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whowillsurvive2012.com - Watch the Adam Lambert music video for the 2012 theme song. See 2012, in theaters Nov 13
525 Comments
- WackyT, on 10/12/2007, -84/+259Funny how rap albums calling African Americans exactly the same thing are on the top of the best selling albums lists. Double-standards?
- BlueScreenOD, on 10/12/2007, -5/+161The word itself is irrelevant. It’s the underlying connotations in how he used the word that people found offensive.
- neoform, on 10/12/2007, -48/+194While it's clear he's got some issues.. I find it quite a double standard that it's ok for blacks to be racist with comedy, but if a white person says something racist, it's not ok and he should apologize..
- Whackly, on 10/12/2007, -24/+157white people can be racist with comedy.. i've seen it.. sometimes it's even funny.. but that wasn't comedy.. that was an on-stage spaz by a racist who's not quick enough on his feet to deal with hecklers
- PathDaemon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+129Über-direct link:
http://pdl.stream.aol.com/aol/us/aolentertainment/30mz/2006_11/1120_richards_2_dl.mov
EDIT: I'd YouTube it, but Websense is being websensetastic. - TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -20/+140I'm a black guy and I've always thought Seinfeld was funny as hell
so I'm just like WTF?!?!?
Isn't Michael Richards jewish? Given all the problems jewish people have experienced, how in the hell can he go this direction. - attila, on 10/12/2007, -8/+107Wow, I just watched the video and it's pretty damning for Michael Richards... despite what hecklers are doing to you from the audience, it's the performers job and showing of skill to be able to deflect their attempts and not allow them to disrupt the show.. But instead, Richards (Kramer) falls right into their trap by lambasting them and attacking them on the basis of their race and ethnicity. That's not cool or funny and was uncalled for.
- attila, on 10/12/2007, -43/+132Did you even watch the video? He was threatening them with lynching and attacking them based on their race... Black people don't do that to other black people, I don't care what you think of the word. I would equate what Michael Richards did to someone who threatens Jews with gas chamber references, or Native Americans with smallpox laden blankets. It's wrong no matter how you slice it.
- datastorageguy, on 10/12/2007, -11/+88Reporter to Jerry Seinfeld:
Reporter: So what do you think about Michael Richard's Have you spoke since the Seinfeld show days?
Seinfeld: Michael who? - BeefBaron, on 10/12/2007, -36/+111And of course its fine for black people to call white people "crackers" on stage constantly, then berate us about being racist at the slightest remark.
The whole thing is ridiculous.
>Whoops, neoform just said the same thing... - roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -66/+142Its ok for chris rock or carlos mencia to do it, but not a white guy...
- Roger, on 10/12/2007, -12/+80He was getting laughs at the beginning, he just took it too far. You could tell by then end that he knew he'd made a mistake.
- Chewie67, on 10/12/2007, -11/+77@attila - "Those having trouble viewing the TMZ video through Firefox should get IETab:"
I'm sure you meant this to be helpful, so I won't attack you directly.
I would rephrase this, however, as "You should just boycott any site that requires IE and doesn't cater to Firefox." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -34/+90That one dude who stood up... "That's why you ain't had no shows, you ain't in movies, you had Seinfeld and that's it"
Heheheh, damn. pwnt. - Yoshi39, on 10/12/2007, -19/+74"People are defending the use of the word by saying blacks use it."
So you're saying that what words I can use depends on the color of my skin now thats not racist at all. - BigManOnCampus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+56I saw Michael Richards perform once just a year or so after Seinfeld ended. He bombed. He wasn't funny. At one point, he started getting rather demonstrative and his mic-stand fell off the stage right into my lap practically. Since I was so close I stood up from my chair, picked it back up, and put it back on the stage. Michael then proceeded to make me the focus of his comedy for a minute or so. He wasn't insulting or anything, but he seemed to need the fact that I tried to interact with him to do something funny.
Afterwards, I watched him sit in his car for like 20-25 minutes, just staring straight ahead. That was like 3 years ago. I'm guessing this guy is having a hard time dealing with when the laughs stop. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+57Youtube anyone??
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -83/+133The "n" word is used all the time by black people. This double standard always amuses me because the fact that it is acceptable for use if it is used by blacks only is in itself, a racist idea.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+61WTF. Black people didn't go see UHF or Airheads!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+61"That's why you ain't had no shows, you ain't in movies, you had Seinfeld and that's it"
The tirade was crazy, but I don't get how that's a slam against Richards.
Of course he's forever typecast as "Kramer" from Seinfeld, but considering that was one of the best shows ever to make it to television, that's not exactly a bad thing. They were the highest paid sitcom actors ever. I'm sure it was surpassed by now by others, but that's still a big level that most others will *never* attain.
Kinda like telling Bill Gates, "All you did was create Microsoft."
