This whole #cancelColbert thing has been interesting. A few thoughts: (1) I saw a lot of notes along the lines of person X should not be offended by that. I dont think thats ever a reasonable thing to say. If someones feelings are hurt, theyre hurt. Almost anything can trigger a negative emotional reaction in a person; if someones heart was broken at the beach, they might hate it when you say sand. Telling someone that theyre stupid for having an emotional reaction is not constructive. (2) Along with point one, people say It was satire, so no offense can be taken! I have to disagree; for instance, A Modest Proposal or South Park are MEANT to offend people. Satire is targeted at a less sensitive, thinking audience. Yes, some people will rage about how a satire failed. If a person is saying that, they werent the target audience. Not everything has to appeal to everybody. (3) Stephen Colbert needs to shut up because thats offensive! No. This is an odd idea we see kicked around a lot now, that if something hurt a persons feelings it can (and must!) be silenced. Rather than argue you are wrong/stupid to be offended a better response is Im sorry to hear youre offended, but you are not entitled to be not offended all the time. The vast majority of new and worthwhile ideas are offensive. Moreover, if were banning things because theyre offensive, say goodbye to the Book of Leviticus! (4) The #cancelColbert event is GOOD for the effort to get the Redskins (sorry) to change their name. This is the most attention that #ChangeTheName has received. I dont think the privilege justice warriors set out to bring this about when they started the hashtag, but nationwide theres been little attention paid to CTN, and in DC few people have taken it seriously. Now, its being spoken about in more circles, and the hypocrisy of Dan Snyder is being seen by more people than ever. When they fix that horribly racist name, well have Stephen Colbert to thank.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:56:03 +0000
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