He opened his mouth and hate spilled.
So, Elle tagged me to tell a story in six words. And I wanted to say something about the Isaiah Washington situation. So, I'm killing two birds with one stone in this post. Above is my attempt at the story in six words. And although the tag didn't say I could use visuals, I found this image and it seemed to fit. At first, I thought 'this brother really needs to think before he starts spewing.' But then I thought no, that's not the problem. The problem is his homophobia. The problem is he has issues that he needs to deal with. The problem is not that he should think before he speaks, but that he should deal with his hatred. There is enough hate in the world. He should take a hint from this image of himself and shut up. And then he should do some soul searching and get some help.
That's my two cents. What do you all think?
(Oh and for those who don't know he is one of the stars of the show Grey's Anatomy and he used a homophobic slur to refer to one of his co-stars. It's been all over the news.)
Much love and peace,
Gwyneth
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Two birds with one stone... (Because Elle tagged me again and I have something to say about Isaiah)
Posted by Gwyneth Bolton at 1:38 PM
Labels: Commentary, Popular Culture, Tag I'm It
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
Oh, I can't read this one, Gwyneth! One of my most beloved characters is named Isaiah. I'm just not tough enough.
Isaiah should engage his brain before putting his mouth in gear, especially if he wants to continue the great ride he's having on a top TV show.
My issue is why people insist on calling it "homophobia" when most of the time it's not fear, it's disgust. Those of us who believe God's Word see homosexuality in a different light than what's popular and accepted by the rest of the world.
On another note, I think the word Isaiah used is akin to the N word, they can and do use it about themselves, but no one else should.
Kimber An -- Awww... sorry...
Chicki -- Yes, Isaiah should engage his brain before opening his mouth. I especially don't like the fact that he is bringing so much negative attention to the sistah's show... But that's another story.
As for homophobia, I think that people call it that because most of the time the hatred comes from fear. People typically do hate what they fear or don't understand. I think that most deep hatred is based in fear. Racism is a clear example of that. The first time Isaiah used the word, in his fight with McDreamy, when he said, I'm not your little "f-word," that didn't have anything to do with God, in my opinion. That's hate. That's hate based in his own fear about his own masculinity. And that's what he needs to check in my opinion.
Much love and peace,
Gwyneth
Oh, I'm right there with you on Isaiah, Gwen. He really should know by now not to open his mouth on that subject. Just let it go.
I would have to agree that his homophobia is based on fear and hate, we often hate what we fear or fear what we hate. I will also have to chime in with seeing homosexuality in a different light due to being a christian should not inspire hate, disgust or fear. My understanding is that christians are about love. You can feel a certain way about an act, but not about a person. And those feelings should not manifest themselves in the form of slurs. Especially over and over again. We can all probably figure what would have occurred had Isiah been called a certain word. I like Isaiah as an actor but that doesnt mean I have to condone his foolishness, or inappropriate remarks....
love and blessings,
angelia
Kari -- I know. All he had to do was shut up at the Golden Globes. He wasn't even near a microphone. Dude had to go way out of his way to go to a microphone just to spew that nonsense. He could have just let that slide. Shonda was at the microphone answering questions and here he comes... i just get irritated thinking about it.
Angelia -- I know. I agree with you. I like him as an actor too. I love him on the show. I think he's a dynamic part of the cast. I think the show would suffer with out him. But that's neither here nor there with his public hate speech. I think we need to start calling people out more, even--maybe especially--the people we really like. We let too much crap slide, in my opinion.
i was going to say something trite like, "he was way outta line," but outta line is too tame a phrase to use when it comes to hate speech.
i am unimpressed by his apologies, much as i was by michael richards's. though i cannot be an accurate judge of their motivations, i sense trying-to-save-my-career.
chicki, i understand where you're coming from, but there are lots of people that Christians might have issues with. the only ones i can think of that Christians feel free to use slurs for are gays and "promiscuous" women. there is definitely fear and judgment wrapped up in that.
