KKKramer...

[silversolitaire]

If you haven't heard about the Michael Richards incident, aka Seinfeld's Kramer, here's a quick round-up.

21 November 2006
'Seinfeld' Star Richards in Race Attack

Former Seinfeld star Michael Richards left comedy fans stunned during a Friday night performance at Los Angeles' Laugh Factory when he blasted a pair of African-American hecklers with a racist rant. The funnyman, who played quirky Cosmo Kramer in the beloved sitcom, lost his cool during a stand-up routine at the comedy club when two black audience members challenged him - and his comments were caught on camera. News website TMZ.com, which obtained the footage, reports the comedy show turned ugly when Richards realized his hecklers were black. He screamed at one of the men, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f**king fork up your ass." And then, when the playful heckling continued, Richards objected further, ranting, "You can talk... you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a n**ger! He's a n**ger...! Look, there's a n**ger!" One of the hecklers then turned on Richards, shouting, "That's un-f**king called for, ain't necessary." Responding to the crowd's shock, Richards responded, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a n**ger." Many audience members then left the venue. One African-American audience member, Darryl Pitts, feels Richards should be reprimanded for his racist comments. He tells CNN, "I feel like something has to be done about. He threw those words around very cavalierly, he mentioned hanging upside down from a tree... It's very upsetting."

[source]

22 November 2006
Seinfeld Upset As Audience Laughs at Richards' Apology

Funnyman Jerry Seinfeld turned serious on US TV Monday night when he urged The Late Show's live studio audience to "stop laughing" as members chuckled at pal Michael Richards. Richards was appearing on the show, hosted by David Letterman, to address the controversy following his racist rant onstage at a Los Angeles comedy club. The comedian, who played quirky Cosmo Kramer opposite Seinfeld in cult sitcom Seinfeld, stunned his audience at the Laugh Factory on Friday after turning on two African-American hecklers. But, as he attempted to apologize to America on TV last night via satellite from Hollywood, many studio audience members thought the whole stunt was a joke. Richards said, "I lost my temper onstage... I got heckled and I took it badly and went into a rage and said some pretty nasty things to some Afro-Americans." But Seinfeld, a guest in the studio in New York, took offence when some audience members found his comments funny and began laughing. He said, "Stop laughing. It's not funny." This prompted Richards to address the chuckling: "I'm hearing your audience laugh and I'm not even sure that this is where I should be addressing the situation... I'm really busted up over this."

[source]

I found a video of the incident. You can see it here. And here's Richards' apology.

I'm a little unsure on how to take this. For one, I think there's no excuse for this kind of racism. This is bad. This isn't just an insult hurled in anger, this is the most terrible comment you could possibly give IMO. This is just one inch short of telling a jew that 50 years ago he would have gone into the oven, or something. Extremely tasteless and horrible. So I really have to wonder what the hell this guy was smoking. Screaming at the top of his lungs like this, going on and on and on. He just won't stop. Freaky. I can understand that you get upset at being interrupted and heckled, especially when you already are in such a defensive position as Richards usually is, but this? Geeeeeze.

On the other hand, the heckler(s?) is also popping his cap there. It appears to me as if he realized he screwed up by interrupting the show like that and now he's saving himself into his righteous anger. What would have happened if Richards had just said "Shut the fuck up you dumb-shit asshole and get the hell out of there if you don't like my show"? Would he have continued to heckle? Would he have left? I think he realized that what he did was uncalled for as well and unfortunately Richards gave them the perfect excuse to continue the assault.

This is a very nasty situation all around and I'm annoyed that the press obviously is only reporting single-sidedly on this, marking Richards as a terrible racist and the two hecklers (confirmed this by now) are painted as the victims of a vicious racist attack. Both parties were wrong IMO. But still, Richards needs so mull things over for a bit and ask himself why this horrid insult was the first thing that sprang to mind for him.

That said, I'm fascinated at how fast T-Shirt Hell is...

Comments

[count-to-seven.livejournal.com]

As someone who lives in the US, has taken black cinema courses, and loves "Seinfeld", I feel qualified to say that I think people are taking this way too seriously. Nigger is a word. It's just a word. Until we get over our reaction to it, it still has the power to hurt.

Being sensitive to racial issues is important, but making the subject comedy taboo sets us back.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Did you watch the video? I think there's a huge difference between calling someone a nigger, who cares, and saying "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass." That is clearly alluding to lynching of blacks and this is nowwhere near comedy or an appropriate response.

But of course you're right that we have to get over our D:!!!! gut reaction whenever someone says nigger or similar or in my case Hitler, Nazi and Jew. But this is a slightly different issue here. Other than the living in the US bit I match the qualifications and I do agree that people are blowing the out of proportion and that a comment said in anger doesn't make you worse than Hitler, but I'm not willing to brush this off as just a careless comment.

[count-to-seven.livejournal.com]

I put his comments down to adrenaline and the power of the stage. If he'd said that same fork comment to a white guy, no one would have freaked.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

Yes of course. But thing is, if the heckler had been white he wouldn't have said exactly that comment. It was clearly motivated by racial issues. Let me get this straight, I don't think Richards is teh ebil racist and we all must shun his shows and burn his tapes now. Everybody has bad days and yes, when adrenaline is pumping through your veins you often say weird shit you don't mean. People always say you don't really say things you don't believe in, even when drunk or in anger, but that's total bull. I've yelled at Tom that I hate him and can't stand him and want him to drop dead when I was angry and I sure as hell don't mean that. So yeah, people just need to chill. But it's still a dumb comment he gave and he really should ask himself where that came from. I know I'd never think of such a comment O.o.