And don't you feel ridiculous using the expression "THE N WORD?" Don't you feel like a mommy to a 6 year-old?
NO NO, we mustn't say the "N" word. And we mustn't say the "C" word or the "F" word or the "S" word or, in most cases, the "B" word.
Lenny Bruce and George Carlin would be turning over in their graves. So would Henry Miller and John Lennon.
There are FOUR or maybe FIVE words in the entire English language that you CAN'T SAY? EVER?
Actually, you can say all of them but, and here it gets complicated, IN CONTEXT. An executive at Netflix found this out the hard way. Or should I say the "H" way? At some point somebody might say "HARD" implies an "ERECTION." You just never know with the PC police.
NETFLIX. Now there's an "N" word. The fact is, on NETFLIX, you WILL hear NIGGER, CUNT, FUCK, SHIT and BITCH.
You will hear it because there will be a movie about slavery and bigotry, or there will be a comedian saying CUNT or BITCH, and even a boxing match where an excited trainer or fighter will use FUCK and SHIT. Oh, and perhaps there will be a movie or a TV show where somebody offers to FUCK the SHIT out of some BITCH. Etc. etc. etc.
So what happened? In a room full of ADULTS, in PRIVATE, an employee was going over the ground rules and...OH MY...used the "N' word instead of saying "you know what I mean, the "N" word. Say it to yourselves but DON'T SPEAK IT OUT LOUD!!! It's...the "N" word."
Has there ever been a discussion of the "K" word? KIKE. Is that OK? How about the "W" word: WOP. How about the other "C" word, CHINK. Let's recall that an innocent young ESPN announcer, not familiar with ancient stereotype words, used the old phrase "a chink in his armor" while referring to an Asian basketball player. Totally unintentional. This was a kid who probably never heard Archie Bunker talk about "goin' out for some Chinks" (ie, Chinese food).
The world is so concerned about Black suffering that it forgets about Jewish suffering for 2,000 years? The abuses of the Irish and the Italian who came over to America to be called Micks and Wops? The Japanese who were the Gooks of World War II and the Chinese who were admired because Chink food was tasty, and they did the laundry so quickly? We live in a country where people can say "Jesus Christ!" before any exasperated sentence and it's OK. As is "Fer Chrissake." But, can't even say ALLAH.
A French singer, Veronique Sanson, nearly got herself killed for writing a song titled "Allah." A sympathetic song, but, hey, you "B" word, you are NOT allowed to use the Lord's name when you are not a Muslim. You're lucky you didn't draw Muhammad, you "B" word. The woman was scared for her life, and is probably still wary.
The Netflix guy wasn't saying "the N word" to insult or humiliate, but to instruct, and he very likely felt that since "we're all adults here," it was ok to NOT be COY.
What now? Should we congratulate Netflix on kicking some employee out on his ass and branding him a racist? Someone who, a day earlier, was considered a valued member of the company?
Should we congratulate Netflix, which allowed David Letterman to say FUCK while talking to Howard Stern, to go ballistic on some guy for what he said privately and in context?
Should we assume that Spotify and iTunes will list "Woman is the "N" word of the World" as the title of a John Lennon song or...better yet...BAN it from EVER being played again?
How about libraries: do they take Dick Gregory's book "Nigger" out of circulation? Well, at the moment, the answer is NO, because, as Netflix told the world, it's ok for a BLACK to say "Nigger" but not a white. It's also not okay, as Bill Maher learned, for a white guy to say "Nigga" in a joke context and despite giving a MILLION dollars to Obama's campaign. Oh yes, GRAY areas.
What happened to this Netflix guy...no gray area. No warning. No, "Hey, you were inappropriate and you need to look up our Terms of Service, which we don't even have." It was GET OUT OF HERE. And they weren't too concerned that anyone would consider what they did to be antisemitic. Do we know for SURE that if the guy was a Hindu or a Muslim he would've merely gotten off with a warning?
Common sense would indicate that "intent" should be considered. When Samantha Bee (and then Kathy Griffin) called Ivanka Trump a CUNT...it was, what, CUNT-to-CUNT? Would Netflix say that if a male comedian said it, they'd fire that guy?
Friedland, the Netflix guy, couldn't disguise his disgust and anger when he Tweeted: "Thanks. Rise high, fall fast. All on a couple of words."
Naturally he deleted the Tweet pretty quickly, and a few hours later, replaced it with an attempt to show the next employer, should he have one, that he's really classy and contrite:
“I’m leaving Netflix after seven years. Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set and unfortunately I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy. I feel awful about the distress this lapse caused to people at a company I love and where I want everyone to feel included and appreciated. I feel honored to have built a brilliant and diverse global team and to have been part of our collective adventure.” He used a lot of "B" words in there: blah, blah and blah.
It's pretty obvious when somebody is being an asshole...like dressing up in blackface for Halloween...or when it's NOT Halloween. You fire the idiot to let everyone know that this is NOT acceptable. You can't demean a race by dressing up as that race. You CAN however, demean a gender by dressing up as that gender. See Ru Paul's Drag Race, or James Corden most any night. Drag is all right. See, you've got to know the GRAY areas, which keep shifting like ominous clouds. Just why a man in drag is not considered as offensive as a white in blackface...who the FUCK knows.
Maybe we need an official RULEBOOK on exactly when it's ok to use the "N" word and the "F" word and "C" and "B" and "S" -- and what exactly we do about Nigga, Wop, Spade, Darkie, Kike, Yid, Chink, Jap, and all the rest. Common sense would be that you don't use ANY word if the intent is to humiliate or harm. There are ways of saying the RIGHT words and hurting people. Ask any Jew who has been asked, with a grim and surly stare, "Are you a JEW?" Polite word, evil inflection.
Samantha Bee and Bill Maher are still on the air. This Netflix guy...it may be a while before he can find another job somewhere, since anyone hiring him will face a bunch of sullen people saying, "He a RACIST...you hire a RACIST...you must be RACIST." Netflix sent the word out that they don't tolerate the "N" word unless you say, wink wink nudge nudge, "THE N WORD." It also sent out the word that any employee anywhere, had better have a lot of savings in case of sudden termination with the intimation, "you'll NEVER work in this town again."
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