February 25, 2013

"Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry."

The Onion actually apologizes.

There actually is a line that even humor can't cross, and this is evidence of where that line is:

 
We get how this is a joke, but it's aimed at a particular child. Quvenzhané Wallis is the 9-year-old who had a Best Actress nomination for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Wallis will also star in the new film version of "Annie," taking the part that Willow Smith declined on the ground that she preferring just being a kid.

Speaking of sex jokes aimed at young girls — and speaking of girls named Willow — this reminds me of the way David Letterman had to apologize for making a joke about Willow Palin. (To his credit, Letterman was under the impression that he was making a joke about Bristol Palin who was 18 at the time.)

104 comments:

edutcher said...

This is what the last 40 years have done.

At least The Onion had the class to know it was in the wrong.

BarrySanders20 said...

Yes, this was crude and crossed whatever line exists. Very cleary parody, but cringe- and aplogy-worthy,

But it was not "aimed at the child." It was aimed at those who follow Onion's feed.

BarrySanders20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

To his credit, Letterman was under the impression that he was making a joke about Bristol Palin who was 18 at the time of the joke.

So by that logic The Onion should have said they were under the impression they were making a joke about the FLOTUS who is 49, to The Onion's "credit".

jr565 said...

While watching the awards my mom said that the girl seemed to be full of herself. And a brat. Granted, that's not the same as calling someone a "cunt", but is that still unacceptable?

AllenS said...

Letterman's apology to me, sounded like he was actually making a joke about it. Here it is:

“We were, as we often do, making jokes about people in the news and we made some jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter, the 18-year-old girl, who is – her name is Bristol, that’s right, and so, then, now they’re upset with me…”

“These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl. I mean, look at my record. It has never happened. I don’t think it’s funny. I would never think it was funny. I wouldn’t put it in a joke…”

“…Governor Palin, if you’re watching, I would like you to consider coming to New York City – you and Todd as my guests, or leave Todd at home – I’d love to have you on the show. It’d be exciting…”

“All right, so there, I hope I’ve cleared part of this up. Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was okay for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No.”

[bold added]

Read that first paragraph a couple of times.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, it really matters that Bristol was 18. You turn 18 and it's like the hounds of old guy hell are released.

It would have been skeevy of him to make the comment about Bristol - which I don't believe he did. If you're that clueless about what teen girl you are insulting and why, you should shut up.

Can you imagine a late-night guy coming after you because of your MOM? And yes, I did feel hella sorry for Chelsea.

traditionalguy said...

The Onion did cross the line that says " Don't ridicule the people we love..." such as innocent children.

She looks a lot like Gabby Douglas, the amazing 2012 Olympic Gymnast all around champion.

It very unwise wise to attack such.

Ann Althouse said...

@tradguy The only thing that makes the joke funny is the complete innocence of the target. The sweeter and more inoffensive, the funnier the joke.

Ann Althouse said...

It's actually a hilarious thing to say... like at home with your closest friends.

It's just too mean for mixed company.

But the utter meanness is what makes it funny.

Tibore said...

That Onion tweet... proof that irony isn't dead, it's just that its practitioners are painfully oblivious.

edutcher said...

I think you'll find a lot of people who'd disagree with you on that one, Madame.

Hagar said...

To Letterman's credit?

Colonel Angus said...

The only thing that makes the joke funny is the complete innocence of the target. The sweeter and more inoffensive, the funnier the joke.

To tasteless people I'm sure you are right.

Methadras said...

How does someone not know that this kid was 9 by at least not doing research and then calling her cunt.

Clyde said...

My observation is that women feel about the C-word the way that black people feel about the N-word, except that they are much less likely to use it among themselves. I've known some women whose genitalia was their best feature, and some for whom possession of same was their only redeeming quality, but you cannot SAY that without angering their entire sisterhood.

The Onion could have gotten away with calling her a "brat" or even a "bitch," but their word choice was a bridge too far.

