Althouse: When Kathy Griffin met David Archuleta....

November 21, 2008

When Kathy Griffin met David Archuleta....

... and ascertained that he'd seen that insanely great video of those girls who really wanted him to win "American Idol":

32 comments:

Wince said...: I recognize at the beginning of the video Kathy Griffin is trying to get in the same frame with this guy. But I also notice she gives him what I call the breast brush.

Whenever I find myself in that circumstance, I don't know what to think. We guys certainly notice, indeed anticipate the contact with hormonal alarms going off as it approaches. And I presume you all do too.

In polite company is it incumbent upon me at all times to do my best to avoid the contact with the breast? Should I presume the contact is not only welcome, but sought, and if I hold my position and don't move -- like throwing a "pick" in basketball -- there is no foul?

Should I presume contact between a breast and a body part other than my hand is just a friendly gesture?

Sometimes, like here, it seems like subtly manipulative ingratiation, as if to say "I can get this geek to do what I want if I make him cop a feel, with no harm to my honor because it was just his bicep."

Ladies, help us guys out here. What the hell is going on?; 11/21/08, 10:05 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Looks like a complete accident to me. Or is that plausible deniability?

So you think women are trying to control you with our breasts?; 11/21/08, 10:10 PM
Geoff Matthews said...: Well, some women can. But not Kathy Griffin.

Definitely not Kathy Griffin.; 11/21/08, 10:23 PM
Susan said...: Remember that post where everyone was discussing being a loner? I think my being a loner intensified at about the age of these girls. Preteen girls. Insufferable. Often even when you're one too.; 11/21/08, 10:30 PM
Alan said...: Trying?; 11/21/08, 11:11 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm gonna have to say fake on this. Either it a put on or an example of contagious hysterics.

Alpha girl started it and at first the other girls were smiling at her pain and seemed more amused by her discomfort than pained at Archuleta's loss.

Then they all imitated her demoralization.

Forget about Kathy Griffin's breasts how about the girl's butt in the flap pocket jeans at 1:19!!

I know it's wrong.; 11/21/08, 11:28 PM
dannyboy said...: I love the red hair but damn she is fugly.; 11/21/08, 11:58 PM
Wince said...: So you think women are trying to control you with our breasts?

I think for some women it’s part of a repertoire, particularly in the environs of the old-line entertainment industry that Kathy Griffin swims in, where time is short, with opportunities and access limited. She’s literally made a B-List career out of trying to break out of the D-List.

It's those other situations where the intentions are less explicit and the surrounding more polite or professional that confuse me.; 11/22/08, 12:10 AM
blake said...: Obviously they're not equally invested, but the three in the middle look stricken.

I didn't watch Kathy Griffin. I lost my taste for "desperation as humor" somewhere around the time Tom Green vanished. Not my taste for it, actually, but tolerance of it.; 11/22/08, 12:23 AM
dannyboy said...: So you think women are trying to control you with our breasts?

I was never a big gazooomba guy myself. All my mates were all about big boobs.

More than a mouthful is a waste I say.; 11/22/08, 12:56 AM
paul a'barge said...: I thought one of the moms was kind of hot.; 11/22/08, 4:14 AM
Ron said...: Women control men with their breasts the way the sun controls us with its heat and light!; 11/22/08, 6:29 AM
al said...: David Archuleta and Kathy Griffin. Two of most annoying people to ever appear on TV.

Of course women try to control men with their breasts. Whether it's presentation or application - it's all about control.; 11/22/08, 7:12 AM
Bissage said...: Thank you for that Kathy Griffin video. I intend to put it to good use.

You see, I’m going to see the doctor today and, the way I figure it, his having been a Navy physician and a general practitioner for over 40 years means he has heard just about every tension-breaking witticism there is.

And drastic times call for drastic measures.

So, just as he’s about to perform the deed, I’m going to say, “Wait a minute, Doc, I’d like this to be special for both of us. Here, I brought you a ‘Hello Kitty’ pinky cheater.”

Just kidding.

I won’t really say that.

But I’ll be thinking it.

Okay, that was a lie.

The last time it happened I didn’t think anything at all except “Oh God” over and over again until it was time to unclench my teeth.; 11/22/08, 7:21 AM
knox said...: I didn't watch Kathy Griffin. I lost my taste for "desperation as humor" somewhere around the time Tom Green vanished.

That's how I see that "Bruno/Borat" guy. Can't watch it.; 11/22/08, 7:30 AM
Goatwhacker said...: In polite company is it incumbent upon me at all times to do my best to avoid the contact with the breast? Should I presume the contact is not only welcome, but sought, and if I hold my position and don't move -- like throwing a "pick" in basketball -- there is no foul?

Wow EDH I thought I was the only one nerdy enough to worry about this. It occasionally happens to me when I'm sitting at a desk and a woman leans next to me to look at something on the monitor. You receive "the bump". Immediately the little area of the brain that handles these things (actually in my case I think it's about 99% of total cortical function) goes on full alert.What does it mean? What is the proper etiquette? What is the implication of repeated apparently innocent bumps?

I generally shift away discreetly but that in itself calls attention to the bump. Maybe I would be better off standing my ground? What if I shift away and keep getting bumped? I can't shift into the next room after all.

