Michael Richards Video

[nicole lisa]

Did anyone else catch the news about Michael Richards and his stand up this past weekend?

Trigger Warning: Obscene Racist Verbal Attack
http://www.nbc6.net/entertainment/10361311/detail.html

I'm putting this here because I don't think racist attacks are gossip even when it's a (washed up) celebrity spewing them. Is there any legal recourse for the two men involved or for the club who booked Richards? I can't even imagine how his handlers are going to try to spin this.

[SirPentor]

Meh. Do guys actually listen to stand-up comedy? Good stand-up comics make just enough fun of a heckler so everyone is having fun at his expense. I watched about the first half of this video truly expecting to be horrified. But I don't know--his voice inflection and the first statement (something about fifty years ago blah...) made me think he was mimicking "an older mindsite"--and making fun of it. Most of the audience that I heard was laughing which indicates to me that either there was a joke there that made sense or everyone there is a bigot.

Or maybe the dudes a bigot. I don't know anything about him other than how awesome he was on the Seinfeld.

[nicole lisa]

I think it may have started out as a very bad joke, but if you keep watching it becomes pretty real and the audience starts leaving and he walks off stage.

CNN did a little coverage and they talked to Paul Rodriguez (who was also on the bill) and an audience member and Paul talks a little about the limitations of free speech and Richards learning that. The audience only laughed at first until they realized it wasn't a joke anymore.

[SirPentor]

Originally Posted by nicole lisa

I think it may have started out as a very bad joke, but if you keep watching it becomes pretty real and the audience starts leaving and he walks off stage.

CNN did a little coverage and they talked to Paul Rodriguez (who was also on the bill) and an audience member and Paul talks a little about the limitations of free speech and Richards learning that. The audience only laughed at first until they realized it wasn't a joke anymore.

Fair enough. I found it boring so I only watched about the first half of it.

[Momtwice]

They're talking about it on my local TV news. They say he used "the N word" with some hecklers.

[kama'aina mama]

That was gross.

[SirPentor]

I've heard a couple "eye-witness accounts" accounts now--people calling in to a radio show that were at the show. One person said it was really bad and no-one thought it was funny and Richards was basically booed off the stage. One person said a few hecklers just wouldn't stop and Richards got really frustrated and that he's seen Richards several times and he's generally very good and doesn't do racist humor and there's no "history" here. interesting case, kind of. On the other hand it's just a stupid B-level commedian.

[SirPentor]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15816126/

LOS ANGELES - Michael Richards stunned a comedy club audience, shouting racial epithets at people who heckled him during a stand-up routine.

The 57-year-old actor-comedian, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," was performing at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood Friday night when he launched into the verbal rampage, according to video posted on TMZ.com.

The tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.

[SirPentor]

FYI, he's apologized on a talk show last night:
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?...c.msn.com/&fg=

[Houdini]

Anyone else find it interesting how there has been no outcry for the racial slur yelled by the patron?

http://www.nbc6.net/entertainment/10361311/detail.html

[thismama]

Originally Posted by Houdini

Anyone else find it interesting how there has been no outcry for the racial slur yelled by the patron?

You're totally right. I mean, the word 'cracka' calls forward the same social and historical significance as the n word.

Oh wait, no it doesn't.

[mama ganoush]

maybe now we know the real reason there was never any black people on Seinfeld.



disgusting.

[Houdini]

Originally Posted by thismama

You're totally right. I mean, the word 'cracka' calls forward the same social and historical significance as the n word.

Oh wait, no it doesn't.

Oh, sorry.......I didn't realize two wrongs made it alright. My bad.

Seriously.....the whole it's not as offensive, so it's alright line of thinking really isn't getting it for me.

[mama ganoush]

this is all over cnn and newspapers and other news outlet-it seems to me to be very relevant to news and current events.

[thismama]

Originally Posted by Houdini

Oh, sorry.......I didn't realize two wrongs made it alright. My bad.

Seriously.....the whole it's not as offensive, so it's alright line of thinking really isn't getting it for me.

What is not getting it for me is that people so often bring up much, *much* lesser offenses and shift the focus from the main issue to that. It serves to minimize and negate what actually happened, and I find it incredibly frustrating.

[Houdini]

Originally Posted by thismama

What is not getting it for me is that people so often bring up much, *much* lesser offenses and shift the focus from the main issue to that. It serves to minimize and negate what actually happened, and I find it incredibly frustrating.

Sorry you are frustrated. In the same respect though, it's frustrating to see one person nailed for racial slurs and another given an ok by some people b/c they don't feel the racial slur uttered by the other party was as offensive.

[thismama]

Originally Posted by Houdini

Sorry you are frustrated. In the same respect though, it's frustrating to see one person nailed for racial slurs and another given an ok b/c it isn't as offensive.

Well, it's not as offensive. Nowhere near as offensive. Even you have agreed with that. So, let's not derail the discussion from the main issue.

[Yoshua]

Originally Posted by thismama

What is not getting it for me is that people so often bring up much, *much* lesser offenses and shift the focus from the main issue to that. It serves to minimize and negate what actually happened, and I find it incredibly frustrating.

No such thing as a lesser 'racist' offense. All racism should be removed. Those who think that calling someone a racial slur of any origin are ignorant and are contributing to the problem.


Both slurs that occured are wrong, neither should happen. Richards apology was half hearted at best but in my opinion both parties should be apologizing for the wrongs they comitted, and Richards should be contemplating a new career, because if you can't handle a few hecklers with a calm, then you shouldn't be in Comedy.

[Houdini]

Originally Posted by thismama

Well, it's not as offensive. Nowhere near as offensive. Even you have agreed with that. So, let's not derail the discussion from the main issue.

I am sorry you are under the impression I agreed with you about this topic.

I don't agree with you. I said the whole line of thinking wasn't getting it for me and it's frustrating to see one person nailed for racial slurs and another given an ok b/c it isn't as offensive.

I will edit my response to clear up that misunderstanding.

As far as any derailment.......the topic is the Michael Richards video. That is just as much a part of the video as what Mr. Richards says.

[Yoshua]

Originally Posted by thismama

Well, it's not as offensive. Nowhere near as offensive. Even you have agreed with that. So, let's not derail the discussion from the main issue.

Try being a victim of a racist crime where you are getting beat down by an african american screaming 'F-ing Honkey, F-ing Cracker, give your watch B-' while kicking you in the groin and stomache and hitting you in the face and tell me 'honkey' and 'cracker' are not 'offensive'


Please, 'Cracker' may not have the 'historical' reference 'N-Bomb' does, but on personal levels it is a very traumatic word.


Saying one is ok, and the other is not is contributing to the problem this society faces with racism. Neither are 'ok'.