A serious thought on Richards
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this, and find myself having very mixed emotions about the now famed Michael Richards outburst during a performance at “The Laugh Factory” last Friday night.After an eight minute tirade aimed at a table of hecklers, using such racial slurs as “nigger” and “monkey”, Richards caused the entire venue to clear out in a blur of boos and finger pointing. He too ultimately dropped the mic in anger and left the stage. All of this, of course, was caught on video. A moment in history that many in the industry feel the former Seinfeld star will be hard pressed to live down. True: his actions were clearly out of line, but what “really” happened here? Was there to be a comeback/punch line, or did he just spin out of control?
“Getting the shaft” comes to mind. And this is why:
Sources from the club (namely local comedians from previous performances that Thursday, and early Friday night) reported that the table of “ethnic” gentleman had been there two nights in a row. Moreover, they had been nothing less than “…a pain in the fucking ass!” to any and all that had the balls to hit the stage at the famous California hotspot that saw such comedians as Rodney Dangerfield and Robin Williams make the grade. So what happened? Did they finally go too far, or did they just ultimately launch the perfect missile of bullshit they so sought?
I personally will be more than happy to take a world of shit by saying –I truly feel for the guy. After nearly a decade for trying to live down the “Kramer” persona, Richards was bound to have a moment of uncontrolled emotion.
Was it meant for the three black men in the back? I should say not. They happened to be African American -and fuckholes. It could have just as easily been a Caucasian….or hell, even an Arab. Would we be having this conversation if he screamed “towel head” eighteen times? Certainly a question to ponder over a cold beer.
Through frustration Richards took the situation too far, but to label him a racist is, in my opinion, going too far as well.
I support Michael Richards (without entering any plea of racism myself) and his continuing struggle to rebuild a career that I have admired as far back as his role of the crazy butler in “Transylvania 6500.” I challenge all of you to think long and hard about the judgments being slung his direction.
Plug along Michael Richards- this fan forgives you.
F U
posted by Frank Upton at 8:05 AM
2 Comments:
Very well said, Frank! As humble, idiotic humans, we want to draw conclusions and opinions based solely on what we get from the media. You sound like you have done a little homework and research and base your OPINION on what you have found. This is your opinion....your blog space....you can right any damn thing you want!!
Keep up the good work!
Obviously what Richards said was very racist, but he was in a rage. I've gone completely insane in a fit of rage in my mere 21 years of life, and said alot of things i'd regret. When you're in a rage at someone, or a group of people, you say whatever the hell is going to offend them the most, if you were worried about the things you were saying it wouldn't be called a rage induced tirade. I am with you Frank, not only do I support Richards fully, I feel bad for the guy. How many rappers, and ethnic comedians use the white man as the sole basis of their jokes...white crackers can't dance, white crackers have no culture, white crackers are boring, white crackers this and that and everyone in the crowd laughs. If you ever tune in to a comedy segment at the Apollo theater, and you see a whole set that has no racist implications about white s in the set....send me an email i'd like to hear about that shocker. Double Standard.
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