There’s a vein of sad, pathetic hypocrisy running through both the left and right of the United States tonight. We live in times fueled by constant breaking media reports and self serving social media commentary. Adding fuel to the symptom, Americans are quick to take reactionary tones in times of tension. We’re quick to jump on the praise or condemnation express train- as if a stance will validate our individual moral compass.
There’s little doubt, Kathy Griffin’s photo with a fake bloody head was tasteless and offensive. But if that sort of crass blood soaked satire is not your thing, it’s easy to just ignore it. Turn the other way.
Why engage in lazy, thoughtless and simplistic reactionary mob mentality and feverishly cannibalize an entertainer who figured she was just pushing the envelope—just as her fans would expect her to do?
She crossed the taste line—that’s all. It’s supposed to be satire. One might assume that we as a society are sophisticated enough to label the image as tacky, gross or whatever. But, It’s satire ― not a statement by a local, national or world leader.
Worth noting, Charlie Hebdo engaged in satire. Millions found the French magazine cartoons about Islamic leaders offensive, as well as those about the prophet Muhammad. In fact, they were considered so vile and blasphemous, they inspired death threats from militants.
Then in January 2015, two brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, they killed 12 people and injured 11 others.
Since the Griffin story caught fire around 72 hours ago, so many Americans have apparently felt obligated to jump on the public condemnation wagon, labeling the comedian’s pose as vile.
To me, the hysteria is nauseating.
We have a president who is under investigation by several bodies of government for what ultimately could prove to be collusion between his campaign and an adversarial foreign power that sought to alter the very fundaments of our democracy.
If Kathy Griffin’s offensive photo raises awareness, even just a bit, about the chilling details dripping from Washington’s bowels each day, her work is done.
The shade we’ve seen in this administration is not only offensive, its policies are potentially devastating the livelihoods of millions of Americans. And, that doesn’t even speak to climate change.
To me, that alone is a hell of a lot more chilling and barf inducingly offensive than Kathy Griffen’s questionable decision to pose with an offensive, fake bloody head.