Cody Jarrett said...

I enjoy the Onion. I enjoy a lot of humor most people I know don't.

I really don't see how calling a kid a cunt is a joke, funny joke or unfunny joke.

Then again I'm not really allowed to use that particular word anyway. All the important women in my life have been very specific on that.

Ha ha ha Sasha Obama is a cunt, cunt cunt CUNT!

Nah, still don't see that it's funny.

Lawrence O'Donnell...now he's a cunt. But that's not funny either.

Maybe you have to be Kevin Bloody Wilson?
You Can't Say Cunt In Canada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxEA44-plb4

Colonel Angus said...

Letterman's apology to me, sounded like he was actually making a joke about it.

I always found Letterman to be a arrogant, condescending jackass. Not funny at all. Obviously to him its ok to assign slut status to females as long as they are the age of majority.

No thanks, Carson and then Leno at least had class.

Chuck said...

I recall an interview given by one of The Onion's former editors with Terry Gross on the WHYY/NPR syndicated radio program, Fresh Air.

She asked the editor for an example of a joke that was bounced in an editorial session, for crossing whatever lines might actually exist at The Onion. The editor recalled a proposed joke about "the Quadragon" in the post-9/11 Pentagon airliner crash. And he explained pretty cogently why the joke came up, and why it was rejected.

I see what the institutional faliure was here. There was no editorial meeting. At least I presume there was none. It was a Tweet. One comedy writer, without adult/editorial supervision, riffing live and in real time.

With no editing, the Twitter world is so much faster. And so much dumber.

Original Mike said...

"But the utter meanness is what makes it funny."

Sometimes you need to know when not to do something.

I give The Onion credit for what appears to be a real apology. Rare these days.

Shanna said...

If you're that clueless about what teen girl you are insulting and why, you should shut up.

Yeah, "i was joking about sex with your other teenage daughter" is not the greatest excuse.

Chuck said...

I recall an interview given by one of The Onion's former editors with Terry Gross on the WHYY/NPR syndicated radio program, Fresh Air.

She asked the editor for an example of a joke that was bounced in an editorial session, for crossing whatever lines might actually exist at The Onion. The editor recalled a proposed joke about "the Quadragon" in the post-9/11 Pentagon airliner crash. And he explained pretty cogently why the joke came up, and why it was rejected.

I see what the institutional faliure was here. There was no editorial meeting. At least I presume there was none. It was a Tweet. One comedy writer, without adult/editorial supervision, riffing live and in real time.

With no editing, the Twitter world is so much faster. And so much dumber.

Lauderdale Vet said...

"It's actually a hilarious thing to say..."

"But the utter meanness is what makes it funny."

I don't find utter meanness funny, and I wouldn't call it "class" unless the apology was accompanied by a pink slip.

Big Mike said...

It's actually a hilarious thing to say... like at home with your closest friends.

I would be very offended if I was at the home of even my closest friend and he used the "c-word" about a 9 year girl.

I suppose to you I'm some sort of prig. Make that "Prig" with a capital 'P.'

To me, you're someone who is rude and crude. I put it down to spending too many years in Madison, which -- based on the city's childish temper tantrum after Scott Walker passed his union sanity regulations -- is a pretty rude and crude and disgusting place.

Maybe Meade can help you get out more.

Shanna said...

The Onion could have gotten away with calling her a "brat" or even a "bitch," but their word choice was a bridge too far.

You're probably right. That's not a word most people hear on a daily basis and when I do hear it, it generally comes off either from someone with real malice, or someone who's obviously trying to hard to be shocking (I"m looking at you House of Cards). Bitch, by comparison, is almost cute.

Farmer said...

Comedians shouldn't apologize for their jokes, especially the funny ones. If you never cross the line that means you're never even treading close to it, and that means you're never going to be funny.

