Michael Richards (Kramer) on Letterman after Racist Rant

[Skinner]

Run time: 03:56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dufHYw-W6j4   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2015 By YouTube Member: YouTube Help Views on YouTube: 6766328   Posted on DU: November 21, 2006 By DU Member: Skinner Views on DU: 2567

 
For those of you who missed it, the video of his racist rant is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomfLKQr57U

[bridgit]

1. too sad...

[Heidi]

2. He's right about one thing: he's got some "personal" work to do.

I find it very sad that his wakeup call came _after_ he'd hurt people, and not before.

[bridgit]

5. perhaps to his only defense, the hecklers were being exceedingly so...

and for some time longer than was caught on tape, his greater shortcoming, especially as a stand-up comedian seems to be that he has no come-back for hecklers whatsoever...and his "i'm kramer the crazy man" shtick just didn't cut it

i know one of the guy that owns 'laugh factory', it is up-scale, tickets are expensive, and many are emboldened to act out both on & off the stage

[Heidi]

10. I understand what you're saying, but

most of us who make our livings in the arts _choose_ what we do for a living; art doesn't choose us and then throw us to the wolves. Choosing to be an artist means not only having the greatest job in the world, but taking responsibility when our work hurts people.

(Nice to see you, my friend. I've gotta revisit your Zappa thread. I gave it its first recommendation. Stellar man, Zappa was. :hug: )

[bridgit]

14. apples & oranges, sweety...

firstly, my sense is that hubby would contend otherwise in that art does chose people; Mozart, for but one: Perhaps; Basquiat, for another, we can't all of us just walk into NYC with our little portfolio of artful, quirky little drawings, plop it down & become Andy Warhol (and even Andy was shot & stabbed by his fan base radically altering his viewpoint on life)...and, um, neither are many afforded the luxury of a placid, pastoral, country scene beside an alpine lake ;)

some 'chose' to have it done to them otherwise i'll give you that, but even at that rate we seldom chose willfully, or bargain for a template of in-your-face impudence, aggression (however passive) & disrespect in the pursuit of a livelihood that perhaps only Buddha could endure...you know what i'm saying, gf

you're so good to me Heidi, love to you this & everyday :hug: :loveya:

[Heidi]

15. I'll give you that, gf.

One day, I hope to sit with you and trade life stories. :hug:

[Beelzebud]

3. The man disappointed me. I used to consider myself a fan. Not anymore.

[buddysmellgood]

4. He still isn't accepting responsibility. He's deflecting. He's not yet sorry. He doesn't

understand what he's done or how to make amends. Seinfeld went out on a limb for him there and I'm guessing he was disappointed in that non apology.
Good bye Michael.

[bloom]

6. It did seem like a sincere apology....

but I think he needs to retire or find another line of work. I don't think he has any business being onstage.

[Demit]

18. I think that's the thing. Standup comedians get some brutal hecklers.

I thought that was one of the first rules of standup: to find the right way to deal with hecklers. This would've been a scary, over-the-top reaction for a rank amateur, but a supposed pro?

The other thing the lashing out revealed was that he does have those thoughts. If they weren't there they wouldn't have come out. Or he would've had some other thing he would've been scathing about. But why was race the thing that came out?

At the very least, he can't hack standup. And, personally, he has some real soul-searching to do.

[sui generis]

7. bad behavior happens

(ask me all about that! Not you Skinner ;) )

but the most important thing is figuring out why we choose one set of response or aggression over another.

If I were this Richards guy I've have to figure out a couple of things at this point:

1. my comedic career is over - time to start something new. It was already over before this.

2. what in my upbringing or background or social system would make me think that exploding in those kinds of racist terms was an appropriate response, and

3. how can I help other people not make that mistake themselves and

4. an abject apology that says "I have no excuse, I don't know what happened, I am profoundly deeply ashamed and embarrassed for myself and that I hurt people" would have been much better than fluttering his hands and cranking his ire about the fact that he needed to apologize at all.

Then again if he were innately that kind of sensitive guy, he wouldn't be this eyebrow-deep in his own shit.

[MADem]

8. He's so fond of forks, he may as well stick one in himself, 'cuz he's done.

I can't see him recovering from this one. It's like the Mel Gibson thing. There's an "ick" factor that time won't erase.

http://www.toaster.org.nyud.net:8090/cards/toast.jpg

[Hav]

9. .

