Hardly content-free at all
Feb. 23rd, 2007 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
triadruidI'm argumentative today. Okay, strike that; I'm more argumentative than usual today. I'm not sure if this bodes well or ill for my evening and Saturday. On the other hand, this post has been percolating since Tuesday, at least, I just haven't been around to make it...
A couple of things crossed my radar going in opposite directions this last week. The first was Rosie O'Donnell's idiotic comments about "Ching Chong Chinamen" (which I apparently missed back in December), and the video rebuttal from Beau Sia, an Chinese-American slam artist. I really enjoyed his take on the issue, which made my reaction to Exhibit B all the more surprising.
George Takei took issue with retired sports figure Tim Hardaway's homophobic remarks last week, and recorded a "mock PSA" in which he began in an informative and neutral style, then camped it up by commenting on how much he "really liked" Hardaway, running his fingers up the leg of Hardaway's image behind him and making various not-so-thinly-veiled innuendos. See the video clip for yourself. Somehow, this rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go; I don't think it's kosher to "taunt" someone who is uncomfortable with homosexuality any more than it's okay to taunt a gay man by throwing them amidst a pack of horny females, for example. The final line "And one day, when you least expect it, I WILL have sex with you!" was just the capstone of that problem for me - it feeds right into the prejudices that already exist, and doesn't do a damn thing to create a dialogue, as far as I can tell. It's reverse bigotry in my world, but several people I know liked the skit, so maybe I'm out of the 'norm' here. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I agree with the NBA's decision to banhim Hardaway from all future All-Star events.
A couple of things crossed my radar going in opposite directions this last week. The first was Rosie O'Donnell's idiotic comments about "Ching Chong Chinamen" (which I apparently missed back in December), and the video rebuttal from Beau Sia, an Chinese-American slam artist. I really enjoyed his take on the issue, which made my reaction to Exhibit B all the more surprising.
George Takei took issue with retired sports figure Tim Hardaway's homophobic remarks last week, and recorded a "mock PSA" in which he began in an informative and neutral style, then camped it up by commenting on how much he "really liked" Hardaway, running his fingers up the leg of Hardaway's image behind him and making various not-so-thinly-veiled innuendos. See the video clip for yourself. Somehow, this rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go; I don't think it's kosher to "taunt" someone who is uncomfortable with homosexuality any more than it's okay to taunt a gay man by throwing them amidst a pack of horny females, for example. The final line "And one day, when you least expect it, I WILL have sex with you!" was just the capstone of that problem for me - it feeds right into the prejudices that already exist, and doesn't do a damn thing to create a dialogue, as far as I can tell. It's reverse bigotry in my world, but several people I know liked the skit, so maybe I'm out of the 'norm' here. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I agree with the NBA's decision to ban