Michael Richards Rant
So I'm sure everyone has seen the video of Michael "Kramer" Richards responding to a heckler with a hard-to-believe racist rant. When I first read about this, I was skeptical that it was that bad. But the video removes all doubt--it was much worse than the initial story led one to believe.
But this isn't one of those "condemn racism" posts--of course, racism is evil. But here's my thought on this. If you watch the video, don't you get the sense that Richards is "hepped up on goofballs," as Chief Wiggam might say? It's a short clip, but he sure as hell comes across as . . . under-the-influence of some illicit substance.
This is not to excuse Richards's words; high or not, there's no excuse. But my thoughts on watching the video.
posted by Number Three @ 7:20 AM
1 Comments:
Did you see the apologia on Letterman? One of the most interesting things about it was how raw, unscripted, and unpolished it was (very un-Hollywood). He looked like he had been run over by a truck--just in a complete state of shock at his own behavior.
Seinfeld and DL kept trying to give him the "responding to hecklers" excuse, but he wouldn't take it. He called his remarks "crap," "angry," "hateful," and a "rage." I don't know if he was apologizing more from genuine guilt and remorse or from knowledge of its affect on his career and reputation. But he certainly didn't seek to minimize the sin. It was a very unusual apology in our PR-gloss era: its very awkwardness gave it the look (at least to me) of authenticity. I can understand why many blacks would be reluctant to accept his apology, but is there any such possible apology that would be accepted?
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