Our lives are so filled with hate speech that earlier this week Comedy Central offered up 90 minutes of entertainment based on a woman being called a “c***” 19 times, a “racist c***” just for added impact, and then being told that she really ought to just kill herself.
The woman is Ann Coulter, and while I disagree with her politics, I am greatly disturbed by the reported level of on-air vitriol that was directed towards her in the filming for tonight’s programming. According to Vanity Fair:
On Saturday night, Comedy Central taped another one of its annual roasts, this time skewering Rob Lowe. As the roasts usually do, this one got pretty nasty. Nothing was off limits, not even 9/11 or Lowe’s sex tape he made in 1988 with a 16-year-old girl. And again, it was supposed to be a roast of actor Rob Lowe, but it was conservative political commentator Ann Coulter who drew most of the heat.
“Ann describes herself as a polemicist but most people call her a c—” said Pete Davidson of Saturday Night Live, before muttering “a racist c—” under his breath. Comedian Nikki Glaser called Coulter “a real-life super-villain,” and told her, “The only person you’ll ever make happy is the Mexicans that dig your grave.”
This programming shows the degree that hatred sells.
I find it amazing that people are shocked… SHOCKED… at the possibility that Donald Trump might actually be elected President in November. Don’t Trump opponents realize that name-calling and bullying aren’t attractive alternatives to name-calling and bullying?
Sure. I can imagine the argument: “Relax, it’s a roast, anything goes; we’re all professionals here.” And I’m sure that the entertainers and comedians who participated in Comedy Central’s roast all understand this.
But do the majority of voters?
Saying the worst things possible about someone and then backing off because you’re “only joking” is schoolyard bullying of the worst kind. I think that the majority of voters understand that.
What’s the end game here anyway?
Perhaps – just perhaps – Coulter is smart enough to make herself enough of a martyr to actually swing sympathy (and votes) in the direction of her candidate of choice, Donald Trump. And maybe – just maybe — all the snickering professionals on stage are all too clever by half, doing more harm than good for their own righteous cause.
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In June, Hamilton”s Lin-Manuel Miranda recited a poem on stage while accepting a Tony Award in the wake of the Orlando shootings:
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger,” he said, then evocatively concluded that “love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love” and “cannot be killed or swept aside.”
This week, Comedy Central reminded Americans that hate and fear do seem stronger and that “hate is hate is hate.”
I think we can do better than that.
Do yourself a favor: don’t watch the program. Spend that time with your family instead. In doing so, you’ll be making the statement that hateful speech masquerading as entertainment should indeed be swept aside.
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Photo Credit: YouTube/screen grab
This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.
This post was lightly edited on September 7, 2016, to adjust for the fact that the Comedy Central show had aired, but otherwise making the same points.
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Don’t Trump opponents realize that name-calling and bullying aren’t attractive alternatives to name-calling and bullying?
No because in their minds its not bullying and name calling because their target is Trump. But let’s boil it down even further in their minds its okay to do this kind of stuff to Trump because he’s a straight white guy.
Spot on!
THE CONTEMP That is boiling over inside of me at these sick demented public figures and comedy central over their filthy sick attacks on Ann Coulter is increasing exponentially. This was not a roast, or comedy, it was a premeditated attack upon a women who stands for a conservative and execptional America. Where were all the leftist feminists ? Why were they silent ? The liberals are two faced hypocrits who dont give a dam about anything other than keeping their crooked politicians in power so they can fund baby killing, illegal aliens, and an endless welfare state that has… Read more »
Jaque…
It’s a free damn country. I am a conservative. I believe in free speech. People should be able to say what they damn well please.
The problem with Bob V is today they come after CC. Tomorrow, they will come after YOU. Who get to decide just what “hate speech” really is? Who gets to decide all this PC shit?
I don’t want ANYONE deciding what kinds of speech is deemed as “hate” speech? I want free speech, period.
Have we just become a nation of cry babies and bitches?
