Adventures in Pop Culture

This is old news, but then, I've been a bit busy in the real world lately.

Last month Phil Robertson, also known as Duck Dickweed, or Daffy Duck, or something- I'm not sure of his official title- gave an interview in which he ranted about gay people, and gave his twisted interpretation of Christian theology.  Also, he reminisced about how happy black people were in the South when he was a kid.  And I had a discussion on Facebook about it, in which people defended him (and I've seen loads of defenders since.)

Here are a few things that I need to say.

If you "support" this guy, you are not supporting the right to free speech.  What happened to him has nothing to do with that.  You are, however, supporting an ignorant, possibly delusional person who makes a lot of money from stupid people.

A+E briefly suspended him from the show, which they have every right to do (just as he has every right to say whatever he wants, and I have every right to say what I want.)  He has a contract with them, which he apparently breached.  I find it ironic that conservatives, who are all in favor of unfettered capitalism, don't seem to understand how contracts work.  And I'm glad they support free speech- I love it, and one minor reason for that love is that it lets the rest of us see and hear just how idiotic people can be.

I was told he was "just expressing his Christian beliefs" about gay people being the root of all evil.  I will point out the modifier "his," because it is important.  What he said is his interpretation of his religion.  It is most certainly not "Christian," much less decent or intelligent.  Plenty of Christians disagree with him.

And jeez, what he said about blacks in the South... I was just down in his state, and thankfully didn't run into anybody like him.  Apparently when he was growing up he never noticed any unhappy black people. And you know what?  Maybe he really didn't.  Maybe he was just oblivious, completely ignorant.  And that's fine- we're all like that sometimes.  Most of us, though, realize later that we missed things.  Certainly anyone who grew up down there has since read about all of the issues they might have missed at the time.  Well, okay, I'll withdraw that "certainly."  He obviously hasn't, and is doubly ignorant for saying something like that years later.  Of course, willful ignorance seems to be a theme among conservatives.

I don't know.  I've only seen his show briefly.  I don't like it, so I don't watch it.  Perhaps he could follow suit, and since he doesn't like gay sex, he doesn't have to partake.  He does seem oddly focused on men's anuses, though.

And I learned that apparently I'm part of the outrage industry.  But guess what?  I'm not getting upset over nothing, or about distortions of something someone said. I'm bothered by what he actually said.  And he hasn't tried to backpedal or clarify- he means it.  Sometimes people say and do outrageous things, so there is a reason to be outraged.  Although, I'm not really outraged, just annoyed and disgusted.  And I'm certainly not surprised.