RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media FOX's John Gibson Mocks Heath Ledger's Death

I think it's hilarious that you equate Rob's Board with his show. That's like equating Lance Armstrong and a ten-year old who occasionally rides his bike to a next door neighbor's house. You can talk potential all you want, but you can't deny that a difference exists between the two.

And just so you know, I'm not defending anyone who poked fun of Ledger or his family after he died. I'm not defending anyone, including myself, who has poked fun of anyone who has died.


No.

Now let me ask you a question. Over the years several of us have posted threads and such relating traumatic experiences we were going through, including the deaths of loved ones. Have you ever responded with a joke?

Edit: that wasn't a rhetorical question, by the way. I really don't know the answer.

Just wondering if you'd acted any differently than Gibson under similar circumstances. If not--if you have poked fun of someone's loss knowing your joke could have a personal effect--then I can see why you'd feel Gibson was in the right.


Considering the feelings of others, I'd say.

Apparently not.

do you mean "censor" as in rules regarding speech? no. do you mean it in the way that we all censor ourselves from doing tacky jokes at the expense of little girls who just lost their fathers? yeah, i think that would be the decent thing to do.
again, this is not about whether he had the right to say it. it's about him being an utter tool for being such an asshole.






i find it odd that he felt giddy about someone's death because he didn't like a movie the guy did. i find it odd that he had such disregard for the way the family might feel that he made tasteless jokes on the air. i find it odd that there are even people defending him. this isn't about free speech or about passing censorship laws. it's about john gibson being an asshole.

See, this is the thing, Ray. All kidding aside, I agree that Gibson was being insensitive. But Ledger's kid is only two years old. She doesn't know what Gibson said and wouldn't understand it if she heard it.

Accordingly, the idea that Gibson's insenstive joke was somehow "at the expense of [a] little girl" is pretty over the top... and I suspect you would agree ....if he worked for any news outlet other than Fox.

Of course there's a difference. There's just not enough of a difference for the principles of a forum not to apply to both situations. An equal amount of principle similarity exists between the two examples to give my views credence.



No. But then again I never responded to them at all because I could basically care less about other people's loved ones. I actually think it's pretty stupid to bring a person's private sorrows onto an open forum. So even if I never responded in a joking manner to "loss," that doesn't mean I'm going to denunciate anyone who feels like hijacking a "loss" thread. They're just doing more directly what we all do everyday in a wider scope.



No. I wouldn't have acted differently. In fact, I would have repeated a joke I made in a separate thread in regards to AIDS and Jake Gyllenhall.

EDIT: Or even a conspiracy theory joke in regards to Nolan murdering Ledger for the sake of helping along Batman's viral marketing campaign.



So yeah, censoring one's feelings.

Fox rarely stoops that low.
I think it's just weird that someone would giggle over the death of another human being. he was taking joy from the death, not finding humor in some grim part of it.

I don't. In fact I find it token and ridiculous.



Okay then. That's perfectly fine.

I'm not sure what you mean by "An equal amount of principle similarity." Still the fact remains that you said there wasn't a difference between the two. But there is. And that's funny.

And, if you like, I'll say that everyone who made fun is an asshole. Again, I defend no one.


What's that?


Then I can see why you'd defend him.


When appropriate.

I don't think he was taking joy. I think he was doing the same type of stuff we do here and the same type of stuff that people like Howard Stern do (you might recall the shitstorm he created when he joked about Selena's death).

Again, it was insensitive. And an argument can be made that a news station shouldn't let it's commentators made jokes about dead celebrities because of taste issues.

But TV news--all TV news-- blurs the line between real news, commentary and infotainment more and more every day. Gibson is far from the only person who has done, or will do, things like this on a national program, with far less outcry from people here or elsewhere.

so this guy is an asshole and you drag it out talking about free speech and how other people make jokes and i must hate all jokes if i hate one joke?

No, as I made it clear my point is that your reaction (citing the daughter, for example) seems more emotional than required under the circumstances.

There's the PJP/Perkins reaction, which is understandable and well-stated, and your reaction, which just seems like piling on because its a guy from Fox.

Then allow me to make a semantic correction: Even though there is a difference in the source of the mediums, that does not the make the nature of the two dissimilar.



Poking fun at life. Which so happens to have death in it.



I don't think it's ever appropriate personally.

(shrug) John Gibson isn't exactly the most pun-friendly name. Although I could've said something about the foul pun-gency of his comments.

There is a difference in scope, though, which is the point Gibson's detractors are making. Everyone who made fun of the loss of Ledger lacked tact, by standard measurement. Gibson, because of the scope of his audience, was potentially hurtful.

But, hey, the point is moot.


For most people, poking fun has it's limits. Many people have made fun of life's futility but didn't joke about 9/11 right after it happened. Were they wrong to respect the dead and the living who mourned them? Was it wrong to get mad at the people who danced and celebrated when the towers came down?

It's a personal matter, I suppose.

Not saying Ledger's death = 9/11. Just saying that the fact that it's okay when done indirectly doesn't make it okay when it's done pointedly.


Then that's where you and many people differ. But just as you didn't go out of your way to make a hurtful comment at the expense of posters during their times of loss and/or grieving, I believe that Gibson should have shown restraint. Freedom of speech is nice and all, but knowing when to shut up is nice too.

You can get Ann Coulter for free, by the way.

Tramp.

'Atta boy.

That's fine. I just don't personally care. And I think it would behoove others not to care either since Gibson's opinions are irrelevant to their lives. I find the idea that verbal restraint is a matter of social propriety rather than a subtle form of social bondage to be disturbing. It's because of that kind of hockey that Muslim culture was waging war against cartoonists; "Don't hurt our feelings or we'll firebomb you!" I think it was Al Sharpton who pulled the same kind of crap with Larry Elder by going straight to KABC and threatening to push out their sponsorship unless his show was taken off the air.



If they truly wanted to, then no it's not wrong. But if they're holding back more radical feelings for the sake of propriety, then I do find there's a form of oppression at work.



"Wrong" isn't the word because it wasn't wrong and no one else should feel it was wrong of them to do; it's just their culture. At the same time, that doesn't mean it would be improper of us to resent their actions even if we don't respect their reasons for doing it. It's not wrong. It's just in their nature as a culture.



I think the world would be a better more honest place if no one saw a difference.

I win again!

Only because I gave you the win-dow of opportunity to do so.

Besides, it's easy to win against your own alt.

it still counts right?

Seeing as arguing about it is probably counter-productive, sure, why not.

great.



I WIN AGAIN!

Grimm Moderator Horseman of the aPOPalypse!
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