The joke wasn't about a little girl being a cunt, the joke was about the way the Internet finds a way to demean everybody no matter how innocent and blameless. It was funny. Considering how lame The Onion has been for so long, they ought to be giving whoever Tweeted that joke a raise, not a slap on the wrist.

Bob Ellison said...

Chuck, interesting. Many years ago (1980s, I think), a TV interviewer asked Steve Allen where the line between acceptable and unacceptable jokes was. He gave this (paraphrasing) as an example of something just over the line: "Elect those people to Congress and you'll see more vetoes than at a Columbus Day parade."

That was then. It wasn't so fast, but they didn't have so many layers of editors and bleepers. The comedy game might not have been much different.

Kevin said...

I'm a little weirded out by the little girl takeover of everything. Individually it doesn't stand out but when you add up this girl and Hit Girl from Kick-Ass and Hunger Games' Katniss and Arya from Game of Thrones and Hermione and Ginny and Luna from Harry Potter and Hailee Steinfeld in both Ender's Game and True Grit and Kristen Stewart in Twilight and Snow White and then the females in Beautiful Creatures and Warm Bodies and Mortal Instruments and then pile on top of that Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus and iCarly and Victorious and on and on back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and....

Where are the boys? What have we got in that whole period? A little Harry Potter and Ron Weasly, and Justin Bieber. Yay.

Farmer said...

Clyde said...

The Onion could have gotten away with calling her a "brat" or even a "bitch," but their word choice was a bridge too far.


That would've ruffled fewer feathers. It also wouldn't have been funny, which is a big problem for a comedy writer. The joke was perfect. People are acting like ninnies about this.

Known Unknown said...

Sadly, Dad cannot punch a Tweeter in the mouth.

Bob Ellison said...

Business idea: BleepTweet.com - a service that offers very quick copy-editing and veto/"are you sure you want to tweet that?" services. Like in seconds. Clientele: only big names or big-name-wannabes. Charge $1k/month for basic accounts, or $1/tweet for initial accounts. Offer one free week for trial.

Kevin said...

And fwiw, the joke was clearly on Hollywood types, who would sit around at Sardis and say that kind of trash talk about anyone, even an innocent 9 year old. That's the joke, that instead of saying it about Sandra Bullock or Nicole Kidman or whatever they are saying it about this innocent, which shows how depraved they are.

The bad part is, it was just an actual 9 year old, and by the time you get around to explaining the joke in a way she'd understand the damage was done.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

The joke was an attack on the idea that it's ever appropriate to call a woman a "cunt."

It's the chicken-or-the-egg problem that confuses people.

There's widespread agreement that agent detection is an evolutionary adaptation.

Chuck said...

A question for all in the Alt House. And I'll take my answer off the air.

Could The Onion have gotten away with an equivalent joke (say, a c-word joke) if the object had been Honey Boo Boo? (I confess to not knowing precisely who/what Honey Boo Boo is; I've never seen whatever program it is that she is on.)

Is race an additional factor -- in addition to the age and undoubted innocnence of the real object/victim -- in the national outrage being heaped upon The Onion today?

Clyde said...

@ The Farmer

So let me get this straight: Unless the comedian goes for the full Lenny Bruce "in-your-face" maximum offensiveness, there's no joke? I'm sure that there are some people, perhaps lots of them, that would agree with you. I disagree that there would have been no humor if they had used a less-offensive term.

John Christopher said...

Hi.

I have read this blog since 2004 but I don't think I have ever commented.

This joke bombed. It wasn't funny.

But if twitter existed in 2001, the best Onion pieces, the defining Onion pieces would have been shouted down by the same idiots that shouted down this bombed joke.

Chip S. said...

Maybe the joke is really about the internet. Or maybe it's really about H'wood. Whatever it is, it uses a 9-y.o. kid as its vehicle.

There are other ways to make whatever comic point is supposed to be made here. Of course, that would involve a talent for more than dancing on "the line", so it's probably not feasible for a lot of writers.

Kevin said...

