Wrote this letter last night to this lady who I think is a right-wing extremist. Got an interesting response.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/160244_tv12.html
-----Original Message-----
From: Noah
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 9:23 PM
Melanie,
I understand the point of your article, but you unfortunately are fanning the flames of unhealthy conservatism to the extreme. You need to realize that television is entertainment. This isn't the 1950's anymore, and we can all be mature about what we see on television without throwing a fit. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING can potentially be "offensive" to anyone. Where do you draw the line as to what's appropriate to show on TV? Should we just not air anything at all? I mean, I find George W's speeches to be extremely offensive when he's talking about bombing the hell out of innocent 3rd world countries. Should we take the president off the air? The answer to that is no, I can ( and do ) turn the TV off when there's something I don't want to watch. Nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to watch this "offensive" programming. And we're not 10 years old either, I can make my OWN decisions what I want to watch. I don't need some conservative right-winger such as yourself lobbying to restrict everything that rocks the boat on TV. I don't need that, and this nation doesn't need anymore censorship.
Outkast should be free to wear whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. I don't care if they dance around naked, either. I don't care if you perform in a clown suit. Why should I care? It's a thing called freedom of expression, and it goes along with living in a democratic society where we can make our own decisions about the life we live. Sounds like you'd like to take away our freedoms as well, because people just might get offended...
Living in America means accepting that people won't always agree with the way you feel. That's why we have the freedom that we have. That's what makes this country special. Please respect that, as I don't think you'd appreciate your freedom of speech being taken away.
-Noah
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's her reply:
Hi Noah,
Thanks for your e-mail. I'm used to being called a left wing nut. But today, thanks to you, I am now "a conservative right-winger." Huzzah! I expect my income to quintuple by the end of the day.
But seriously, I too understand what you're getting at. This is a freedom of expression issue. This is also a matter of taste and respect, more the latter than the former. You are right, everything has the potential to offend anyone. And you're also right, it's not the '50s anymore. However, the flipside of that is, since it's no longer the '50s, CBS executives should know is it not OK to lampoon an entire race of people on national TV. CBS respects other ethnic groups enough to keep that from happening but not Native Americans. Why? Because they don't have to worry about public, or political pressure forcing them to do so. To us, and you, what Dre and his dancers wore were fun and funky costumes. However, they're fun and funky costumes based on a stereotype -- something they probably didn't know. Plenty of other people around them should have, including CBS executives, and steered them clear of doing it. But nobody did because -- like I said, no worries about pressure.
Let's use another example. Freedom of Expression means that it's possible for "The KKK Variety Hour" to air on national television. Right? Of course it is. First Amendment. God bless it. But do you know why that doesn't happen? Because CBS knows that enough people of all races and creeds, not just blacks, Catholics and Jews, would be outraged. Sponsors would pull out. Without sponsors, you have no money. And without money, you have no broadcast. Thus, there is no "KKK Variety Hour." There's no redo of "Amos N' Andy," or no "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer." Kid Rock will never come on live TV dressed as Al Jolson. It's just not going to happen, because black folks don't just have money now, they have political and social mainstream clout. So do Asian Americans, Hispanics, you name it. Native Americans, in case you haven't noticed, don't have that. So, while you don't see those old Mammy or coon cartoons on Cartoon Network, you still see stereotypical dumb Indian cartoons running. Is removing these stereotypes from the air censorship? Maybe. Is it respectful? Yes.
We do indeed have the luxury of turning away from certain TV shows. By all means, change the channel when Bush is on. We have the luxury of choice, and we'll soon have the luxury of voting for him or for someone else. Turn from shows you find offensive; the more people who do that, the more likely it is a show will be canceled. But racism is not something you can simply turn off. This was not "Tough Crowd" on Comedy Central, where the goal is to be as anti-PC as possible. This was the Grammys, a broadcast that was supposed to unite everyone through music. As a member of the press, not to mention a minority, it's also my duty to call out corporations when insensitive gaffes like this happen on national TV. Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable is in my job description. So turn the channel. Ignore this stuff. But when you ignore racial and social inequity, on or off TV, it doesn't go away. It keeps on being perpetuated.
So, does that make me a right-wing conservative? Or does that just make me open-minded, but not so open-minded that my brain falls out?
