Foot in Mouth Syndrome

In recent months, it seems that more celebrities than ever have been tripping over their tongues. One would think that this far into the 21^st century—a time when discrimination on any basis is shunned—people would “know better” than to crack wise about issues as sensitive as religion, sexual orientation, and race.

Some would say that those with hatred in their hearts aren’t always going to be able to control their impulses, regardless of the presence of cameras or microphones. I don’t think it’s always that simple, but this post isn’t about the intentions or prejudices of the offending parties.

I have no doubt that public figures have been putting their feet in their mouths for as long as language has existed, but the trappings of the modern era have made things far worse for the celebrity prone to faux pas.

Ten years ago, Michael Richards’ racist rants in a comedy club may have made the news, but would the media frenzy have lasted quite as long in a time when cell phone cameras, blogs and YouTube did not exist?

The same applies to Rush Limbaugh. His insensitive remarks last year regarding Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease may have caused a flap ten years ago, but without the accompanying YouTube video depicting Limbaugh flailing about in imitation of Fox’s disease, the PR storm may not have lasted quite as long.

How the storm surrounding Don Imus will play out has yet to be determined. I echo Todd Van Hoosear's sentiments that it will take Imus a long time to recover from the hit to his reputation, if he can recover at all. But I wonder how the 90-second news cycle, the blogosphere, YouTube, late-night comedy spoofs, and millions of chattering social media voices will affect that amount of time.

Something tells me that in the era of social media, Imus’ two-week suspension won’t be long enough for this story to die down.

Technorati tags: Don Imus, YouTube, Michael Richards, Rush Limbaugh

Comments

[Chip Griffin]

What Imus said was wrong. Reprehensible even. But does it merit cancellation of his show as MSNBC has done? We need to be able to put these things in perspective. One careless, thoughtless, even racist comment does not justify destroying a person's career.

I agree that social media amplifies the effect here, but even in the pre-Internet days the drumbeat against Imus would have picked up steam.

Should Imus apologize? Yes, and he did. Should he be more carefully scrutinized going forward? You bet.

But a handful of words, no matter how objectionable, must not be the absolute judge of character. Though I disagree with many of his opinions, I believe Imus overall is a man of decent character. We should not throw out his good work merely because he crossed the line in 30 seconds of failed comedy.