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December 01, 2006
Are hecklers gentlemen?
I'm wondering how ridiculous the "Kramer" incident will get. I'm still not sure he owed the hecklers an apology--they were disrespectful of a performer and tried to get his goat. No complaining now that they got it, even if they got more than they deserved. And while his rant was a bit more than one usually expects in a comedy club, who's ever been to a comedy club where racist commentary wasn't part of the act? Kramer's just wasn't funny.
Then came a predictable long series of apologies. And a threat of a lawsuit by the hecklers, which is really just an extortion attempt because no judge would ever let it even get to trial. The new low was today when Kramer agreed to meet face-to-face with the hecklers, who certainly won't be apologizing for their disrespect. And this statement:
"Michael Richards would like to apologize in person to the gentleman with whom he had the exchange in the club," says the statement from PR agent Howard Rubenstein and lawyer Gloria Allred.
Maybe my rant is more about the declining state of language in America. The men were not gentle. They were rude boors, and while they probably got more than they deserved, they weren't gentlemen. So don't call them "gentlemen." Indeed, the term "gentlemen", like the word "Sir," used to be reserved only for the men who truly deserve respect, not any moron who can't show proper respect in public. Maybe it's time for a bit more respect of the word "gentleman."
Posted by adrianjo at December 1, 2006 05:46 PM