I blame feminism! Classic example of how, even during a roast, men are sent to the back of the buss. All that hate and excrement should have been fired at Lowe, not Coulter. I mean, we do it to white boys all day long but suddenly we don’t even get that anymore? See what I did there? The internet is fun, yes? Anything goes. We can see Trump as a racist worm, Hilly as a socialist pig, Coulter has a hate monger, Gandhi as a fascist; anything we want when we force it through our own self-indulgent filter. It makes… Read more »
Well, she knows a lot about bullying and hate, so I guess she had a taste of her own medicine…
The MAIN POINT is that she WANTED TO SELL HER BOOK. She knew what she was doing! SHE DOES NOT CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HER! COME ON ALREADY! BOB, YOU MUST HAVE ALOT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS.
So, going by your logic, its okay to bully and attack any person who puts themself in tbe spotlight, regardless of the reason. If you actually believe your own statement, then it is perfectly acceptable for any person, man or woman, regardless of political or religious beliefs, to say hateful, cruel things to any person, regardless of political or religious beliefs? You can’t have it both ways, either this vile behavior is acceptable by ALL, towards ALL, or it’s unacceptable for everyone. If a conservative person treated anyone with this kind of vile, nasty behavior, we on the right would… Read more »
You are making a mountain out of a molehill as the saying goes! I do not have any more time to waste on this ridiculous conversation. Start a debate with someone who has nothing to do. Have a good day.
nope. you are wrong. hating pure evil is fine. if she would like to be treated like a human, she could start by acting like one
Wow, If Ann Coulter is your ideal of pure hatred, then you are sadly a very disillusioned and naive person. Pure evil is Islamic terrorist murdering and throwing gay people from roofs to there deaths. Pure evil is the Nazi’s gassing men, women and children in the hundreds of death camps in Europe during the 3rd Reich. Pure evil is the systematic rape and genocide of Yazidi women and children or the murderinf of over a quarter million Syrians in the current Syrian civil war. Pure evil is the murdering of tens of school children in the school massacres l.… Read more »
This article made me watch it, and I found it hilarious.
Bob,
I totally agree with you and I wish I had read your article before watching the show last night. I will never watch one of these so-called, “comedy” roast shows again. HATE IS HATE, just like a bully is always a bully. To call them by another name just does not work or make any sense.
Thanks for the insightful article.
Just shut the front door. She is reaping what she has sown. Boomerang! Cannot wait to witness.
It’s a roast. You’re just white knighting her because she’s a woman. U can’t remember who was being roasted, but Amy Shumer joked about the guy’s friend being killed. It was something like I bet you wish it was you who died instead. We all do. Crickets, because he’s a guy. He should be able to take it and she’s a woman couldn’t mean any harm.
You have an amazing ability to peer into the author’s mind and discern that he is “white knighting her because she was a woman. That seems like quite an assumption that he wouldn’t feel the same way if it were a man.
From the article, “On Saturday night, Comedy Central taped another one of its annual roasts, this time skewering Rob Lowe. “. I must have missed the part where he criticized them for roasting Rob Lowe. Maybe you can point it out.
I don’t agree with who you’re responding to but you just wrote an article telling people who don’t trust Hillary they must be sexist.
I wonder if the author would have written such an article if the target were Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh. I think our politically correct culture tends to draw the line of acceptable comedic attack between straight white males and the rest of humanity. Of course, I understand the reasoning: SWM’s have greater privilege in society, so they can withstand more critique. But readers of TGMP know better: that just because you’re M (or S or W), that doesn’t mean your life is free of struggles and your feelings don’t matter–not even close. Where we draw the line of acceptability… Read more »
Interesting point, but I’m pretty sure he would have. I don’t think this has anything to do with her being a woman.