Strange that some laughed at the beginning. I don't get it. Did they expect it to be another joke?

Anyway, he seemed sincere. He knows that he screwed up. At least he knows that he won't survive in that business without an apology.

[bloom]

12. I'm assuming they were people who were unaware of the severity

of the incident. Or else they were really stupid.

[edwardsfeingold08]

13. I think they weren't current on the news.

It seemed like a funny bit if you hadn't seen the video of his tirade or read his comments.

A lot of people who are in the audience are tourists and were probably sightseeing all day and not looking at the internet.

[Eurobabe]

11. Not cool at all. Very sad

I used to think he was funny, but after viewing this, I wouldn't pay to see him again, in anything.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. I could feel his disappointment in himself.

Seinfeld is a good friend. I think Michael is right about having internal rage that he needs to work through. I think we all have been developing it in some way or other. This is not just about right-wing "Angry White Men," anymore. The backlash is now here. We are all developing rage issues. I deal with mine by staying away from people, but Michael doesn't have that option.

[flamingyouth]

17. That is just nauseating.

I hadn't seen it in its entirety before this morning.

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. Involuntary career change? What an idiot.

Goood riddance.

[deutsey]

20. I like Bill Hicks, but he did something similar to a woman heckler

Repeatedly called her the "c" word during a wild onstage rant. Maybe in some crazy way Richards was emulating him?

I found what Hicks did as offensive as what Richards did, btw, yet I still like Hicks, but this incident has damaged my view of Richards, perhaps irreparably.

[casus belli]

21. The original video is hard to watch. Couldn't get through it.

The man self-destructed in a pool of suppressed racism. Once the word came out, there was no turning back. The really, truly sad part is that he may actually believe he's NOT a racist. Most racists never do. What a disappointment.

There are few white comedians with the skill to pull off using offensive words in a context that isn't racist - one where the audience is always in on the joke or the point. But, I'm sure even George Carlin is probably saying, "Wow, what was HE thinking?" about Richard's "performance".

[hsher]

22. One black girl's vote - I think it's sincere.

I hope he just does some introspection (which to some extent he appears to have done) and comes back with some fresh work healing the wounds he continued to open. I do not wish Michael Richards any ill in his career and hope he swings back from this, clear-headed, stable, and ready to rock and roll on the comedy mike.

He accidentally tapped into an undiscovered motherlode of rage and inner racial pain. It spewed out, as sometimes, with us humans, it does. I say he should take a time-out, but after that give him a break and another chance. I appreciate Jerry Seinfeld standing up for him. Friendship and loyalty like that, in today's age, is EXTREMELY damn f*cking hard to find and hold. Michael's a lucky man.

The audience laughed at him using the term "Afro-American". All his use of the term means he lives in a a very insulated, isolated world where he has not had to "keep up" with the fashion of the ever-shifting Happy Names my people get given to wear. PS, among ourselves, we call ourselves black people and black folks. That's never gone out of vogue. Richards using the term sounds to me like he just doesn't ever enter our world.

Ultimately, now he's in our world. It will either make him or break him. I feel hope for him as a human being, and personally, I teared up watching his apology and wish I could give him a hug. One of us black folk needs to hug him. That's the first step towards healing this.

Wish I were famous enough to. :(

Other black folk may disagree with me on this, and they are free to with my blessings, but:
Forgiven, Michael.

[AlwaysQuestion]

30. My goodness, I very much like the sound of your "voice"

And aren't YOUR friends the lucky ones!!

[wundermaus]

33. ditto

You said it better than I could have hoped to...

[mzmolly]

36. You are far kinder than this white girl.

nt

[Tellurian]

23. Watched the onstage rant..

From what I saw, Richards was primed from some other thing happening in his life,
something negative, a rejection of some sort. Whatever that negative thing was,
happened a short time before his appearance and was fresh in his mind during his
performance.

Now comes the heckler in the audience who just hit him the wrong way. From what
I saw, it wouldn't have mattered if the heckler was black, white, asian or indian,
the end result would have come out the same. It just so happened, the majority of
people in the audience WAS black and so was the heckler.

And NO, I don't believe Michael Richards IS a racist. His rant had more to do with
status. IOW, if the heckler had been someone like an executive producer or some such
he would have taken the harassment and anyone less than what he considered in his
mind, a peer, would have received the same rage directed at them, regardless of skin color.

