Tone? I don't care about tone at a website. I've stated that repeatedly. This isn't The Atlantic. Were it, I would have to strive for better tone. Nor have I presented myself as the caring and wonderful. Check the archives, I've stated I'm not a nice person, I've self-confessed to being an ass and a bitch.
If you're confusing my criticism of the nastiness with "I would never do that," you're missing a great deal before you including, in yesterday's snapshot, " I'm all for taking stands, I'm all for calling out and I can be
bitchier than anyone but when you accuse someone of wanting to kill,
you've crossed a line and what's really sad is you are so far gone into a
world of hatred that you can't even see that."
Ellen Barkin's the one who accused Clint Eastwood of wanting to kill someone but Jason Biggs has gone too far as well. He may lose his job as a result. When you've got no movie roles, when you've got not TV roles and you need to pay bills, you don't piss on your voice work for basic cable. Jason Biggs wrote inexcusable Tweets. They were sexist and vulgar. His dreams/fantasies/fear of women's bodies is on him and he can certainly explore that but he can't lash out at women's bodies and savage women and pretend that he's offered something the world either needed or wanted.
Does he also not remember Barack in 2008 agreeing candidate's families were off limits?
How does Jason Biggs attacking the wives of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, writing about how he pictures their anuses, etc., help Barack?
It doesn't. He already is seen as too close too celebrities by a segment of the public and along comes Jason Biggs feeding into every negative stereotype of the free floating notion of "Hollywood."
Now the campaign is tainted by Jason's Tweets. How did that help Barack?
The hate didn't help anyone and the only people agreeing with Jason were already (a) hateful and (b) going to vote for Barack.
There's another section of people who would like to vote for Barack though. And Jason's little stunt can be off putting to them. Jason's little stunt can be seen as so vulgar that they either don't vote or they vote for another candidate.
Ann Romney is not a valid target. There are journalists writing for allegedly respected publications (the Seattle Times to name one sewer) that can't seem to grasp that. Janna Ryan is not a valid target either. If you have a problem with Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan who are running for public office, that's your target. When you get vulgar and sexist about two women who's only 'crime' is being married to a politician, a certain partisan crazy will cheer you on but the greater part of America will recoil in horror.
That's due in part to the fact that the partners of politicians do not make policy and it's also due to the fact that most of us are smart enough to realize a married couple is not gene splicing. A married couple is two people. They may agree in part on some issues, they may agree fully on some issues, they may agree on everything and to the same extent or they may agree on very little. You have to be really stupid and small minded to assume that because two people love each other, they march in lock-step on every issue.
Maybe people who can't get that have never had real relationships? They've either not been involved or when involved have never been able to see the person before them as anything but an extension of themselves?
I have no idea. But Jason Biggs is hurting his already troubled career and is hurting Barack's election chances. He needs to issue an apology.
Then there's Ellen Barkin.
I like Ellen, I know Ellen. I don't like what she's been Tweeting for several weeks now.
And I really don't like whining.
I have many friends who are talented and would love to be working but can't book a job. Ellen's had trouble with that herself in the past but right now she's on the verge of her biggest success ever with her new sitcom. So why is she trying to ensure that it flops?
That's what her Tweets are doing. She's running off potential viewers every day. And if this show tanks, NBC's going to put the word out on Ellen and she will be unemployable at which point it will be whining because Ellen didn't have the brains to realize that when you have a new show, your goal is to talk it up and get as many people interested in it as possible, not to run around spewing hate and making people not want to tune in.
It will be whining on Ellen's part if the show tanks because she brought it on herself. I'm not in the mood. Mike wrote about Biggs and Ellen last night and included this:
C.I. can tell you all about an actress who made similar moves and
destroyed her own career. She went on Letterman and insulted her own
show which was getting great ratings. The network never forgave the
actress and blacklisted her. As a result, she's never appeared on the
major networks again really. She would audition for lead roles,
supporting roles and guest roles. She'd get called back over and over
but when the network brass got involved, she'd always be passed over.
12 years after she killed her own show, the same network allowed her to
be a bit player guest on an episode of a popular show when the producer
demanded she be cast. Even that didn't result in a career re-birth.
