"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation
for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
-Soren Kierkegaard
for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."
-Soren Kierkegaard
An interesting opinion letter appeared today in that anachronistic dinosaur known as The Detroit Free Press. As many things tend to do for pretty much all of my waking hours on this planet, this letter got me to thinking. Said letter absolutely skewers doltish boob and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton (if that is your real name) and I couldn't agree with the author, Edmond Guay of Auburn Hills, MI, more fervently.
A few weeks ago at that momentous American tradition, the Miss USA pageant, everyone's favorite blogger asked a question as to one contestant's point of view regarding the legalities (or lack thereof) of gay marriage. The contestant responded that she felt that marriage should remain between a man and a woman. This upset the rotund reporter who took to his blog to explain why Miss California had not attained the national honorific. He averred, "She gave the worst answer in pageant history. She lost because she's a dumb bitch, okay?" Classy.
The aftermath, as this was the biggest story of the weekend and still plagues our pop culture consciousness, brought out all of our favorite flag-wavers clamoring for the spotlight and ensuring their status as liberal.
One thing for the record. Mr. Hilton, I am on your side when it comes to the legalization and (with hope) proliferation of gay marriage. This is something that absolutely NEEDS to happen, but that is an entirely separate discussion for another time. Furthermore Mr. Hilton, I am quite sure that your life has required immeasurable amounts of personal courage and strength. This should certainly have endowed you with the onions to be man enough and recognize when someone actively participates in intellegent discourse. I've been wrong before.
Mr. Hilton, perhaps I am giving you too much credit, but I am a kind and benevolent hater. It seems to me that you would most likely possess the good sense to realize that asking a controversial question could potentially evoke a response that would make your blood boil. Shame on you for admonishing this young woman for exercising her rights as an American. We're talking about the Miss USA pageant, not the Miss Liberal competition. The very deserved freedoms you rightfully strive to attain are founded on the same rights Miss California has in feeling you should be unable to marry, misguided as her feelings are.
Another argument which did not occur to me until it was brought to my attention by a friend. Perhaps Miss USA has to be representative of all Americans, an ideal. I do see merits in this rationale and deem it valid. But, on the other end of the spectrum lies the ability to be able to state unequivocally one's true belief, well isn't that quintessentially American as well? One must also remember, we're talking about Miss USA here, not the next Pope.
So why are my underpants all in a bunch? Mr. Edmond Guay's letter to the Free Press. His main point can be summed up thusly: the overly PC crowd will "support the unfettered expression of free speech - as long as you don't disagree with them." Ahh, sweet music to my curmudgeonly ears. Clearly, Mr. Guay is not a liberal, take it from the man himself:
The pageant judge who asked the question, Perez Hilton, is a nothing; he's a blogger whose only clam to fame is making a name for himself on the Internet sharing his own opinions about whatever he chooses. And he has the temerity (ed. note: serious vocab points there) to whoop up a holy war about someone else's constitutional right to do exactly the same thing? And the rest of his liberal friends are jumping on the bandwagon.
Granted, Mr. Guay certainly has a slanted view, but in such a way that it benefits me and my crusade against loud mouthed celebrities. My feeling is this has nothing to do with any type of party affiliation, it just happens to be a matter of fact that the majority of blathering celebs are liberal, not that there's anything wrong with being liberal.
So then what's the problem? Celebrities drunk on self-aggrandizement. Sure, entertainment is art and art is imitation of life which is an imitation of art. Granted, art has every right to be socially constructive or subversive, but there is a line that occasionally needs to be drawn. Some of these outspoken entertainers have no concept of real life, and I for one am jealous. I want to be financially secure to the point of hedonism. Not only am I jealous, I don't like to be told what my system of beliefs must entail.
Political correctness has reached epidemic proportions. All too frequently, celebrities are butting expensively crafted noses into my private pop culture sphere to scold me into a perfectly framed ethos, working only in their financially secure idyllic lives. You are as anti-American as humanly possible if you have the gall to tell me that if I don't believe the way you do is wrong. A friend mentioned a postcard she saw at the Museum of Communism in Prague that had a slogan suggesting that a misconception of the west is that political correctness is their idea.
Nonetheless, in my rage, I am forced to call out some celebrities, plead my case, and hope they and button it. Alec Baldwin, why are you still here? You said you would move to Canada if George W. Bush was elected to a second term in 2004. See ya, old chap, send my regards to Don Cherry. Don't get me wrong, I love your work, but please, put a sock in it. Sean Penn, you overact, you are uber hip, and have a big mouth. Kudos though, for taking challenging roles, they speak with more nobility and credibility then you ever will. Bono and Oprah...yeah, just go away, please.
Yet, after all of this rambling, I feel my hostility is a tad misdirected. These grand folks have just been lucky enough to grab their slice of the big pie that is the American Dream. I cannot blame the media in a capitalistic society, but rather the consumers too blind, apathetic or lazy to turn off the television. Seriously America, American Idol has come out and told you, "hey, we're frauds," and you keep watching and voting. An original movie has not been made here in ages, yet we are in Hollywood's golden age. People of the United States, please open your eyes, think for yourselves. Let celebrities entertain you, let them move you with their performances, but for the love of crumbcake, stop worshiping them!