[AlwaysQuestion]

26. You make some good points

Besides, I think we need to put things in perspective. I wish the Nation would channel their rage against this guy toward the neocons who are not only racists but bonafide killers on the grandest scale. Who has this guy killed? So, all right, already, what Michael said was not nice. Still, there isn't a person out there I wouldn't give a second chance too. If he cleans up his act, he can exonerate himself. In the meantime, his acting out will have done some actual good. He will have (albeit inadvertently) brought racism front and centre for us all to look at. It's still out there. He's not alone. But it does serve to get some dialogue going and promote serious soul searching within all of us.

And for those who would deny him his career, come on, a little less sanctimony and a little more self scrutiny.

[Tellurian]

27. His acting out using the N-word!

was actually a self inflicted wound to his own self deprecation.

as I mentioned in my last post.
I believe this is the reason he himself is having trouble
apologizing for his behavior because deep down, he isn't a racist.

It has been said by more than one comedic performer, Richards is
a perfectionist. As a rule, anyone who is a perfectionist, is hardest
on themselves.

It may take some time before Richards comes to grips with what is at
the root of his unhappiness. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with
racism. It's more in the vein of self-esteem or the lack thereof.

[AlwaysQuestion]

28. Guess I didn't express myself very well

I got your point--and I think it is a good one, albeit not one I had thought of. As a matter of fact, I thought he sounded exceedingly contrite--and sincerely so.

All I am saying is that very few people will look at this incident through your eyes. They are going to look at it as a racist issue. They ARE looking at it as a race issue. All I'm saying is regardless of WHY Michael lashed out as he did, we can't condone his verbiage based on him having self image problems. Rightly or wrongly, the public at large just isn't going to view it that way. They are going to see it as a race issue. Racism is still very much with us today, so I'm only suggesting that we take this opportunity to be more reflective about how we may or may not be guilty of being what many of us are accusing Michael of. In any event, in the scheme of things I think this issue is being blown out of all proportion. As the saying goes, there are bigger fish to fry.

[Tellurian]

29. Yes, I agree with you..

and for the people who view this solely as a racist issue,
there are no words that will change their opinion.

It's much simpler to deal with something obvious and a hot button issue,
than it is to reach out and delve deeper into people's motivations.

[Supply Side Jesus]

24. He looks visiablly ill from shame

[MrPrax]

25. He had better part of a weekend...

and this was the best they could come up with...he's been working with the 'crème de'le' crème' of 'media industry fixers' and that's it?

He looked pretty good in the first minute when he chastised the audience for laughing at him calling them 'AFRO-Americans', (nice touch -- established control and a 'sound bite' moment of solemn 'hush')...then it went off the rails badly.

Katrina? WTF? What's he implying? Institutional racism magnified by Katrina and criticism of IT, is the context of 'black' concerns here? It sounded exactly like a racist trying to think about the last time he even heard black people complain about something...'oh yeah, comics (like me) raised money in Vegas and shit for you people'.

Then a series of rationales leading to some 'personal work'...no dice. He's not sorry and he would really like to say, 'it was all a joke and anyone who is making a big deal of this are PC assholes'

[Call Me Wesley]

31. I apologize for sneaking this one in here,

but this is how someone else reacts to being heckled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWUGk4Qm2XE

I just now realized that I never could find anything funny in 'Seinfeld.' Sorry, Michael, you should have known better - remember the day you flipped out on this one? You could've learned something.

[crispini]

35. LOL. that was masterful

Good ol' Andy.

[wundermaus]

32. We have all stood in his shoes...

Try a little forgiveness... and see what happens.

[beachmom]

34. Video was removed by CBS. When will these dinosaurs figure

out that the internet is the future, and run with it? Put a little ad at the bottom or something and keep it on YouTube.

[ChoralScholar]

37. There's another one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UonEdXBl1xw

Honestly, though, I get tired of the racist epithets, Universally. I'm tired of hearing them from Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Carlos Mencia, etc.

Derisive ethnic terms from ANY race do nothing but divide us, when we should be looking at ways we are alike.

I think we have to eliminate the double standard. I don't want to hear anyone talk about a 'n***er' whether they be white, black or otherwise. Same goes for any other racial term.