As an aside I had no idea who Kathy Griffin was until I googled her after reading this.; 11/22/08, 8:07 AM
Trooper York said...: Boy what a bunch of weenies. If a woman rubs her breast against you the best thing to do is lean forward and put your arm out as though you are going to hug her. If she meant it she will lean into your chest and hug you and give you the Bobo Brazil breast rub. Then you put your hand on her back and rub in a circular motion gradually increase the circumference of your rub until you reach the outer edge of the gluteus maximus at which point she will either move away or wiggle. Jeeez everybody knows that.; 11/22/08, 10:00 AM
TMink said...: Kathy Griffin disgusts me. My disgust transcends her ugliness, her insufferable attitude, and her profane disrespect of my spirituality. She is a package of disgust, the disgust exceeds the sum of the parts. Let me add that I am not easily disgusted, I make my living by helping people work through their sexual abuse and have testified in detail about horrid sexual exploitation. I am in general an accepting person with wide tolerence for all God's children. And that woman physically disgusts me. I might have to clean with acid any part of my anatomy that came into contact with her.

But the breast touching comments brought back an interesting memory. I knew a stunning young woman in college who had a striking figure. She was want to press her breasts gently against you in conversation, just a gentle wash of contact with her ample and hypnotizing chest.

She would allow no man that I knew to touch those knockers with his hands though. It was a topic of some conversation amongst my friends. We would discuss how it would drive us crazy and how any attempt at more contact was rewarded with her immediate and hasty retreat.

One of my friends finally had enough. The goddess in question came to a party wearing a stock tight sweater. He made his way to her and said in a loud voice "Hey, lets get a beer and go talk so you can start pressing those amazing titties against me." As accurate as his statement was, she was horrified and left in a pique. I never saw her again at a party, and was never again treated to that amazing tease of contact.

I should have punched the bastard.

Trey; 11/22/08, 10:04 AM
Wince said...: Great, someone named Goatwhacker concurs with my perceptions of man-woman interplay.

Watching again for proxemics (see "touching code," I notice how after Griffin admonishes him for saying "Cook" @0:14, Archuleta's gesticulations begin invading Griffin's breast space, I'd say in a symbolic attempt to reestablish that breast bond familiarity that he thought he had at the start of the interview.

By the time Griffin accuses him of "yelling" at her @0:40 he's been completely banished from breastland and he knows it.

Separately, as to the sincerity young girls in the reaction video, I think young female friendship circles can become competitive about certain things, especially boys, real and imagined. And here the group has established the norm that this guy is the "bees knees." So, what's left for them is to establish hierarchy and prove to one another who is the biggest fan. Hence, the drama competition follows his loss.; 11/22/08, 10:15 AM
Trooper York said...: The thing about Kathy Griffin is she is a bully who built her reputation on aggression and outrageousness. If you are aggressive right back she doesn't know if she should shit or go blind. The supreme phony in the land of the phonies.; 11/22/08, 10:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Kathy Griffin: What Trey said in his first paragraph. She's not funny and she was even able to bring the humor level on Seinfeld down several oders of magnitude when she appeared.; 11/22/08, 11:13 AM
TMink said...: Thanks for the agreement Steve. We are NOT alone.

Trey; 11/22/08, 11:27 AM
Goatwhacker said...: Great, someone named Goatwhacker concurs with my perceptions of man-woman interplay.

My name actually refers to my playing of the traditional Irish drum the bodhrán, which is usually made from goatskin and "whacked" with a wooden stick commonly called the tipper. But yeah people tend to read other connotations into it and I'd probably be better off calling myself "bodhrán guy" or something.; 11/22/08, 12:49 PM
Anonymous said...: al said...David Archuleta and Kathy Griffin. Two of most annoying people to ever appear on TV.

Bloggingheadstv is not TV so yeah. Otherwise there's a new pair every couple of days.

paul a'barge said...I thought one of the moms was kind of hot.

Perv.; 11/22/08, 12:52 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Comedians are aggressive. It's the norm. Why do you hate comedy?; 11/22/08, 12:53 PM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/22/08, 1:14 PM
Trooper York said...: You can be aggressive but you have to be able to take it and give it right back. Not cry and simper and act like a baby. Kathy Griffin loves to lambaste every celebrity under the sun for every possible thing but when Jay Leno said he didn't want her on the Tonight show because she was too ugly she acted all hurt and upset.

Like a girl.

And we all know girls aren't funny.; 11/22/08, 1:15 PM
Trooper York said...: She should go on Nip and Tuck so they can give her some more plastic surgery.; 11/22/08, 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Comedians are aggressive. It's the norm. Why do you hate comedy?

I love comedy and comedian are also supposed to be funny, maybe sort of funny.; 11/22/08, 1:31 PM
blake said...: That's how I see that "Bruno/Borat" guy. Can't watch it.

You know, I hadn't thought of it that way because I think S. B. Cohen is pretty talented, but you might be right.

His wife is hilarious and gorgeous which is a rare combination.; 11/22/08, 3:49 PM
knox said...: I guess it's the Bruno think I'm really disliking. It's all about ambushing innocent bystanders, which for me is only funny to a point.; 11/23/08, 9:03 AM
blake said...: Knox,

I can see that. I haven't watched "Borat" yet. I used to watch Ali G but got tired of it quickly.; 11/23/08, 9:45 AM