"pete...@gmail.com" <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote in
news:674b8862-8125-4c72-876c-28b804c95546n@googlegroups.com:

> On Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 4:23:43 PM UTC-4, Jibini Kula
> Tumbili Kujisalimisha wrote:
>> "pete...@gmail.com" <pete...@gmail.com> wrote in
>> news:922a3597-7352-43ca...@googlegroups.com:
>> > On Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 11:55:11 AM UTC-4, Paul S Person
>> > wrote:
>> >> On Mon, 04 Apr 2022 10:59:13 -0700, Jibini Kula Tumbili
>> >> Kujisalimisha <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >Paul S Person <pspe...@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote in
>> >> >news:hssg4hl2pbnqr26rd...@4ax.com:
>> >> >
>> >> >> On Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:53:43 -0700, Jibini Kula Tumbili
>> >> >> Kujisalimisha <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>>Andrew McDowell <mcdow...@sky.com> wrote in
>> >> >>>news:342571b7-0a8a-4cb7...@googlegroups.com:
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>> On Friday, April 1, 2022 at 1:14:39 AM UTC+1, Quadibloc
>> >> >>>> wrote:
>> >> >>>>> I can't bring myself to have a lot of sympathy for
>> >> >>>>> Chris Rock. He should have realized that in this day
>> >> >>>>> and age, making jokes based on alopecia is something
>> >> >>>>> our society no longer accepts; it's viewed the same
>> >> >>>>> way we view making jokes about someone with a
>> >> >>>>> disability or an exceptionality.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> Thus, the movie Tropic Thunder was condemned for the
>> >> >>>>> frequent use of what is now called "the R-word" within
>> >> >>>>> it, with the intent to convey the same attitude
>> >> >>>>> towards the word in question as the phrase "the
>> >> >>>>> N-word" does.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> So if Chris Rock winds up being "cancelled", well,
>> >> >>>>> even if it is terribly unjust instead of serving him
>> >> >>>>> right, it's only to be expected.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> But what about Will Smith?
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> While it is true that it isn't really appropriate to
>> >> >>>>> approve of his reaction, waxing eloquent about how
>> >> >>>>> physical violence must never be condoned regardless of
>> >> >>>>> the provocation... would be hypocritical, at least on
>> >> >>>>> my part. Because I don't feel like waggilng my finger
>> >> >>>>> in the same way at Dr. Edwin Aldrin, who lost his
>> >> >>>>> temper at an advocate of the notion that the moon
>> >> >>>>> landings were a hoax who called him a liar.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> Edwin Aldrin and Will Smith are two unique human
>> >> >>>>> individuals. So it would be untrue to say that the
>> >> >>>>> only difference between them is that Edwin Aldrin is a
>> >> >>>>> real astronaut, and Will Smith only played one in the
>> >> >>>>> movie Independence Day.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> But I'm only going to note _one_ other difference
>> >> >>>>> between the two of them. And no points for guessing
>> >> >>>>> which one of those many differences it is going to be.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> Because while what Will Smith did wasn't an evil act,
>> >> >>>>> and it doesn't make him a bad man, it still will have
>> >> >>>>> evil consequences.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> Because, unlike Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Will Smith...
>> >> >>>>> doesn't have white privilege? Maybe _that's_ not the
>> >> >>>>> right way to put it; if Will Smith had been hauled
>> >> >>>>> away by the LAPD, _then_ that would be a sequence of
>> >> >>>>> events fitting that paradigm.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> But it's still something in that area.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> Because to a lot of the white people who either saw
>> >> >>>>> what transpired on the Oscars that night, or who just
>> >> >>>>> heard about it, the incident will only serve as
>> >> >>>>> confirmation to some of the most harmful racial
>> >> >>>>> stereotypes that have been floating around for
>> >> >>>>> hundreds of years.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> The conclusion that has been supported once again is
>> >> >>>>> this one:
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> You can put a suit and a tie on a black man, but you
>> >> >>>>> can't change his "real" nature, said nature being that
>> >> >>>>> of... an impulsive small child. A savage at heart,
>> >> >>>>> rather than a civilized adult.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> This is where a legitimate criticism of Will Smith
>> >> >>>>> needs to start; not with hypocritical sanctimony about
>> >> >>>>> physical violence, but with honestly facing the damage
>> >> >>>>> he has the potential of doing to the fragile progress
>> >> >>>>> being made by Americans of color.
>> >> >>>>>
>> >> >>>>> John Savard
>> >> >>>> We now know from sports that even very mild head trauma
>> >> >>>> can be dangerous, so we should be even less tolerant of
>> >> >>>> attacks than before, regardless of excuse. As it
>> >> >>>> happens, I find the reported joke entirely
>> >> >>>> unobjectionable
>> >> >>>> (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/27/will-smith
>> >> >>>> -pu nch- ch ris-rock-wife-joke-gi-jane-video-oscars). I
>> >> >>>> find any culture that regards violence as the proper
>> >> >>>> reaction to perceived so-called disrespect much more
>> >> >>>> troubling.
>> >> >>>>
>> >> >>>Every state in the US has some form of "fighting words"
>> >> >>>law, wherein it is recognized that there are things one
>> >> >>>can say that are *so* offensive that any reasonable
>> >> >>>person would respond with violence.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>Rock's joke did not rise to that level. It was, perhaps,
>> >> >>>in bad taste (but most comedy is), and perhaps not
>> >> >>>particularly funny, in context, but it certainly wasn't
>> >> >>>"fighting words."
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>Smith's lucky that Rock doesn't want to pursue it in a
>> >> >>>legal venue. I guess he's too busy booking more shows due
>> >> >>>to the massive increase in ticket sales for his concerts.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Exactly. The free publicity is worth more than pursuing
>> >> >> criminal action. Which might reduce the value of the free
>> >> >> publicity.
>> >> >
>> >> >Plus, it was a slap. Technically, battery, but c'mon. Man
>> >> >up and don't whine. Which Rock did. (I suspect that, while
>> >> >he should have known that Smith's wife is bald due to a
>> >> >medical condition, he probably didn't concsiously realize
>> >> >it when he wrote the joke, which was apparently improved
>> >> >(if he'd rehearsed it, it's likely somebody would have say,
>> >> >"Hey, dude, remember . . .). In the moment, he was too
>> >> >surprised to react, and by the time he gave any real
>> >> >thought to police reports, I suspect he felt bad about the
>> >> >joke anyway.)
>> >> We are, of course, overlooking the obvious point that these
>> >> are /performers/ on /television/, meaning the whole thing
>> >> could have been rehearsed beforehand and written into the
>> >> script.
>> >>
>> >> The entire 50s (?) gaming scandal (contestants being fed
>> >> answers when the audience was told they were not) could have
>> >> been avoided by simply admitting that they were
>> >> entertainment, and then scripting them. Basically, you would
>> >> have a "sitcom" where the "sit" was advancing through the
>> >> stages of a game show to the top prize.
>> >
>> > There used to be (maybe still is) a whole sub-genre of BBC
>> > radio game shows where the contestants each week were drawn
>> > from a small pool of well known entertainers and minor
>> > celebrities, and the entertainment value was not so much the
>> > competition, as in the sparkling bon mots and improv remarks
>> > of the players and MC.
>> Nobody watched Hollywood Squares to listen to the questions and
>> answers.
>
> Same idea.
>
For that matter, most "reality" TV is far more about the
personalities than whatever the contestants are doing.

--
Terry Austin

Proof that Alan Baker is a liar and a fool, and even stupider than
Lynn:
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration
(May 2019 total for people arrested for entering the United States
illegally is over 132,000 for just the southwest border.)

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB