I just finished polishing off a scathing review of Michael Richa–excuse me, Michael Irwin’s racist act on the Dan Patrick show. But while I was writing it, I wondered:
Why wouldn’t I feel the same way about Charles Barkey?
This stems from an episode of TNT NBA Thursday, where Barkley made some pretty sexist comments–as a joke, one that he had made before on the air. To paraphrase what he said, quoting a message board:
“You never buy a women (sic) a watch cause theres a clock on the stove!”
That may not be it exactly, and it was clear he was joking. But Michael Irwin was joking too. Essentially, Barkley made a joke that hearkened back to the Archie Bunker days of “stifle, Edith” and dinner on the table as soon as the alpha male got home from work. Should that be tolerated? How come nobody makes a big deal out of that? There were around 1.5 million people watching TNT that night, and yet there was no big stink made out of those comments.
Are they not offensive? Maybe everyone understands the context, and knows Barkley doesn’t believe that. But then again, what about Michael Irwin? Irwin didn’t believe what he was saying (hopefully), and he got properly roasted for what he said. Rush Limbaugh and Michael Richards are different; their comments were serious. The same can be said for Howard Cosell (whose comments were very unfortunately taken completely out of context and continue to be) and Al Campanis. They all meant what they said.
Are jokes different or more reprehensible? On last night’s Family Guy, the funniest moment was when Stewie asked Brian what kind of man he would be if he abandoned his wife. Brian answered “A black man”, which was followed by shock by both he and Stewie. I’m black, and I hate generalizations of blacks, but I laughed out loud.
That still doesn’t explain the repulsion at Michael Irwin.
The difference may be that Irwin’s comments referred to slavery and not a stereotype alone. Obviously, if Barkley were to make a joke about something reprehensible like spousal abuse or rape, nobody would have laughed and he’d be out on his ass. Irwin making reference specifically to the most shameful chapter in American history is partly to blame for the fact that people are tearing him apart.
