Tag: skin color

The Racists and Bigots Hate Miss America Nina Davuluri

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bullying, TV, TwitterLeave a comment

Miss_America_Nina_Davuluri

I haven’t watched Miss America since I was a kid, and even then I wasn’t paying very much attention.  It’s just not something I really care about.  Give me RuPaul’s Drag Race any day of the week.

I didn’t watch it, but apparently on Sunday night, Miss New York Nina Davuluri, who is the very first contestant of Indian descent to be crowned was crowned Miss America and the internet nearly exploded in a mushroom cloud of pure putrid racism.

Here is a link from Buzzfeed showing a few of the vile tweets.

Some people called her Miss Arab, Miss Al Qaeda, Miss Terrorist and Miss 7-11.  People were saying that Miss Kansas should have won.  Why?  Because she’s white?  I don’t understand what makes Miss Kansas a better candidate for Miss America.  Because she hunts animals?  Because she has a tattoo on her stomach?  Because she loves her country more than Nina Davuluri?  How do they know the level of love Nina has for her country?  I mean, honestly, do they even know her at all?  Have they met her?  Have they had a conversation with her about how dedicated she is to the United States?  I bet you if you asked her some history questions, she probably  knows more than these bigots do.

It’s funny how they don’t care if a person’s ancestors (or parents) were born in Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Hungary or England, but if your ancestor was born in India and your skin color reflects that, all of a sudden you’re not a true American. White doesn’t mean American.

Nina is from New York, so what is a typical New Yorker to these people?  Is she supposed to be like Fran Drescher?  Or what about Julie Chen?  Yeah, she’s from New York.  Check it out.  I mean what is a typical New Yorker supposed to look like?  Is she supposed to be white with brown hair and a thick New York accent?  Please tell me what the expectations are for being a true New Yorker.

This is 2013.  I just can’t believe there is still so much hatred and racism.  People from India are not terrorists and they are not affiliated with Al Qaeda.  Indians are not Arabs either.  I feel if you are going to make a racist statement, you should at least look at a map so you can see that India and Saudi Arabia aren’t the same country.  Here, take a look if you don’t believe me.

saudi arabia and india

I don’t know the rules of Miss America and I don’t know Nina Davuluri, and I’ve already said I don’t even watch the show, but I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t crown a woman Miss America if she weren’t an American.  Like I said before, having white skin does not make you a true American.  If you want to know who the true Americans are, go find a reservation and ask around.  The Native Americans might have something to say about your racism.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions just as I am entitled to point out their ignorance.  We all as Americans have free speech, but I think free speech and hate speech are two separate things.  Get your facts straight before you start calling someone you don’t even know names.

“Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

You know what my mother always said to me when I was a child?  Come on, you know this one.  “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  Do us all a favor and just keep your mouth shut if all you can do is spout your racism and hate speech.

Mockingbird Lane

On By Michel McDonaldIn Halloween, TVLeave a comment

mockingbird lane

I remembered hearing about this when Jerry O’Connell was a guest on Watch What Happens Live awhile ago, but I totally forgot about it until  yesterday afternoon when I was searching through the guide to set reminders for all of my shows.  I am a regular viewer of Grimm, and Mockingbird Lane was on just before it, so it was by pure luck that I checked the guide.  This is why I’m glad I don’t just have a DVR record all of my shows, because I’d totally forget to check the guide and miss things that I wanted to see.

Ok so if you’ve never heard of the Munsters, you are probably a kid and don’t watch TV Land or whatever channel plays classic reruns of old shows.  I watched this show in black and white when I was a kid and it was one of those shows that I just loved because of how grim it was.  I don’t know why I love dark shows lol.  Anyway, this is what someone wrote for the synopsis on IMDB:

“Grandpa Sam Dracula is essentially Dracula who assembled Herman because no man was good enough for his daughter Lily, a sexy vamp. Lily’s niece Marilyn the freak is actually normal and Lily and Herman’s only child, Eddie, has his werewolf tendencies surface in puberty, forcing the family to relocate to their famous 1313 Mockingbird Lane address. Written by Anonymous”

This was quite different from the original series in many respects.  In the original series, they weren’t the same skin color as everyone else.  Of course in the black and white version you can never tell what color they are, but there is a color picture of them and they are quite pale.  Lily for example has a sheet white face with her regular makeup.  Grandpa’s face is kind of blue-ish and Herman’s face is kind of purple.  Eddie’s is also white with red cheeks.  I remember in 1981 they did a movie called The Munsters Revenge where Grandpa and Herman both had green faces.

The thing about the Munsters from the 1960’s was that they assumed that they were normal, and everyone else was weird, so when people had a scared reaction towards them, they didn’t understand why.  The Munsters in this new retelling knew that they were different, but since they didn’t look any different from anyone else, nobody got scared, so that kind of ruined that gag.  Grandpa was still rude to Marilyn for being normal, even though she didn’t look any different than the rest of the family, so that only made his rudeness, well, rude.  It didn’t make sense to make fun of her because she was just as normal as they were, but I guess it did make sense in the context that she wasn’t a vampire or a werewolf, she was a norm.

