a mainstream publication"?  Maybe so, though I can't immediately think of more extreme examples. 

 

The rest seems quite reasonable.  And their "battle" consisted of saying the above, then calling A&E to ask them about it.  That doesn't strike me as a freak-out.

 

At any rate, I fail to see how ignorance will be successfully combated by silence.

[RandomAct]

You know what has Duck in the title and isn't terrible?

 

[Victator]

I find it telling that for him Bestiality leaps ahead of plain old sleeping around in the slippery slope of sin. Like old boy is looking for an excuse to fuck animals.