ONE FROM THE CRIMINALLY IDIOTIC FILES...50 & Gilbert's Tsunami Jokes

[juicefree20]

I understand that some folks need to try to cope with tragedy in their own way, but this is totally inane!

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_50_cent_jokes_about_japan_earthquake_tsunami_cr azy_white_boys_gonna_try_to_go_su.html

I find nothing remotely funny about any of that & obviously,neither did Aflac...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42077726/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets?GT1=43001

Which only serves as further proof that some folks simply need to permanently remove themselves from Twitter & any social networks. They have ceased to allow their brains to consider their actions before pressing send, an affliction which is going to someday prove to be far more costly than they could ever realize.

That is, until AFTER they press send.

What is it about people wanting to be heard or believing that their every utterance is one of profundity, that they would jeopardize their livelihoods, or make themselves appear to be perfect idiots?

Ahhhhh...technology.She giveth & she taketh away!

[chidrummer]

On the one hand, this is ridiculous. Who cares what these people are saying on Twitter? These two are not politicians they're entertainers. The comments are just random [[without)thoughts. People are doing the same thing all over the place. Bad jokes are by nature inappropriate. Since when are 50cent and Gilbert Gottfried taken seriously? Me thinks we have become trey sensitive.

[tamla617]

i dont think it was that bad,but what they both said,they shouldnt have,not in public,they must be mad.its called gallows humour,whenever there is a tragedy,the antidote is humour i can remember jokes from tragedies and disasters.the jokes are instant too, out as soon as the news is out i was expecting far worse when i saw the thread index,i dont know why people bother tweeting.cant see the point,its all crap.

shows what an idiot he is when he mentions his hoes??what a stupid remark to make,what kind of example is he setting?what a w****r!

[pshark]

Remember miss jones? What is wrong with people?
http://www.thesuperficial.com/miss_jones_and_the_tsunami_son-01-2005

[juicefree20]

ChiD:

I usually agree with you but I can't on this one & I'll tell you why.

As for Gilbert, it is indeed a big deal when a guy is making the jokes that he did before the bodies of the victims have even gone cold. If he had tossed off one of his "gems", that would've been one too many. But this guy was the gift that kept giving, he came up with 12 different witticisms.

While an estimated 10,000 people are still accounted for, he comes up with crap such as this...

"I just broke up with my girlfriend, but there'll be another one floating along..."
"Japan is really advanced. They don't go to the beach. The beach comes to them..."
"What does every Japanese person have in their apartments...flood lights"

Then with the spectre of exploding nuclear reactors & the potential for calamity on a global scale, he compares the Japanese to Howard Stern as regards radio activity?

And obviously realizing that he just might've messed up, he comes up with this...
"Japan called me. They said "maybe those jokes are a hit in the US, but over here, they're all sinking."

All of this while images of images of that devastation is coming through our screens & in the newspapers daily. And what makes him even more ridiculous is the fact that the company who he serves as the voice for happens to do 75% of heir business where...

In Japan!

As for our other tweeter, talking about women worrying about losing shoes in a tsunami, while the bodies of thousands are washing up on shores is irresponsible & making light of any tragedy, especially one of such magnitude should be discussed. These guys make their living through the good graces of the public. If Imus could be castigated for the remarks that he made in which NO life was lost, how much moreso for these two, where the loss of life has yet to be tabulated, but estimated to be in the thousands?

While true that these guys are just entertainers, even entertainers should know that there are certain lines that you just don't cross & some entertainers have paid for making similar slip-ups. And right here in this forum, we've regularly gotten all over entertainers whom have said or done inappropriate things. At one time or another, we've all done this so it seems to me that indeed, what entertainers say & do does matter to us, even if it's making inappropriate remarks that are not related to tragedies. Our archives will bear that out.

There have been precedents set about the behavior of celebrities in times such as this. How about Cipha Sounds, the N.Y. DJ who rightfully caught much hell for his tasteless joke directed toward Haitians after they suffered their tragic earthquake last year? When Aaliyah died, a N.Y. DJ was suspended for playing sounds of an airplane crashing & as I recall it, a DJ from another station stated on the air that he wished that some more Rappers/Singers had been in the plane with her.

In 2005, another DJ was suspended for participating in reworking the lyrics to "We Are The World", linking them to the tsunami that killed over 100,000 Asians. Ironically, the DJ who participated in this had walked off of her show when the DJ played the crash sound effects when Aaliyah died. Needless to say, there was a huge firestorm about it & the protests of the Asian community led to her & others being suspended, the guy who wrote the lyrics was fired & they lost several of their sponsors. Ironically though she walked off of the previous show, she was suspended just the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WQHT

How about Opie & Anthony, on-air personalities/entertainers who were suspended, then fired for enticing listeners to perform sexual acts in landmark places in N.Y.? Their "contest" was sponsored by a beer company & the company went so far as to give the winners prizes in the way of concerts that the company sponsored. Unfortunately, some folks took their comedian up on his dare to have sex in St. Patricks Cathedral. hen the guard intervened, the comedian decided to argue with him & he called the police, who arrested the couple. It was only AFTER the Catholic League demanded their firing, then threatened to go after the station's license, that the station silenced them, in effect firing them with pay.

They lost their jobs, the station was fined more than $350,000, their ratings dropped lower than they already were & ended up changing their format entirely. And they weren't the idiots who actually followed up on a dare, but they caugt hell just the same.