Have a nice evening,
Melanie McFarland
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/160244_tv12.html
-----Original Message-----
From: Noah
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 9:23 PM
Melanie,
I understand the point of your article, but you unfortunately are fanning the flames of unhealthy conservatism to the extreme. You need to realize that television is entertainment. This isn't the 1950's anymore, and we can all be mature about what we see on television without throwing a fit. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING can potentially be "offensive" to anyone. Where do you draw the line as to what's appropriate to show on TV? Should we just not air anything at all? I mean, I find George W's speeches to be extremely offensive when he's talking about bombing the hell out of innocent 3rd world countries. Should we take the president off the air? The answer to that is no, I can ( and do ) turn the TV off when there's something I don't want to watch. Nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to watch this "offensive" programming. And we're not 10 years old either, I can make my OWN decisions what I want to watch. I don't need some conservative right-winger such as yourself lobbying to restrict everything that rocks the boat on TV. I don't need that, and this nation doesn't need anymore censorship.
Outkast should be free to wear whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. I don't care if they dance around naked, either. I don't care if you perform in a clown suit. Why should I care? It's a thing called freedom of expression, and it goes along with living in a democratic society where we can make our own decisions about the life we live. Sounds like you'd like to take away our freedoms as well, because people just might get offended...
Living in America means accepting that people won't always agree with the way you feel. That's why we have the freedom that we have. That's what makes this country special. Please respect that, as I don't think you'd appreciate your freedom of speech being taken away.
-Noah
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's her reply:
Hi Noah,
Thanks for your e-mail. I'm used to being called a left wing nut. But today, thanks to you, I am now "a conservative right-winger." Huzzah! I expect my income to quintuple by the end of the day.
But seriously, I too understand what you're getting at. This is a freedom of expression issue. This is also a matter of taste and respect, more the latter than the former. You are right, everything has the potential to offend anyone. And you're also right, it's not the '50s anymore. However, the flipside of that is, since it's no longer the '50s, CBS executives should know is it not OK to lampoon an entire race of people on national TV. CBS respects other ethnic groups enough to keep that from happening but not Native Americans. Why? Because they don't have to worry about public, or political pressure forcing them to do so. To us, and you, what Dre and his dancers wore were fun and funky costumes. However, they're fun and funky costumes based on a stereotype -- something they probably didn't know. Plenty of other people around them should have, including CBS executives, and steered them clear of doing it. But nobody did because -- like I said, no worries about pressure.
Let's use another example. Freedom of Expression means that it's possible for "The KKK Variety Hour" to air on national television. Right? Of course it is. First Amendment. God bless it. But do you know why that doesn't happen? Because CBS knows that enough people of all races and creeds, not just blacks, Catholics and Jews, would be outraged. Sponsors would pull out. Without sponsors, you have no money. And without money, you have no broadcast. Thus, there is no "KKK Variety Hour." There's no redo of "Amos N' Andy," or no "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer." Kid Rock will never come on live TV dressed as Al Jolson. It's just not going to happen, because black folks don't just have money now, they have political and social mainstream clout. So do Asian Americans, Hispanics, you name it. Native Americans, in case you haven't noticed, don't have that. So, while you don't see those old Mammy or coon cartoons on Cartoon Network, you still see stereotypical dumb Indian cartoons running. Is removing these stereotypes from the air censorship? Maybe. Is it respectful? Yes.
We do indeed have the luxury of turning away from certain TV shows. By all means, change the channel when Bush is on. We have the luxury of choice, and we'll soon have the luxury of voting for him or for someone else. Turn from shows you find offensive; the more people who do that, the more likely it is a show will be canceled. But racism is not something you can simply turn off. This was not "Tough Crowd" on Comedy Central, where the goal is to be as anti-PC as possible. This was the Grammys, a broadcast that was supposed to unite everyone through music. As a member of the press, not to mention a minority, it's also my duty to call out corporations when insensitive gaffes like this happen on national TV. Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable is in my job description. So turn the channel. Ignore this stuff. But when you ignore racial and social inequity, on or off TV, it doesn't go away. It keeps on being perpetuated.
So, does that make me a right-wing conservative? Or does that just make me open-minded, but not so open-minded that my brain falls out?
Have a nice evening,
Melanie McFarland
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