Anyway, UHF, Airheads, and Problem Child weren't exactly HUGE movies, but Richards plays those puppet-like characters amazingly well. (UHF is amazing, btw) Not condoning his actions, but... you can't really attack him on the acting side of things! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56he was in UHF and Airheads
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+55"Furman? It's a racist name. What is that Furhor? German? Furman? I bet he says ***** a lot too. Trust me, as a ***** that says ***** a lot, that ***** says ***** all the time!"
-Dave Chappelle - Chewie67, on 10/12/2007, -1/+47You're right. He should have never taken it to a personal or racial confrontation.
That said, I've never understood heckling. What on earth makes these morons think that it's okay for them to yell at the comedian while he (or she) is performing? They somehow feel that their ticket price entitles them to be part of the show instead of just a spectator.
You don't see people running on to the court at a Laker game and expecting to be able to play.
You don't see people hopping on stage in Broadway expecting that they'll get to be the Phantom for tonight's performance.
Why do people think that they get to be part of a comedy show? - tenken, on 10/12/2007, -32/+76That wasn't racially charged comedy people; there's a difference between a white person saying un-PC things in jest and being a downright hateful bastard. (He was of the latter if you can't tell.)
Also I'm still amazed people still think there's some sort of "double standard" with the N-term. Black people can use it for many reasons, but in the end it's a term that was used against them that they then turned around and claimed ownership. You'll find lots of minority groups do the same things, from minorities to gays and lesbians.
It's a term thats OK for use within the group, but an outsider cannot use it. It's one of the many ways minorities learn to cope in an intolerant society. Therefore it's not just white people that can't use the term, but any other minority as well.
- mntalkase, on 10/12/2007, -6/+48To everyone who is countering with the "Black people use it all the time" defense, you are missing the point here:
Look at the video. Richards specifically recalls the idea of lynching with his line "50 years ago, you would have been hanging with a fork up your a**." Whatever you think about his use of the word n*gga... (and I personally believe that it's an interesting debate on whether or not he could use that word)... Richards went off the deep end with the lynching comment. - MaxUdargo, on 10/12/2007, -9/+48It's always been an unwritten rule in comedy that black people can make fun of black people, Jews can make fun of Jews, etc., but if you're going to make fun of an ethnic group different from your own, you'd better be very careful. And if you're going to use racial slurs, you'd better be very, very careful.
Kramer-guy was obviously having an angry dispute with an audience member or members, and was not in the right frame of mind or applying the right tone to be using such a racial slur. Even if he were black, the audience probably would have still found it offensive. Not being black, he was way over the line. It's not a double standard. It's a standard that applies to everybody. You don't say words like "*****" in an angry, hateful tone. - Ekpyrosis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+43I agree with the double-standard comments to an extent, there's a difference between using racism in comedy and outright using it against audience members.
- HeilBush, on 10/12/2007, -10/+47I've never seen a black comic scream "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a *****! He's a *****! He's a *****! A *****, look, there's a *****!" Without delving into debate over the word itself, the context is unquestionably racist.
- attila, on 10/12/2007, -4/+37This is the best I could find on YouTube this morning... CNN's report on the story: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tEcz9T3MuL4
- canewediggit, on 10/12/2007, -14/+43well, how you would you feel if i showed up at your job and heckled you? kidding.
- Spacejack, on 10/12/2007, -18/+48While I agree it was an onstage spaz, it's pretty clear they weren't so much hecklers as they were jabbering through his act. As someone who spent a whole movie last night listening to such folk in public, I have to say that pulling out the stops on people who talk through a comedy act or a movie is not entirely inappropriate.
- Crispin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31Randall: "I'm takin' it back!"
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32Posted by imants a few posts below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomfLKQr57U - mtwoar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+32I could be completely wrong and have yet to read any article on what happened, but by simply watching the video it seems he is annoyed that someone in the audience is/was talking. Then I assume the person was black, so Richards began with his myriad of racial slurs. From the beginning to end I don't think he was ever saying anything in a joking manner. It seemed directed towards an individual making it very inappropriate.
As for Mencia. I have seen him in person and at the beginning of his shows he say, "I'm going to make fun of . If this offends you should should leave." That being said he did make jokes about people in the audience but they were light and one could definitely tell they were 'actual' jokes. I don't think this is the case with Richards.
Although I could be way off. :) Just my two cents. - BigManOnCampus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+32@ sonofdy
He did a lot more than just say the n word. What he did wasn't acceptable. He lost it. - vanadium77, on 10/12/2007, -4/+32Per Wikipedia: "In November 2006, during a stand up routine at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, Richards was heckled by audience members, prompting him to unleash a tirade of expletives and racially insensitive remarks. He later told CNN, off-camera, that he was sorry for what happened and that he had made amends. 24 hours later, he was back performing on the same stage."
