Monday, November 20, 2006

Fair treatment?

I just read an article about Michael Richards (best known for his role as Kramer on Seinfeld) and how he let loose a string of racial insults and some African American audience members who were heckling his act in L.A. My immediate thought went to Mel Gibson's drunken incident a few months ago when he vented some racial slurs directed at Jews while being arrested for drunk driving. I am curious to see how the media portrays Richards. Will he get the same treatment as Mel? He wasn't drunk when he went off on his tirade; he was merely being heckled. Michael Richards was already invited on the Letterman show to apologize. He appears to be remorseful (but so was Mel) Would Mel have gotten the same opportunity? My initial response is no. I think that because Mel is a professing Christian, Hollywood and the media are focused in on demonizing him. He has been blacklisted by many in his field. I, in no way, want to excuse what Mel did. It was wrong. Racism of any kind is wrong. But really, I hope I am proved wrong. I don't wish mistreatment on Mr. Richards. We are human. We make mistakes. At the core, we are sinful creatures anyway - that ugliness is bound to spew out on occasion. Thank the Lord for his grace to us. I hope that the media is fair and brings just as much attention to Michael Richard's mistake as they did to Mel's. What do you think?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's definitely been in the news, and while it doesn't seem that it's gotten as much press as the Mel Gibson incident, you could argue that it's because Richards is just not as big of a star. He's certainly being vilified from what I can tell--no one is letting him off the hook (from what I've heard/read). His tirade was nasty and shameful--depressing personally because I'd rather think of him as his fictional goofy, quirky and loveable Kramer.
Amy O.