Safety in Boredom

I checked my e-mail this morning and found a missive defending the outrage over Ricky Gervais' hosting of the Golden Globes.  The letter writer does not read my blog, and nor is he a Facebook "friend."  I have refused to friend him simply because I know he would read what I write and be offended by it, and then I would get e-mails like the one that showed up in my inbox this morning.  I'm not going to reprint the entire thing here, as it would bore you.  However, you should note that Mr. X was under the impression that I watched the Golden Globes and that I would think the controversy over Gervais was ridiculous.  He was right about the latter.  My comments to his observations appear in brackets.

Mr. X thought Gervais went "way over the line" with "jokes about Jews and people's sexuality."  [I think drunks who insult Jews and then don't expect to get called on it go over the line.]  It was "uncalled for, unprofessional, and unfunny."  [It was definitely not unprofessional.  Gervais is a comedian.  That is what he is paid to do.]  An awards show, according to Mr. X, is "no place for comedy."  [Then why do they hire comedians?  Are the organizers of these award shows unaware of the hosts' daytime gigs?]  If a comedian "has to be used," they should go with "someone safe like Tim Allen or Hugh Grant."  [By 'safe' you mean 'boring.']  Otherwise, he states, they need to "stick to the professionals" and "not hire 'funny men.'"  [Professional award show hosts?  Who are these people?  Who would want to watch them?]

Mr. X was pretty certain I'd be upset over the fact that people were offended by "what were offensive jokes."  He suggested I "take a chill pill and realize that when you throw a bomb into the room you have to deal with the fallout."  [I have a problem with people equating words with bombs.  There's a term I hate.  'F Bomb.'  It's what people use when they don't want to say "fuck," because it will give cause their tongue to burst into flames or something.  If you are one of these people, here's what I want you to do.  Gather your loved ones in a room.  Stay at the door and yell, "Fuck!"  Wait five minutes.  Chances are your loved ones will still be in one piece.  Now take a grenade and throw it into the same room.  Wait five minutes.  The outcome is probably a bit different.  That's the difference between bombs and words.  See, you learned today!]

Mr. X pretty much epitomizes what my prior post was talking about.  He's the blissfully ignorant person who wonders through life with a smile and an expectation that nothing should ever offend him.  He just doesn't get it.

Speaking of not getting it, CNN jut reported that Regis Philbin is leaving his show.  This was reported as "just in" news.  I imagine that when this is what passes as news, it makes sense that you have a populace that becomes offended by people who poke fun at celebrities.

If you have anymore comments on this, please either comment here or on my Facebook page.  Otherwise I may run the e-mail with your name, e-mail address and all the misspellings intact.