I don't watch Grey's so I have no comment on this jerks character.
I do think your 6 word story is very appropriate (considering the backstory and the visual. :D )
You're just so talented!!! I think you need to give a workshop. give me time, and I'll think of one for you. (ha!)
This is the BEST solution I've seen so far for the situation from singer John Mayer. Wouldn't it be a hoot if the powers that be at GA actually did this????
"I would like to offer my suggestion for a solution; produce an episode of Grey's Anatomy in which Mr. Washington's character, Dr. Burke comes out to his friends and colleagues as a gay man!!! What better way for an actor to get to the roots of his discrimination than by portraying the very the subject of his own ire for the remainder of his contract? That'll learn ya!"
Elle -- I agree. I'm unimpressed by his apologies, especially since this is the second time. When will he learn? How many times?
Barbie Jo -- Thanks and ummm... Don't stress yourself out thinking of a workshop for me to do. It's really okay. Really... ;-) LOL.
Michelle -- You're right. This would be a great solution. But it would mean the end of my favorite couple on the show... Oh well, he has to learn...
I'm confused about what's really going on with this Isaiah Washington scandal. He claims he never called his co-star by that term. The only quotes I've seen from the other actor were obviously taken out of context. Michelle offers a great suggestion to have Mr. Washington play a gay man. However, Mr. Washington did play a gay man in Spike Lee's Get On The Bus. He even earned a GLAD award for his work in that role. I think there's a lot of misinformation circulating on this issue. It's hard to tell who's telling the truth. My two cents.
Gwyn:
Have I ever mentioned that I don't *do* pop culture? Your blog is the 1st I heard of this. I don't like giving "power" to ignorant people.
Patricia -- The first time he did not call him that directly to his face. It happened when he had the fight on set with Patrick Dempsy and he said to Dempsy that he wasn't like Knight he wasn't going to be his little f-word. That caused Knight to come out of the closet officially. That was just about blowing over when he used the word again at the Golden Globes. He said "I did not call TR Knight a f-word." People are upset now because one, he actually did and two the way he spewed the word at the Golden Globes. I saw him in Get on the Bus. He's a great actor. I think he deserved a GLAD award for that role. But that really doesn't change this current situation.
Miz M -- You have mentioned that you don't do pop culture. I think I do enough for the both of us. :-)
Call me ignorant, call me prejudice, call me whatever. But until this incident I didn't know that "f-word" deserved or should be in quotes and not spoken aloud. Didn't know it had such a negative connotation, so hence I didn't see anything with what he said in an arguement to someone else. I just don't see the big deal. If they say its like the N word. I'll take their word for it and not use it. (Though I never have I usually say gay).
I mean its not like its not said all the time its not even blanked out on TV. Never heard any protests or people talking about how hateful a word it is. So hell...guess I'll chaulk this up to a learning lesson.
And in that maybe its a good thing. I've never seen such sensitivity to the word before this incident. So maybe now it will be blocked out of TV (cause if they would have said the N word on regular tv it would have been beeped out). Maybe people will know it's just as insulting as all the other insulting words. Hell I learned and I KNOW I'm not the only one out there.
I think everyone is being way too hard on Isaiah. Yes I do agree there should be some ramification for his actions. However, people were not as harsh on Kramer when he went on his “N-word” tyranny. We accepted his apology, debated if he was actually racist on numerous talk shows, but we did not go as far as to have Kramer committed into a rehabilitation institution. Why can’t we and GLAD accept his apology, so we can all move on with our lives.
Kimberly -- As a hate slur I think it should be. That's just me.
Deeprootedconfusion -- The brother checked himself into rehab to save his job. Maybe if Kramer was still relevant and in the public eye or had a hit show or something there would have been a call for him to pay some penance to stay in the public eye. Even Mel Gibson had to get some help after his Anti-Semetic rant. That's just the way it is.
interesting...my thoughts on that here: http://theoriginalblowersdaugtr.blogspot.com/2007/01/elle-waxes-isaiah-washington.html
Post a Comment