People have been personally insulting Trump pretty much his entire election campaign. From calling him an orange dumpster fire, to saying he looks like an Umpa Lumpa, to those frankly distasteful nude statues that would made to portray him. And people that were not just silent during those times but were supporting and excusing/justifying them are now suddenly up in arms because Coulter gets insulted. Cries of “There isn’t a single thing she could have said or done that calls for this” following behind constant cries of “Well Trump brought those things on himself”. Moral of the story is the… Read more »
The hate you take is equal to the hate you make.
This article.. Wow Please stop writing, I was close to laughing while reading this. I had to google who this lady even was while watching the show and by no means did 99% of people watching it care. Put her “views” aside. Everything you’re against is literally the definition of a “roast” which SHE signed up for to promote a stupid book. It was just for publicity on HER PART. Who are you even defending? I’m embarrassed to even write a comment on this garbage.
Apparently, Mr. Varettoni neither understands comedy, nor the first Amendment of the Constitution. I am a Trump supporter, but am not dumb enough to place myself in front of a political firing squad. Most of Hollywood is staunchly liberal. If you didn’t expect her to get roasted, you are very uneducated in how roasts work. There was only so much material to roast Rob Lowe with. If she didn’t want to participate, she could have declined.
Wow. This is embarrassing for you. Because it’s clear that you don’t understand the First Amendment of the Constitution. What that says is that the government cannot punish you for any particular speech you make. This article has nothing to do with the First Amendment. At all.
Way to use a poorly written opinion based article as an anti trump political platform. One of the worst fluff pieces ive read in a while. Anne Coulter signed on for what she got. She cashed that paycheck and wants to play stupid…. oh wait.. shes not playing. She just is stupid. “Racist cunt” oh sorry did i offend you.
Huh? An anti-Trump political platform? The author here was supporting Coulter, who supports Trump…
Damn we weren’t going to watch it but you make it sound so amazing I’ll have to watch and make sure everyone I know watches it too now…thx!!
Maybe you don’t want people to see the Comedy Central Roast because then they’ll know that everyone on that show got picked on. It’s a freakin Roast, the most notorious or controversial celebrities get picked on the hardest apart from everyone else who also gets picked on, Peyton Manning, Lisa Lampanelli, Natasha Leggero, Aziz Ansari, etc. do your research.
If roasts aren’t your thing, then don’t watch them. That same principle applies to all television shows. Expecting other people to not watch something because it offended you is ridiculous.
She was aware of what she was doing when she signed up. If you’ve ever watched any of the other roasts then you’d know that the comics make fun of each other just as much as the roastee. It just so happened that this time a little justice was served.
That was not a roast, it was vitriole.Comedy Central should issue an apology to Ann Coulter and the attendees and yank it off the air. At least she had enough class to sit there and take it. I am not sure I could have. Shame on anyone who sat and laughed at that garbage.
She is fearless. She is tough. She is brilliant. Plz don’t feel sorry for the author of 11 NY Times bestsellers who knows exactly what she is doing. I disagree with her positions 90% of the time, and I thought the jokes were funny and yes, mean too. But Jewel had two people make fun of her crooked and stained teeth! The one young kid was told the roast was not about his father, “that took place on 9/11”. He died in the World Trade Center! It’s a roast!!! The only time I felt bad for Ann was when she… Read more »
Actually the writers gave her something, but she deliberately refused to use it… She wanted to use her own “jokes”, and they were not exactly funny…
She agreed to do it for the publicity. The same reason, you’re now writing an article about it. Enjoy my click you racist c***.
Classy.
Ann Coulter is way to classy to be in the presence of such a room full of garbage! Beautiful,graceful,elegant, well spoken,she out classed everyone!
That was despicable Comedy Central. South Park is the only show that I will watch from on your channel from here on out. And thanks to Pete Davidson I am officially done with SNL.
So it’s OK for Ann to be a racist hateful bitch but its not OK to make fun of her on a comedy show? I just watched it and it was hilarious. Everyone should watch it.
That’s right people……skip watching all the hate speech on comedy central tonight. Wait and watch the hate speech at the next Donald Trump rally instead.