I don't think the joke would work with Honey Boo Boo. The idea is that this is a successful person, and one makes snarky comments about how they are really not as good as they say they are/think they are/etc.

Whereas Honey Boo Boo may be successful in a sense that she is famous and I hope the parents are saving money, but no one is actually jealous of her since the core of her success is already being the target of the joke. Making a further joke is just redundant.

Charlotte Church or somebody like that, maybe. Or a child violin prodigy.

Chuck said...

...or, if applied to Honey Boo Boo (a veritable walking talking child punchline) would the joke have been so much less funny, that it would have degraded the joke to uselessness?

Are we simply left with the banality that what made the joke funny from a humor-construct point of view, made it too offensive for its own good?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"A guy like that must know how to make a charming apology, or he'd be dead."

-- Roger Sterling (regarding Jimmy Barrett)

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Letterman never said "I'm sorry".

The Onion is often funny.
David Letterman? Not.

machine said...

Yet, it's perfectly acceptable to refer to the First Lady of the United States as this in the comment sections of this blog....

Stay classy San Diego!

edutcher said...

Chuck said...

A question for all in the Alt House. And I'll take my answer off the air.

Could The Onion have gotten away with an equivalent joke (say, a c-word joke) if the object had been Honey Boo Boo? (I confess to not knowing precisely who/what Honey Boo Boo is; I've never seen whatever program it is that she is on.)

Is race an additional factor -- in addition to the age and undoubted innocnence of the real object/victim -- in the national outrage being heaped upon The Onion today?


Most reasonable people would, but we're talking Lefties after that.

Farmer said...

Clyde said...
@ The Farmer

So let me get this straight: Unless the comedian goes for the full Lenny Bruce "in-your-face" maximum offensiveness, there's no joke? I'm sure that there are some people, perhaps lots of them, that would agree with you. I disagree that there would have been no humor if they had used a less-offensive term.


No, I'm saying your alternatives ("bitch" and "brat") weren't funny. They'd also have missed the point.

Also, have you heard any recent stand-up? Lenny Bruce is very tame in comparison to almost all of it.

Chip S. said...
There are other ways to make whatever comic point is supposed to be made here. Of course, that would involve a talent for more than dancing on "the line", so it's probably not feasible for a lot of writers.


If your premise is that comedy comes easy to those who don't hesitate to cross the line, you're wrong. See: The Internet.

traditionalguy said...

Twitter is mixed company. So utter meanness is unwise there. God help us control our tongues.

Rusty said...

Ann Althouse said...
It's actually a hilarious thing to say... like at home with your closest friends.

It's just too mean for mixed company.

But the utter meanness is what makes it funny.

It's something you'd say at home to the persons face.

Rusty said...

machine said...
Yet, it's perfectly acceptable to refer to the First Lady of the United States as this in the comment sections of this blog....

Stay classy San Diego!


You must be on the staff of The Washington Post.
In one instance a child or children are unable to understand the joke and therefore unable to defend themselves. The first lady, reputed to be an adult, in the public eye, has ample opportunity to understand the joke and defend herself.
I hope I didn't use any words that are too big for you.

CatherineM said...

I think it's funny, but as you said it would be something funny amongst friends. I would not use such harsh words in public.

She did act like a brat. She apparently loves being on camera and whenever the camera went to her, she made gestures that said, "I am number one!" Not cute. Obnoxious.

dreams said...

David Letterman gets no credit from me, the liberal scumbag.

Kevin said...

I just realized who could have gotten away with the joke. Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Bryan C said...

That wasn't very funny. It's hard to make any funny joke about a 9-year old girl, though, which is probably a good reason to joke about something else instead.

OTOH, I don't think any 9-year old girl should be nominated for an Academy Award. Wallis was natural and appropriately adorable in the movie, but her role was not exactly Shakespearean in scope. Her nomination was just a cutesy publicity stunt by the Academy which inevitably exposed the child to adult-level responses.

Chip S. said...