Then there was the situation with Imus & the young ladies from Rutgers. Now he made a rather crass joke & even though he was an entertainer, it didn't stop just about every group from going after him, planning boycotts against the sponsors of his shows & demanding that he be fired immediately. He also had a meeting with the heads of Rutgers & the young ladies whom he had insulted & pretty much had to humble himself in front of the world.

And not one person had died, nor was killed by his "joke".

I also remember that one of the arguments used against him was that he was a public figure with a listenership of millions & therefore had an obligation to speak responsibly & show sensitivity to all. And just about everyone here agreed with that sentiment. So yes, what entertainers say DOES matter & people DO pay attention to what they say.

Or does that need for sensitivity only extend to Imus or are people only worried about such things when the barbs are directed toward people who look like them, or when tragedy occurs elsewhere?

How did we feel when "entertainers" made a hero such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the butt of their jokes? Or any other of our heroes, for that matter? Very few accepted their words as mere jokes, nor do we find their jokes at our expense to be very funny, nor are we willing to accept them very well [[see Imus).

Where are all of the leaders & moralists who were screaming back then & why haven't I read where even one of these folks have taken either to task? Doesn't quite strike me as being balanced, nor any justice for all. If anything, their silence strikes me as more than a bit hypocritical & seems to suggest that some folks are only riled up when painful words are directed toward them & theirs.

If you still feel that what either says isn't worth commentary, I'll ask you one question...

Exactly how would we have felt had either made those kind of jokes while people were standing on rooftops, waiting to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina hit, or someone made tire or pickup truck jokes following the death of James Byrd?

We wouldn't be laughing at jokes about tragedies such as those because there's nothing funny about them. Nor was there anything remotely funny about this. And if it was correct for Imus, an entertainer just like these guys are to have to face the music, then it stands to reason that the same must apply to both of these entertainers.

Anything else is hypocrisy.

[chidrummer]

Point taken, Juice. But, I still say we need to also be careful not to come down so hard on what is simply bad taste. I just think we all need to be stronger than that. The tweets were made and would have faded away if the media didn't make such a big deal out of them. In that sense, the comments got much more attention than they deserved.

We've seen this happen before [[Al Campanos comes to mind) but I'm always a little uneasy when people want to take away people's jobs just for the dumb stuff that they say; especially when these same people don't have the power implement anything. What worries me much more are those people who have the power to change lives and some of the crazy things they not only say, but actually get away with. By comparison these comments just seem trivial to me.

[juicefree20]

ChiD

I can respect what you're saying & I do agree.

It wasn't very popular, but I remember stating here that I didn't believe that Imus should've lost his job for what he said & I still feel that he was dragged not just under the bus, but was tossed under a train, as well. I believed that he was an easy target & got lambasted for making jokes, jokes that many others have gotten off scot-free for making, in fact, jokes far worse than he made.

I definitely agree that no one should lose their job because they speak like an idiot & seemingly have no understanding of what is appropriate. I also believe that it's the fact that society seems to reward this foolishness [[see the 2 mil friends that Charlie Sheen's picked up during his meltdown), which leads to people forever pushing the envelope further off the curb.

But in Gilbert's case, we was working for a company who does 75% of their business in Japan. Given the current circumstances, he had to realize that his jokes weren't going to go over very well with the people of Japan whom are worrying & that displeasure was going to be visited upon his company. for that alone, he deserved his fate. Neither you nor I would've survived had we done what he did & under this paricular set of circumstance, I have no problem with himlosing his job because he's not some fresh-faced kid just starting out.

Now let's say that such a tragedy had occurred in Israel. Would Gilbert have been so foolish as to make jokes about that? In today's climate, would Gilbert go around making tweets that mocked gays or blacks? No way in the world because if he did we'd all be so far up is butt, we'd find the remnants of a sandwich that he ate when he was in the third grade.

Currently, there is a pretty big facebook discussion where the merits of Tyler Perry's "Madea" movies are being discussed. Some are suggesting that he's doing more harm to blacks than good. My feeling about that is that he's doing no more of a disservice to our image, than 25 years of mysoginistic song lyrics, video vixens, R&B murders on wax & ignorant youtube posting have done. Tyler's movies are just that, movies. Those youtube depictions unfortunately are all too real.

I believe that we need to remember how to laugh at ourselves sometimes & not be overly sensitive about some things. But in the face of extreme tragedy, I believe that a little discretion & compassion is called for.

I absolutely see your point & I do agree with you.

[smark21]

Point taken, Juice. But, I still say we need to also be careful not to come down so hard on what is simply bad taste. I just think we all need to be stronger than that. The tweets were made and would have faded away if the media didn't make such a big deal out of them. In that sense, the comments got much more attention than they deserved.

We've seen this happen before [[Al Campanos comes to mind) but I'm always a little uneasy when people want to take away people's jobs just for the dumb stuff that they say; especially when these same people don't have the power implement anything. What worries me much more are those people who have the power to change lives and some of the crazy things they not only say, but actually get away with. By comparison these comments just seem trivial to me.

Just read a comment at Andrew Sullivan's blog that with Twitter and Youtube everyone who posts there is now a public figure.

[chidrummer]

I agree with both writers, smark21. That pretty much where I stand. You can tell by the comments, some people get it, some people don't. As the song goes, ain't that America?

Juice, I wonder if Gilbert knew anything about Aflac's client base? I sure never heard anything about it until 48 hours ago.