- Roger, on 10/12/2007, -8/+34@marksy:
UHF is a cult classic. Airheads ain't too bad either. - Rinnt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28Wasn't he in Problem Child?
- jbak, on 10/12/2007, -12/+38The history of that is Black people began to use the word as a 'term of endearment' in an effort to try to erase the hurtful and negative effect of the word... BTW Ive seen whites use it in that context with their close black friend.
Its all about CONTEXT and obviously in this context, Micheal Richards was purposley trying to insult and demeane by saying those words. I dont think Michael Richard's a racist but he lost control and if youre in the spotlight you'll never be forgiven. - StuffLuster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+31People should watch the video (works in IE). He doesn't just say the n word. He screams it like half a dozen times, and not in a funny kind of way. More in an off-the-deep-end, i'm-actually-a-bigot, my-career-is-over kind of way. Even if the guys heckling him were *****, the fact that they're black ***** should have nothing to do with it. They're just *****.
- theOster, on 10/12/2007, -8/+32his mistake was putting the "r" at the end...
- jaibee, on 10/12/2007, -16/+40A comedian using racism to expose it as lame and stupid is not the same thing as attacking audience members based on their race and saying "50 years ago you would have been strung up with a fork up your ass," seriously uncalled for and stupid on his behalf. Nice try.
- tenken, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27Oh as an addendum: I realize he was responding to hecklers in the audience, but seriously, a professional comedian needs to learn to deal with situations like this. It's a worse excuse than Mel Gibson's. I believe when you push people to an extreme you really know what they're made of, and it's clear these two are full of hate.
- imants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomfLKQr57U
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -15/+36THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU INTERRUPT THE WHITE MAN!
- ProximaC, on 10/12/2007, -8/+28j0c1f3r...
Wrong. White people found a new country, AKA North America and wanted to settle it. At first they tried using indentured servants and criminals for labor, but those people only worked till they paid their debts, or if they escaped, they looked like everyone else and could hide easily just by changing their names.
Next, the settlers tried enslaving Native American Indians, but that proved difficult being that they knew the land so well they could flee and hide, and it brought retribution from the Indian nations (this was a huge part of the causes of the Indian wars)
Africans turned out to be ideal slaves because they were taken so far away from their homes that they had no way of getting back, and they looked so different from the settlers and Indians that they were instantly recognized as runaways if they did manage to escape.
So the English, Dutch, Portuguese and other countries started the slave trade. They traded guns and goods to tribes in Africa to enslave other tribes. It wasn't started by Africans. Slavery in Africa DID exist, but it was NOT the slavery the New World created. Their slavery was for a period of time, and was not "ownership" of a person and any children that person may have or conceived. It was a form of indentured servitude to pay off debts. It was a far cry from the slavery the English created. Where we broke up families, stole them from their homes, sold them as property, beat them to death, failed to give adequate clothing, food and shelter and all of the other brutalities that were unleashed upon the blacks.
I would suggest many books for you to read. Some of the best ones are Before the Mayflower and There Is a River. Both give very detailed accounts of the beginnings of the USA and the slave trade, including the history of Africa BEFORE the slave trade began. - shil01, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23worst video hosting service...ever...
- EComni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20"The word itself is irrelevant. It’s the underlying connotations in how he used the word that people found offensive."
I wish I could digg you up twice. That's the same reason why the word isn't considered bad when used amongst friends (regardless of race). Hell, I'm black and I call other black folks "*****" in derogatory ways all the time. But, at the same time, if any of my white friends wanted to jokingly call me such, I wouldn't care. Some black people would, but, in my opinion, they'd be wrong to get overly offended at that.
Connotation is EVERYTHING.
Look at the word "Jew." This completely unoffensive word can be used as a slur, and I hear it used as such frequently online. Same with "Mexican."
If a guy gets up and just starts saying "blacks" and he's obviously not trying to be funny or insightful but rather being a racist ass, then that's just as bad as if he were saying "*****." - j0c1f3r, on 10/12/2007, -17/+37ok 1st off white people didnt pioneer slavery.....black people did idiot....black people from africa wanted to get rid of other tribes for their land so they conquered the other tribe and sold off the strong so there would be no resistance. Now slavery is a bad thing...I know....but that was a looooooong time ago.....get over it.....the irish were oppressed too but, you dont hear them whining about it, they just picked themselves up, dusted off and stopped bringing it up.
Today if we look at racism, most of the time its coming from the black side of the tracks. So, if your black and reading this, try to keep the racism down so we can all get past this ***** *****....k
I cant wait, in the next 50 years we will all be ***** each other and there will be no colour.......just shades of grey.....hopefully all this will be over.......peace - rushoffailure, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21at least he's not an anti-dentite
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