If your premise is that comedy comes easy to those who don't hesitate to cross the line, you're wrong. See: The Internet.

Well, no kidding.

If we're doing Theory of Comedy, here's my 2¢:

Sometimes dancing on the line is funny. Sometimes it's a crutch.

Being funny w/o dancing on the line is harder than being funny by dancing on the line. Being unfunny by crossing the line is easier than being funny on, near, or over the line.

The principal reason crossing the line is funny when it works is that it's daring. So giving people a break for crossing the line when they fail at being funny serves to undermine the comic potential of the line, b/c it makes it riskless.

Patrick said...

@tradguy The only thing that makes the joke funny is the complete innocence of the target. The sweeter and more inoffensive, the funnier the joke.

No, not at all. That makes it more shocking, which is different than funny.

Anonymous said...

lol @ the onion backing down like twattish cowards.

Not only was she a kid, not only was she female, she was also black!

A triple-bogey, lefties!

Ya know, the Onion AV club was about where the Onion used to offload it's leftist politics, and used it's regular pages to be more just down the middle funny. Thne that eroded away as the BUsh years wore on, and it became just another pro-leftist propaganda piece of shit. So I stoped caring.

But I laughed out loud when that Onion AV writer got the shit kicked out of her by the Obama flash mobs roaming around---chickens coming home to roost. And I'm laughing now as they, once again, prove themselves to be nothing but PC-worshiping choir preachers.

Enjoy the decline, assholes!

Jim S. said...

I never bought Letterman's claim that he wasn't really talking about the 14-year old. The joke was that those Palin kids are all getting knocked up. To make that joke about the 18-year old -- who was already knocked up -- wouldn't make any sense.

dreams said...

I liked that little girl and she seem like she was really enjoying herself.

Titus said...

I think it is hilarious-I made similar comments about that girl at the Oscars to friends last night and we laughed our asses off.

She did seem full of herself and so we went off on her in private-BFD.

Probably not the wisest idea for some publication to broadcast it though.

Titus said...

Didn't Seth MacFarlane say she was going to be George Clooney's girlfriend in 15 years?

It would of been funnier if he said Robert Deniro's girlfriend in 15 year, because Deniro has the jungle fever.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Thats it...

I'm never quoting the Onion again... ever.

Blue@9 said...

I gotta admit I laughed. It's over-the-top irony.

Letterman's comment was directed at family members of a politician he publicly detests, and his was a sexual joke.

Calling someone a 'cunt' is not necessarily sexual, and it didn't seem that way in this case.

Would people be up in arms if the Onion had called a young Haley Joel Osment "A total fucking dick"? Prob not. Is it because she's a girl?

BarrySanders20 said...

If the joke could have worked with an adult, it would have had to be with someone like Sally Field, who nobody could think was the nasty C word. That's the only way the joke works for those who care to get it.

This always silences the conversation when a group is talking negatively about a bitchy woman. Chime in with:

"Yeah, she really is that four-letter C-Word. [Pause . . . let it sink in] Cold."

Much relief afterward from the crowd. You can feign puzzlement at their relief and leave them with their nasty thoughts.

Darrell said...

The joke--which is a standard one--is that NOBODY was thinking that. The teller has "accidentally" exposed himself as a weirdo.

Another example: Don't you just hate it, when you take a coat hanger and straighten it out and stick it in your nose and keep pushing and twisting, then pull it out and there's this gray brain matter on the end and you're like "what's this stuff?" The joke is that no one knows it enough to hate it because no one else does it.

Matt said...

Colonel Angus said...

"To tasteless people I'm sure you are right."

Says Colonel Angus...

Darrell said...

