Okay - yeah, I've got the same bug up my ass as usual... but still: Apparently Kathy Griffin won an Emmy for something. Fine.
Now her acceptance speech is being censored during the broadcast because she made some comments about Jesus and God. Specifically: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now." Tactless, crude, in-your-face - sure. That does seem to describe Kathy Giffin. However the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights claims that this is "hate speech". The called it "obscene and blasphemous." It's a hugely powerful, hugely privileged majority playing the beset minority card... made all the more ridiculous since Griffin is herself Catholic. She spoke, they responded - that's the way it works. However the Academy has bowed to the pressure. They've announced that "Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast." Of course there's nothing in her statements that would HAVE to be censored (she has a foul mouth but she constrained herself here). One part of me says: "Sure - it's there damn show. They should do it how they like." At the same time I'm truly struggling to see how this works: she's a brash, in-your-face comic. She's being AWARDED by this academy for those very features (the show for which she won is a reality show after all). So she's being punished for EXACTLY THE SAME BEHAVIOR that won her the award in the first place! I can also see no way in which her comments could be construed as "hate speech": she was either speaking about her personal opinion of an abstract figure or specifically about a single individual. She either mocked an imaginary figurehead or a specific individual - there was nothing even approaching comments about a group or class. In addition she herself is a member of the class claiming to have been attacked. I've got no problem with the group criticizing her speech. I've actually got no real problem with the actual censorship - again, it's their show. It's completely hypocritical. They clap her on the back tell her she's great then she does what she's always done and they slap her in the face for it. Cowards. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion is delivering applications solutions at at top companies around the world in government. Find out how and where now http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=finder&productID=1522&loc=en_us Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:242206 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
