Going To the Dogs Plus Mel, I Still Love Ya & the Gold-Digging Bitch Probably Got What She Deserved

[mallorys_camera]

‘Nother contretemps with RTT last night. No screaming or hysterical invective on my part. Just this sense that I’m very, very tired of all of it. It’s dawned on me over the last few days that I’m maintaining this household mainly so that the dogs will have somewhere to live. Robin spends as little time here as possible – his life is in Ithaca where we would never be able to get a place because we have two dogs. So we live ten miles out of town. High country. Insanely beautiful, but not my scene either. I’m so-oo isolated. I crave companionship.

And I don’t even like the dogs that much. I mean, they’re sweet, they’re helpless, I could never shaft them – but I’m not that much of a dog person…

Have been working my ass off with a due date of Tuesday, July 20. I think it’s very unlikely I’ll accomplish everything I need to accomplish by Tuesday. And then what happens? I have no safety net.

Finished Amy Sohn’s Prospect Park West which was just a delight, true escapism. Watching a BBC miniseries on the life of Lillie Langtry. Reading up on Mel Gibson’s romantic woes – even the sleazy tabloids are useless to me these days in my hour of need because I don’t know who 90% of todays’s celebrities are. Khourtney? Kloe? Kendra? Who the fuck are they?

But Mel Gibson I know because I’ve had a crush on him since The Year of Living Dangerously, and I always figured his real personality was exactly like the Lethal Weapon guy. I don’t care if he uses the n-word (yes, my knee-jerk liberalism is such that I can never bring myself to spell it out) in the privacy of his own home. I don’t even care if he’s anti-Semetic , and I’m a Jew. He shouldn't have hit her no matter the provocation, but again I don't know what that provocation was. I’ve known so many people like that – accepting on a person-by-person basis, grotesquely prejudiced when it comes stereotyping other humans. Some of the most hateful people I’ve ever known have had uber-liberal politics. More often than you might think, the bigoted gun nuts are open-hearted. Plus they generally have better senses of humor. Go figure.

Back to work. Deep sigh…

Comments

[bluemamie.livejournal.com]

I'm from Texas and ALL the people I know who use the word n*gg*r "on the outside" are just like I imagine Mel Gibson to be: Wife beating assholes on the verge of violence at any moment.

Maybe people in California are like that, but here, ugly is as ugly does. I spent my whole life crawling out of that ditch and the last thing I will ever to do is make excuses for privileged douchebags like him.

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

I think you represent the majority opinion actually. I'm not going to defend the guy. It's language that I personally would rather die than use. I'm just not passing judgment on him.

But you know that whole charged language has shades of nuance. I'm Italian. Deeply Italian. As such, I found that MTV show Jersey Shore highly offensive. So a few months ago I was sitting at one of my several scut jobs listening to this black dude expound on how much he loved the guineas. I really should have ignored it, it never pays to become part of anyone's liberal education. But I didn't, I said something -- and he just stared at me with this complete lack of comprehension. It's not socially reprehensible to use derogatory epitets when describing Italians. Why I don't know, but it's not.

[bluemamie.livejournal.com]

Really? OK.

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Don't let the door hit you -- etcetera.

[platofish.livejournal.com]

I've known quite a few people over the years who were pretty vocal about expressing their dislike/contempt of one or more ethnic groups. But, for the most part I've lived in very liberal places, and worked for a long time now in academic environments. So most of these people were not hardcore racists. And like you I've found most of these people worked/interacted ok with their nemesis ethnicities on a one-on-one basis. Thats been my experience, but I instinctively know racism is real, and can be devastatingly much more damaging.

Irrespective of what he said or how privileged he is I find it wrong that his private telephone call is now splattered over the media...... it serves no real purpose other than to make someone, somewhere a bunch of money (oh, and to paint Mr. Gibson in the worst possible light).

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Racism is very real. And on the rise again, I think. And yes, I'm with you in thinking that private conversations are private conversations.

[saltdawg.livejournal.com]

HA! I used to be friends with Amy Sohn. I always wondered what happened to her. I'm glad she's successful, maybe I oughtta read a book of hers some day.

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

She's pretty successful -- had a column in The Observer (much like Candace Bushnell), wrote a book about four women with interlacing lives (hwich Candace Bushnell did not do but if you've seen the TV show maybe you think she did.) She's an awfully good writer.