Finally, I am not a fascist, celebrities have every right to outspoken outrage - just not over any single other person in this country. Don't Tread on Me!
-Please click here for the letter to the editor discussed above-
A few weeks ago at that momentous American tradition, the Miss USA pageant, everyone's favorite blogger asked a question as to one contestant's point of view regarding the legalities (or lack thereof) of gay marriage. The contestant responded that she felt that marriage should remain between a man and a woman. This upset the rotund reporter who took to his blog to explain why Miss California had not attained the national honorific. He averred, "She gave the worst answer in pageant history. She lost because she's a dumb bitch, okay?" Classy.
The aftermath, as this was the biggest story of the weekend and still plagues our pop culture consciousness, brought out all of our favorite flag-wavers clamoring for the spotlight and ensuring their status as liberal.
One thing for the record. Mr. Hilton, I am on your side when it comes to the legalization and (with hope) proliferation of gay marriage. This is something that absolutely NEEDS to happen, but that is an entirely separate discussion for another time. Furthermore Mr. Hilton, I am quite sure that your life has required immeasurable amounts of personal courage and strength. This should certainly have endowed you with the onions to be man enough and recognize when someone actively participates in intellegent discourse. I've been wrong before.
Mr. Hilton, perhaps I am giving you too much credit, but I am a kind and benevolent hater. It seems to me that you would most likely possess the good sense to realize that asking a controversial question could potentially evoke a response that would make your blood boil. Shame on you for admonishing this young woman for exercising her rights as an American. We're talking about the Miss USA pageant, not the Miss Liberal competition. The very deserved freedoms you rightfully strive to attain are founded on the same rights Miss California has in feeling you should be unable to marry, misguided as her feelings are.
Another argument which did not occur to me until it was brought to my attention by a friend. Perhaps Miss USA has to be representative of all Americans, an ideal. I do see merits in this rationale and deem it valid. But, on the other end of the spectrum lies the ability to be able to state unequivocally one's true belief, well isn't that quintessentially American as well? One must also remember, we're talking about Miss USA here, not the next Pope.
So why are my underpants all in a bunch? Mr. Edmond Guay's letter to the Free Press. His main point can be summed up thusly: the overly PC crowd will "support the unfettered expression of free speech - as long as you don't disagree with them." Ahh, sweet music to my curmudgeonly ears. Clearly, Mr. Guay is not a liberal, take it from the man himself:
The pageant judge who asked the question, Perez Hilton, is a nothing; he's a blogger whose only clam to fame is making a name for himself on the Internet sharing his own opinions about whatever he chooses. And he has the temerity (ed. note: serious vocab points there) to whoop up a holy war about someone else's constitutional right to do exactly the same thing? And the rest of his liberal friends are jumping on the bandwagon.
Granted, Mr. Guay certainly has a slanted view, but in such a way that it benefits me and my crusade against loud mouthed celebrities. My feeling is this has nothing to do with any type of party affiliation, it just happens to be a matter of fact that the majority of blathering celebs are liberal, not that there's anything wrong with being liberal.
So then what's the problem? Celebrities drunk on self-aggrandizement. Sure, entertainment is art and art is imitation of life which is an imitation of art. Granted, art has every right to be socially constructive or subversive, but there is a line that occasionally needs to be drawn. Some of these outspoken entertainers have no concept of real life, and I for one am jealous. I want to be financially secure to the point of hedonism. Not only am I jealous, I don't like to be told what my system of beliefs must entail.
Political correctness has reached epidemic proportions. All too frequently, celebrities are butting expensively crafted noses into my private pop culture sphere to scold me into a perfectly framed ethos, working only in their financially secure idyllic lives. You are as anti-American as humanly possible if you have the gall to tell me that if I don't believe the way you do is wrong. A friend mentioned a postcard she saw at the Museum of Communism in Prague that had a slogan suggesting that a misconception of the west is that political correctness is their idea.
Nonetheless, in my rage, I am forced to call out some celebrities, plead my case, and hope they and button it. Alec Baldwin, why are you still here? You said you would move to Canada if George W. Bush was elected to a second term in 2004. See ya, old chap, send my regards to Don Cherry. Don't get me wrong, I love your work, but please, put a sock in it. Sean Penn, you overact, you are uber hip, and have a big mouth. Kudos though, for taking challenging roles, they speak with more nobility and credibility then you ever will. Bono and Oprah...yeah, just go away, please.
Yet, after all of this rambling, I feel my hostility is a tad misdirected. These grand folks have just been lucky enough to grab their slice of the big pie that is the American Dream. I cannot blame the media in a capitalistic society, but rather the consumers too blind, apathetic or lazy to turn off the television. Seriously America, American Idol has come out and told you, "hey, we're frauds," and you keep watching and voting. An original movie has not been made here in ages, yet we are in Hollywood's golden age. People of the United States, please open your eyes, think for yourselves. Let celebrities entertain you, let them move you with their performances, but for the love of crumbcake, stop worshiping them!
Finally, I am not a fascist, celebrities have every right to outspoken outrage - just not over any single other person in this country. Don't Tread on Me!
-Please click here for the letter to the editor discussed above-
No comments:
Post a Comment