Views & Reviews From Writer Steve Miller
Formerly Reviews and Stuff at Rotten Tomatoes, 2005 - 2009.

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Friday, July 1, 2011

Repeating My Advice to Public Figures:
NEVER Apologize! It Will Not Work.

A couple weeks ago, the not-terribly funny comedian Tracy Morgan came under fire for making some vicious jokes about murdering his son if he turned out to be a homosexual.

Tracy Morgan being unfunny (as usual).
Naturally, the "advocacy groups" and other self-righteous glory-hounds starting howling with mock outrage.

As often happens, Morgan groveled for forgiveness--which got him nothing except being held out to ridicule and abuse by those he whose forgiveness he sought.

Now, Morgan is in the exact same situation again, only this time it's not The Gays that are mad, but the advocates for the Retarded.

Entertainment Weekly: Again? Tracy Morgan Under Fire for ‘Retarded’ Jokes

If there's anything that comedians, actors, performers of every stripe--even politicians--and other people in the public eye can learn from Morgan and others who have been in his situation, it's that it NEVER does you any good to start apologizing for what you say and do when "advocacy groups" start assailing you with faux outrage and indignant histrionics. All that happens is that they and their fellow publicity-seeking parasites--sorry, concerned representatives of community groups and non-profit organizations--will sense weakness and will come after you even harder.

Your best option--ONLY option, really--is to double-down and tell them to go screw themselves. And then make a few more jokes of the stripe that supposedly offended them.

Apologize to your friends and loved ones if you hurt or anger them, but don't EVER let yourself be forced into asking forgiveness from those who are just waiting to pounce on you because the make a living taking offense and your humiliation becomes a line on their resume. Stand up for yourself. Don't let yourself be bullied. It will gain you nothing but more contempt.

Think about it. Is there a single actor or politician who as gained ANYTHING from sucking up to the professionally over-sensitive "activists" who have infested American culture over the past 25 years? I can't think of a single person.

The response any public figure should issue when
those who make a living taking offense demand apologies.

1 comment:

  1. LMAO this is great and in some cases so true. Public apologies are pretty useless for the most part.

    ReplyDelete