I called my aunt today to ask her if she saw it and she said that she hated it.  She said there were too many special effects and it was too cornball.  They took away the gag that I mentioned about them not being different, and that’s what she loved about it.  She was a teenager when the original Munsters was on the air, so to her, it’s really an insult that they changed everything about the Munsters that she loved.

There are some things that you don’t mess with, and when you remake all of those old classic TV shows and movies and give them way too many special effects to make them look cool, you are taking away from the charm of the characters.

Speaking of the charm of the characters, their outfits weren’t “Munsters” outfits at all.  For example, the original Munsters outfits were all formal gothic, I don’t even know what period they were supposed to be, but they were formal.  In this new show, they wore regular normal everyday outfits.  Look at the image above, Marilyn was the only one who wore the right type of outfit from the original series.  Grandpa, Herman and Lily wore new outfits, but I can’t really complain about them because they were nice looking outfits.  They weren’t “Munsters” outfits, but they were still nice.  Eddie on the other hand, all he wore was a scouting uniform… that is not what Eddie would wear.  Although even though that wasn’t a typical Eddie outfit, I did respect their choice for giving him something else because his old outfit was a bit of an odd choice for a child to wear.

I really don’t want to complain about this new take on the Munsters because believe it or not I actually loved every minute of it.  I loved the cool werewolf in the woods destroying the scouts camp and tossing the children about.  I loved the house, I want to live in that house.  I loved Herman because he was played by Jerry O’Connell who I happen to love and respect as an actor.  I loved Lily because she happens to be Portia Di Rossi who just so happens to be married to Ellen DeGeneres who I happen to also love.  And I love Eddie Izzard, I think he is an amazing actor and person.  This is the type of show I would love to see come back just as the way they remade it.  I liked it because it was a different take on the show and sometimes a new take is a good thing.

Mockingbird Lane was just a special for Halloween and I hope they continue to make specials in the future just for the fun of it.  It is available on Hulu if you missed it.  Go check it out because it was a really cool show.

Coming to Terms with Gay Rights

On By Michel McDonaldIn Gay, Gay Rights, PoliticalLeave a comment

Where once it was culturally unacceptable to be involved in a homosexual lifestyle, today it is celebrated in certain circles and viewed as a viable family alternative in others.

Gay Rights is a term we have all heard and read about, but what does it mean?

If it means that those involved in a gay lifestyle are no longer subjected to laws that forbade this lifestyle then the rights have already been extended.

Many would argue that Gay Rights is much more complicated than that.

Some homosexual lobbyists are pursuing and sometimes winning a very specific argument in state governing bodies and in the corporate world. The argument is that gay couples should be extended insurance privileges in the same way traditional marriages receive.

Public schools often have books dealing with alternate lifestyles (including homosexuality) on their library shelves.

Gay Pride parades are featured in cities throughout the world.

It would seem that the rights of homosexuals are being improved with each passing day. In Massachusetts, gay marriage is recognized while a handful of other states recognize civil unions among same-sex couples.

There are even a growing number of churches that will perform and recognize same-sex civil unions. Some denominations have also accepted gay clergy.

Some African Americans have been vocally opposed to comparing Gay Rights with Civil Rights. The feeling among some is that African Americans were born with their skin color while many consider homosexuality to be a choice.

There has been an argument that there may be a gay gene that makes it almost impossible for a gay or lesbian individual to act different. This runs contrary to reports that indicate there may be a gene that may make an individual more susceptible to becoming homosexual, but the choice remains with the individual unlike a choice of skin tone in African Americans. If there is a choice in one scenario and no choice in the other then some cannot bring themselves to view these two movements in the same light.

Another area of contention is hate crimes bills that are discussed in the courts as well as on the floor of the senate and congress. The idea is to enforce a more severe penalty for crimes that are considered motivated by hatred. While this is not limited to homosexuals it is inclusive of crimes committed against this sector of society.

Proponents indicate this will serve as a deterrent to those who may have considered violence against a gay or lesbian individual. Opponents of hate crimes legislation indicate that this only leads to someone trying to interpret the motives behind an act of violence. They also believe that harsh penalties are already in place to deal with violent crimes without the need for additional penalties that may be viewed as entirely subjective.

Some might further argue that the gay community will not be content to settle for equal rights, they will push for protected or elevated rights. Those who espouse this argument believe that the protected status may actually result in a lessening of rights for heterosexual citizens.

The many layers of this argument are debated both publicly and behind closed doors and the debate is bound to continue as each individual comes to terms with their own belief system and how this issue fits within that point of view.

Discuss the Gay Rights at Controversial Forums. Have Debates in our Debate Forums.

Author: Thomas Phelps
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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