Now, I gave Bale a pass because the guy messed up a shot he was in, thus breaking Bale's concentration, and depending on who you ask this was not the first time the DP did this bone-headed mistake. Plus, people get yelled at in the workplace all of the time. This wasn't that big of a deal.
I was a little disappointed about the whole Michael Phelps thing, because he is America's sweetheart, and a role model to so many kids (hell, his face in on a Frosted Flakes box). I've always been an anti-drug kinda person, so I'm a little peeved that marijuana is labeled as a "harmless" drug. Even if that's true, it's still illegal, so I'm not willing to give Phelps a pass just yet (especially after the DUI he received as a minor).
Then, this whole Miley Cyrus fiasco started up, and I'll be honest...it riled me up a little bit. For those who haven't seen this picture, here you go:
Now, Cyrus has apologized for offending anyone, but she also said that people are making a big deal about this whole situation. I'm not going to say that Miley is a racist, but she's obviously ignorant to think that making this gesture is not offensive to millions of people. To be honest, I'm not too upset with Miley herself because she's just an overexposed, naive, know-nothing brat, and Billy Ray is not qualified to be a parent.What has upset me is the people who are defending Miley by saying that a.) this is not racist/offensive, b.) there's an Asian kid in the photo, so that means it's OK, and/or c.) she's just a kid having fun, so it's not a big deal. These arguments are short-sighted and more offensive than her actions.
First, I understand that Miley may not have meant for the gesture to be offensive, but it is, and if she didn't know that before she sure as hell better know now. The Asian kid excuse is just asinine. You may have Mexican friends, and they might not care if you call them the s-word, but that doesn't mean it's still not offensive to others. The last argument just makes me sad because it tells me that we as a society still have a long way to go. We shouldn't be dismissing this picture as "kids being kids" because today's kids shouldn't be doing such things...but here we are.
Now, excuse me while I jump on my soapbox. This little scandal has just reinforced the thinking that it is still acceptable to be insensitive towards Asians in America. I promise you that if the kids were in black-face this would be a lot bigger issue. If that happened, the NAACP would put so much pressure on Disney that Hannah Montana would be gone by the end of the week. But they're only being insensitive to Asians, so it's not that big of a deal. I'm not saying that being insensitive to one group of people is more acceptable than another, it's wrong no matter which group is involved. It just seems like we take the feelings of some to heart more than others.
Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but I have a right to be damn it. As a half Asian kid growing up in West Texas, I had my share of slant eyes made at me, I was called "chink", I had people talk to me in Engrish. You see, that was kids just being kids back then, and it hurt, and I'm still dealing with the crap that I was subjected to. It is easy for people to dismiss my feelings, and the feelings of others, and to say that we're being overly sensitive, but that is because most of the people who believe that probably haven't been made fun of for just being themselves. So, maybe she didn't mean any harm by it, but I guarantee you she hurt some people.
Now, I would say that the upside to this whole debacle is she is still young and can learn from this, but this is the same girl who thought that it'd be OK to pose nude at the age of 15. Where are the people who are supposed to be teaching this girl some common sense? Oh yeah, her dad recorded "Achy Breaky Heart", so that may not be his strongest suit.
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