The problem with Letterman's apology was that he never acknowledged making a mistake. He--and his staff of comedy writers--could not even get the name right and the correct name (and picture) of little girl Willow was used in every newspaper and televison piece on the story (she attended a Yankees game). Letterman said that Willow "knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" during the seventh inning stretch. If he would have said "I was thinking that it was Bristol at the game"--or said that he thought that Willow was the oldest daughter that became pregnant out of wedlock, that might have been a good start for an apology. Instead he played victim--"How dare you think that I would ever make a sexual joke involving a child" when he had done exactly that. No credit to him in any way.

Anonymous said...

They could have said the same thing about Shirley Temple.

rhhardin said...

It's a double PC violation! Child and bad word applied to females.

Someday society will look back...

rhhardin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Good ship lollypop, my ass.

rhhardin said...

Blogger gave an error page and turned out to have double posted.

It's becoming self-aware.

Icepick said...

If she were old and talentless would she have deserved it?

Palladian said...

She is sort of a cunt.

MadisonMan said...

As apologies go, I thought it was a very good one.

AReasonableMan said...

Palladian said...
She is sort of a cunt.


No more onion for you.

Crunchy Frog said...

Now if Letterman was joking about the midget who played Willow Ufgood, that would have been funny.

Palladian said...

No more onion for you.

:(

(For the record, I have no idea who this child is, and I didn't, nor do I ever, watch the Oscars. But it's still funny!)

garage mahal said...

It's like Palladian isn't even trying anymore.

Palladian said...

That garage mahal is kind of a cunt, right?

Sydney said...

Have to agree with Shanna. It's not a word I find amusing in any sort of sense. And I find the House of Cards use of it so frequently over the top. It's one more thing that makes that show less than it could be.

Anonymous said...

No matter how slender be the string,
Bait it with c*nt and it will hold a king.

Peter

Chip S. said...

I can't believe those twats from Shecky haven't dropped in yet to lecture us on transgressive art.

garage mahal said...

I put a lot of time and effort into being a cunt.

I can't find anything funny about calling a 9 year old girl one.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Uh, to Letterman's credit? He's still an unfunny asshole who deserves credit for, I dunno, being an unfunny asshole. Maybe a better phrases would be "in his defense."

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Chip, no need to pontificated with all those words. Yes, daring to play it close to "the line" always has a much bigger (potential) reward, and a much bigger draw. Compare it to physical performances and talents. I mean, do you really think a juggler's going to get anywhere near the spectators as someone riding a motorcycle from the top of one Manhattan skyscraper to the next?

You just don't get spectators unless willing to create spectacle. The words are related for a reason.

That said, the joke was stupid if a joke toward the actress, bratty though she may be. As satire, it seems interesting, and obvious that the milder words would have worked. But, reality teevee and internet are what they are. Editing is dead. Long live editing.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the concern trolling, Garage, always good for a laugh.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The amount of Letterman-hate tells me that we must have a lot of priggishly humorless Jay Leno fans. That retarded, high-pitched, rip-off artist is the unfunniest thing on TV, the poorest excuse for a comedian, and the epitome of corporate predictability. Talk about lamestream media. He should be hosting campfire chats or some such.

Geez, peoples. Letterman was subversively playful for the 1980s era that he achieved renown in, and deserves recognition to this day for it. Maybe he's not the nicest guy off-stage, and who cares? Unless he's a serial murderer, I could give a damn. So could most people who can appreciate talent for talent's sake.

Anyway, he's a dinosaur anyway... and not doing anything as whimsical as he did in his prime. But comments like this tell me what's at the heart of the irrelevant "matter":

David Letterman gets no credit from me, the liberal scumbag.

Oh, not only he is he a scumbag; he's a liberal scumbag! Yep, that's Dave! Saving the whales and protesting demolitions! He's just a Code Pink agitator, really! Deep down!

He's a Midwestern milquetoast who happens to expose how much of a douche we all can be when we've spent that much time being that repressed. Nothing more, nothing less.

Much like Sarah Palin. And many, many others.

Chip S. said...

...all those words.

If you hadn't called me a pontificator, Ritmo, I'd throw an Emperor Joseph II reference back at ya. But you've chastened me.