Now her career's over and everyone but her seems to know it.
Yes, I can talk about that. The woman starred in three huge hits in the 1970s. She also starred in a classic film that's probably what she'll be best remembered for (the film was directed by a good friend of mine). By the 80s, the years and the coke and other things had been hard. And it was TV time for her. As Mike notes, she went on TV when she finally had a hit and trashed the show. Made rude remarks about it, about the scripts, about the production, about what a turkey it was, etc. The network was furious. She did not work again for years. Even now, she can't book a US job, not a good one, nothing respectable. She destroyed her career. Her network put the word out on her and ensured that no one else wanted her crazy.
Why hire ____ when you could hire a Faye Dunaway or someone else who would go out there and promote the show? Why hire someone who's going to alienate the audience? Make fun of the people who watch the show?
Ellen's in that position right now. I hope the show's a hit. It's funny. But if it flops, the network is not going to blame the producers. The rest of the cast is not going to be blamed. It's Ellen who's spewed hate on Twitter for weeks now and who has given interviews resulting in headlines that instruct people not to watch the show,. Who will be in trouble? Ellen and only Ellen.
I'm sorry that no one seems have to any brains these days but let me repeat that if you want a career in the performing arts, you cannot piss off the public. Who do you think you will performing before?
That's why I think Jackson Browne, Ann and Nancy Wilson and others are so stupid when they whine that some Republican used their song. Oh, boo, hoo. Get over it. Bruce Springsteen's always had the good grace to just note that he wouldn't vote for whatever candidate and then leave it alone. That's because you don't want to piss off half the country. Heart's got an album coming out. I've heard three tracks and it's solid. But they've lost some listeners by whining about "Barracuda." Just grow up, people. Because someone decided "Rock Me On The Water" spoke to them did not mean that they agreed to vote the way you do or eat what you do or dress like you or anything else.
But liking "Rock Me On The Water" did mean they'd be interested in seeing you in concert, did mean they'd be interested when you released a new album.
Did mean that.
Doesn't to some now. Because, surprise, surprise, conservatives like music too. Why do you think Rush uses the Pretenders as bumper music? (Or did in the 90s.) And when you have your little temper tantrum and get your 'yeah, yeah!' from a partisan freak show, it doesn't mean a damn thing.
The idiots logging on to some page to say you were great to pull your song from whatever campaign? They're blogging for political reasons. Those don't translate into sales.
But those Heart fans who are Republicans? They did buy your records. They did buy tickets to your shows. And now you've just pissed on them and you think you can put out an album and tour and expect them to support you?
That's not how it works.
I'm for taking brave stands, offline I'm known for being against war, I'm seen as flaky and a hundred other things depending upon the reporter writing the story. But I have never made a point to piss off people who like my offline work. I've never said, "Oh, I'm a Democrat so you Republicans have to find something else to do."
For artists having a fit when a political candidate uses their song at a rally, they need to realize the recording industry is in an awful state and you really can't afford to piss off your fans. Now is not the time to be shedding fans.
Somewhere along the way, and we'll try to tackle this at Third, a lot of hate's been thrown around. And it makes no sense at all. It does not help elect people and it doesn't help anyone's career. But it does ensure that there are new walls built up dividing people across the country. Thursday's snapshot opened with Mitt Romney's plan re: veterans in college getting in-state tuition rate. We noted that in Wednesday's snapshot as well. That's a great idea.
I will not be voting for Mitt Romney. My plan is not to vote (if that changed or changes, I'd be voting for Jill Stein). The fact that I'm not voting for Mitt doesn't mean I ignore a great proposal.
That would be so easy to do -- in-state tuition -- and would have such an impact on veterans lives. But we're so busy flinging crap at one another that we can't even talk about the ideas that were presented, good ones that would help people. If this idea had gotten the traction it needed, Barack would probably be saying it was a good idea and signing on as well. That's what should be happening. But it can't because instead of looking at an idea for its own merits, we're collectively playing a game of destroy-the-other-side. It's ugly and it helps no one.
And when someone as bitchy as me notices that, it means it has really gotten out of control.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
