wakefresh

This was a good ass episode! I love it when you and the guests talk about issues that involve intersectionality.

But he jumped through a number 42 in Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets, who are not known to be Douglas Adams fans. They had a big ceremony where they retired Jackie Robinson's number in commemoration of baseball's integration several years ago. So, he's either happy because he's a baseball fan and liked Jackie Robinson, or he's happy because he didn't like Jackie Robinson and he's destroying a physical representation of the man's legacy.

So people can be racist dicks to you, and Joshie feels that you should first assume they have social anxiety disorder and let them be, because the racist's feelings should be privileged over your own. Then he goes on to say that racial mircoaggressions should take a back seat to mental strain microaggressions (whatever the fuck that is). Stop using language meant to point out racial imbalances to give cover to racists.

You called the "struggles" of red hair people an accepted from of "race hate." Pfchangs gave you examples of race hate. If the "struggles" of red hair people don't match up or exceed this, then you're just talking bullshit.

I got the point just fine, Joshie. White privilege is "clumsy" and a "clunky" phrase because there was this one white guy who was broke this one time.

It doesn't seem racist to you at all. If white people mockingly wearing traditional attire from other countries isn't racist, then you definitely don't think someone telling white people to wear white people clothes is racist. And no one is called a redneck by their tanlines -- they are called rednecks because they are ignorant assholes, tanlines be damned.

People are hated on all the time because of what they are born into -- i.e, the hate against poor people of color in this country -- so I think Armen's rich ass can take it.

By "some" people, you mean ONE PERSON. Everyone is just saying he's terribly boring and unfunny. And you have to give Sgt. Bunny a pass, I have it on good authority that Armen had sex with his girlfriend, mother, and cousin...at the same time...and gave them herpes to boot!

Armen is the Roy Hibbert of comedy...laying goose eggs all over the place.

I think he fell asleep during class alot, atleast that's how I like to rationalize it.

Joshie, after reading your comment, it is clear that you do not understand white privilege at all, probably because you are directly benefiting from it. White privilege is not about money; it is about access. So, the poor white folks in Appalachia that you bring up (which only makes up .0000001 percent of the white population in this country, BTW), still have more access than any of Chris Rock's children will ever have --- and he's rich! White privilege is not being treated like a criminal every time you leave your house. It is being given the benefit of the doubt that you are a human being that has intelligence and feelings. It is not losing your job because you are not a "cultural fit." It is not being The Other. Your feeling that word is "clunky" is one shared by many of the privileged group because very few of you can wrap your mind around the idea that the way you have been treated is better than other people. And God forbid something tragic happen in one your lives, then it's all, "My parents died when I was 10! Was that privileged?! White people have pain too!" But what about the black child whose parents have died? He has to deal with that AND the fact that society sees him as a future criminal, no matter what he does. Buddy, the word is perfect and fits exactly all of the parameters you stated -- privileged in prerogatives; privileged by choice; and privilege by the system and laws.

A little kid?! This person is 16-years-old; not a 3-year-old. They are a teenager; not a child, or a kid. They should know better. The fact that they have lived 16 years on this planet and have not figured out that because you like Japanese stuff doesn't make you trans-Japanese. It is a stupid, stupid argument that even other 16-year-olds understand is dumb as hell. But Gabe did say something that is telling -- many white people they do consider themselves "children" until they are 29, and treat non-white children as full grown adults.

I love that he took this show live!

On a related note, why do all minorities name the Uncle Toms of their race after snacks? Asians (Far East and Subcontinent) call them "twinkies" -- yellow on the outside;white on the inside. Blacks call them "oreos".

Covert Affairs is a really shitty version of USA's Burn Notice. Ironically, both are on the USA Network. The lead in Covert Affairs is a woman who is always naked in anything else. I don't know her name, but when I see the promos for Covert Affairs, I start smiling because I bet she is SO happy to have all of her clothes on for once. I'll be honest, I did watch one or two episodes sort of half hoping for skimpy lingerie, but nope.

That ep was funny because Benson asked Griffin's character if she wanted to order take out, and then Kathy Griffin leans in for a kiss (and grope?). Benson pulls back and is like, "whoa! that's not on the menu." I laughed and laughed. Her pussy wasn't on the menu, guys....to eat...

BURRRRRRRN!!!

Reminds me of that old Chris Rock joke, "If your daughter is a stripper, then you get a 'F' for parenting." Also, someone, after seeing the box cover for the porno, joked that they couldn't hear anything over that girl's cries for attention.

The stories that the guest told about the on-set demeanor of everyone is the best part of this episode. Depressed Broderick. Absent Devito. The Sex and the City lady shilling for frozen eggs. Its so wonderful. I often wonder if the actors themselves know that are going to be in a bad movie, and how do they act around each other with that knowledge.