OT, have you seen AL:VH yet?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Oy with the abbreviations.

But egads! No, I haven't. I still need iTunes to refund me $3.99 for renting Groundhog Day and not getting the reel to move along once you open it. Anyone ever have that problem? It sucks to high heaven. The movie's downloaded, you're charged, and whatever point you open it to, it just stays paused. What a bug.

On the upside, I had to watch Pulp Fiction all the way through again for the first time since 1994, and that played perfectly. What a flick.

Chip S. said...

Oy with the abbreviations.

Hey, I'm trying to reduce my word count.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Too many abbreviations, too many words. You just can't win, man.

I think Tarantino's dialogue have chastened whatever remaining appreciation for brevity I had.

Let's just quote some of those lines. Come on, say it with me: A ROY-ALE with cheese.

Chip S. said...

English, motherfucker. Do you speak it?

bgates said...

It's actually a hilarious thing to say

He just called her a cunt.

It's not like they ran a video clip of her talking about the cell phone the President gave her.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"What" ain't no country I've ever heard of!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Why did that guy hiding in the bathroom look so much like Jerry Seinfeld?

Do you think it made the scene funnier?

Marvin: Man, I don't even have an opinion on that.

Famous last words.

BaltoHvar said...

"Mr. Carlin - Mister George Carlin, please pick-up the White Courtesy Telephone."

Blue@9 said...

Ritmo:
The amount of Letterman-hate tells me that we must have a lot of priggishly humorless Jay Leno fans.

You really live in a bipolar world, don't you, Ritmo?

I've never liked Leno. I used to really like Letterman back in the day. Now? He's just a bitter hack who should have quit a decade ago when he stopped being funny. I can't believe I'm saying this, but even Conan O'Brien is funnier.

Cody Jarrett said...

garage mahal said...
I put a lot of time and effort into being a cunt.

I can't find anything funny about calling a 9 year old girl one.


When he's right he's right. Positive reinforcement. Good garage...good. Sit Ubu, sit.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Conan is funnier, Blue. He's more relevant. That's usually what happens as older generations pass a torch. And that's what would have happened had the even older (in terms of showbiz seniority) Leno hadn't said: That's MY demogwaphic!

Anyway, the dichotomy is the one I found here -- because the wingers have a political grudge against Letterman. But we obviously agree on how to rank the talent. The difference between Letterman and Leno nowadays is that Letterman might actually still know funny, whereas Spleno doesn't even have a clue.

He's seriously like the McDonalds of Funny. You can only go so homogenized. There's just nothing there.

Jimmy Kimmel's impersonations of Leno during the Late Show host fiasco were pretty spot-on.

Yes, making fun of how much sexual stamina your black bandleader has just never gets old. In Jay Leno's mind.

Joe said...

How would this be remotely funny regardless of the woman's age?

kentuckyliz said...

So, esteemed blogress, what prepubescent girls are you calling cunts in your private conversation at home?

If you're so down wid it, perhaps I should say esteemed blogress cunt.

Chip S. said...

This is all b/c nobody reads the Dead White Males in college any more.

If that Onion dude had read Hamlet, he would've just said, "Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a country girl, right?"

(Note that professionals always include the correct diacritical marks when calling a 9-y.o. girl a cunt. This level of care shows the proper respect for cultural diversity.)

Anonymous said...

She's a nigger bitch. Prolly an Obama supporter. Who cares if she's 9? Let her feel all the heat she can get.

Enjoy the decline, bitches!

AlanKH said...

The Onion gets really really crude - what else is new?

furious_a said...

Letterman was under the impression that he was making a joke about Bristol Palin who was 18 at the time.)

Like that makes it less odious?

Sorry, meant to call your other daughter a slut.

furious_a said...

The only thing that makes the joke funny is the complete innocence of the target. The and more inoffensive, the funnier the joke

Yeh, funny like beating-a-puppy-to-death funny. Ha-ha.