note-a-bear: buzzfeed: In case you missed it, The Onion’s Twitter feed called 9-year-old Quven
note-a-bear:buzzfeed:In case you missed it, The Onion’s Twitter feed called 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word. They’ve since pulled the tweet, but the backlash has gotten intense.Maybe it’s just me, but I fucking hate the application of the term “backlash” here.This is not some kneejerk twinge.This is an ACTUAL reaction to YET ANOTHER ACTUAL ATTACK on an ACTUAL CHILD.This is racialized misogyny of an epically vile bent. This is shit we actually would not ever condone if demonstrated toward a white child. That’s a fucking fact.Satire, for the record, is not merely replication of vile realities with a change in the tone of your voice (or just your name to give the appearance of humorous intent). It is actually a rhetorical construction, it serves a purpose beyond an easy (and most certainly beyond merely crude or crass) laugh. Satire is an effort to expose the inherent hypocrisy and/or harmfulness of some system of power.It’s not taking sexist potshots at a CHILD.And it most certainly is not attempting it in lieu of repeated sexist and racist attacks on said CHILD.What satire would be, would have been mocking Seth MacFarlane’s blatant misogyny in directing a pedophilic joke towards A 9 YEAR OLD CHILD.What satire would have been, would be a joke riding on the depths of tastelessness to which Seth MacFarlane will descend in the name of neoliberal shock humor.This is not enlightenment, nor is it complicated.This behavior is patently unacceptable when aimed at any woman, much less a YOUNG GIRL. But the fact that it was aimed at a girl who had a chance to make history?Nah, that’s not poor taste, nor is it ~Politically Incorrect~ humor. It is blatant abuse, bullying, and racist savagery masquerading behind a plastic smile and a multi-million dollar budget.Exactly this. If I wasn’t typing this from my phone, you’d be getting a lengthy essay on how the folks over at The Onion have completely lost sight of what satire is and have simply descended into saying things for shock value, which is on the entirely opposite end of the comedy spectrum from satire.It’s 3:00 in the morning and I’m on my phone, however, so that essay will appear on my comedy blog on WordPress tomorrow because I have a lot to say about the decline and fall of the Onion Empire. -- source link
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