Racism Ruins Reruns

Last evening was a little different for me. Instead of watching Seinfeld, I wound up watching Are You Being Served. This wasn't some grand calculated boycott. The sponsors of this stand-by rerun didn't suddenly lose a potential customer (I doubt I'll ever call 1-800-MY-LEMON, or 588-2300 Empire, and if Taco Bell's inane "smunchy" commercials haven't turned me away from their cheap, fattening, and delicious products, perhaps nothing will.) I just didn't feel like watching one of my favorite shows after it had been tarnished by the recent ranting of one of its stars. To think, I almost bought a poster of the guy.

I see myself as one of the great celebrity sympathizers. But in these cases, as much as I understand how people can say horrid things under pressure or under the influence, things that they may not even agree with on a rational level, I just can't accept this type of behavior or excuse it. This was not some Sarah Silverman cultural provocation, or a private joke taken out of context. This was a guy out of his depth during a public performance, taking cheap shots at people by invoking some screwed up ideal of racial supremacy.

It is not dreaded political correctness to call bigotry by its name. Seinfeld, the show about nothing, made fun of both bigotry and political correctness as its self-centered main characters made their way through one of the most economically and culturally diverse cities in the world. That was one of the best things about the show, even if I didn't always agree with some of the sentiments expressed.

I've read snippets of Richard's apology. I think the timing is right. (Will Letterman become the future forum for such contrition? Will it become a running segment introduced by one of Paul's theme songs and some overblown motion graphics?). I hope for the sake of my future dinner time rerun viewing that the apology will prove to be genuine.