This is the cycle of art in this society. Step 1. Neglected part of society creates art that celebrates them and their lives. It is important to them and is more than pretty sounds or pictures or words, it validates them as a people because society has drowned out their voice. Step 2. Larger society hates it. Calls it hack and does not consider it to be "true" art. True art is left to people society has deemed important. Step 3. Neglected young people and a few young folks that society has deemed worthy congregate around the new art. The neglected feel validated; their experience connected with someone else, they have been heard. The "worthy" young folks folk to the new art for a variety of reasons, but it is mainly about the art. Meeting and interacting with the creator is a side benefit. Step 4. If the new art is not abandoned by its creators for something else, it will grow into a "thing." Larger society will comment on the "curiosity" while still dismissing it as utter garbage. They will say it is corrupting the "worthy" young folks. They will blame crime on it. They will blame teenage sex on it. They will predict the country's downfall if it grows any larger. (This is the sweet spot of the art. It can last one year or a decade, its just chance. This is when it will be at its most creative. Classics of the genre will come out during this period.) Step 5. Because the art is outputting really good stuff, people can't deny it anymore. Now the money men come in to try to make a dollar of it. To market it. To market products toward the new demographic. To create pre-packaged acts for the genre (Sex Pistols, any one? Vanilla Ice?). Step 6. Because of the increased marketing, there is a whole new group that comes in. They are really the death toll of the genre as a creative force. These are the people who are attracted to the music because of the marketing. They want to find a niche. The art is tertiary influence on their decision to consume it. First and foremost in their minds is what group listens to this music? is it cool? Second on their mind is do any of the people I hate listen to this music as well?

You guys are batting a 1000% today. Just about everything you say about bullies is incorrect. The schoolyard society is like the prison yard. Bullies pick on you because they perceive that you will not fight back. Fighting takes energy and no one wants to spend more energy than necessary. If you can pick on Person A without a fight or pick on Person B and definitely be in for a fight, you are going to choose Person A. Its too much of a hassle. Especially if Person B has friends that will jump in. Bullies never pick on popular kids that everyone in the class likes. Even if the bully can beat the hell out of the popular kid, its too much of a social backlash. Also fights are risky. They could lose. If they lose, the mystique goes away. The beast has been slayed and now it is weird for them. The power a bully has is that people perceive him as being indestructible. Once that goes away, then people start to think that maybe "they" could beat the bully. Now everytime the bully wants to get a quick thrill in humiliating someone, it becomes a hassle. People talk back. They have zingers. Now the bully can beat the person who zinged up, but its a Pyrrhic victory; no one is going to become scared of him like before he got his ass beat, and the social power will be with the person he beat up. In fact, that person will rise in stature because they didn't put with the bully's bullshit. I have never seen a situation where a person being bullied beats up the bully. But I have seen (and been) the person who fights a bully and lost. In both situations, the person who fought back, social status rose...and that is with losing the fight. Also, I think just getting through the fight and not being totally destroyed was key. Kids tend to exaggerate the outcomes of those things ("Don't mess with Mike, man. He'll KILL you"). So with that context, being alive after the fight with nothing but some cuts or bruises, resets their minds to thinking, "hmmm, so fighting Mike won't KILL you, then. I guess its not that bad if that dweeb could do it, then I know I could do better."

It's great that we have the staff of Cracked to stick up for the poor bankers. The reason, the economy collapsed is because bankers were making risky loans and then selling that shit to other people and telling them it was solid gold. The rating agencies marked all of those risky loans as AAA, which enabled this to go on. So, let's not blame working-class people for wanting to own a home, because ultimately, they didn't sell their mortgage to a pension fund as a great investment and certainly didn't contact Moody's to advocate that their mortgage be rated higher.

You are so right about the movie being a Raiders of the Ark redo. I didn't even think of it that way, but it is right on the money. Is Hemsworth the guy that plays Thor? Then, yeah, maybe he is The Dude right now. I think Gosling is like the new version of Jake Gyllenhall(sp?); he only does indie movies as far as I know. And I totally forgot about Hayden Christensen. The last I heard from him he played Stephen Glass in a movie, and then...proof! he was gone.

Whoever had the idea to give an '80s pop treatment to June's Second Opinion's theme -- you are a genius!!!

The thing that ruined this movie was Harrison Ford got old and no one told him he couldn't do stunts. It is not enjoyable to be looking at an old man attempt to run, roll, and contort his body. Especially, when the image you have of the character is that they are vibrant, athletic, and fit. They should have had Ford do the same role as Connery did in the Last Crusade -- play the mentor, not the hero. Let a young person be the hero of this story. I also think it is a weird thing that people are up in arms about the story. All of the Indiana Jones stories are fantastical. He's looking for the Holy Grail, or the Ark of the Covenant or the Kali Ma Stones. It seems like people are more willing to suspend their belief when he was looking for a religious relic than when he was looking for something with a supernatural bent than an extra-terrestrial one. And boy, they are trying to make Shia LeBeef into a "thing." He's not The Dude. He's not the one. Heath Ledger was the one until he offed himself, so now I don't know who The Dude is...maybe Andrew Garfield?