A Small Victory: censor this

censor this

Jesse Jackson has asked the producers of "Barbershop" to not only apologize to him, but to cut the barbs at Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King from the DVD version of the movie.

The character...says other blacks refused to give up their seats to whites in the segregated south, but that Rosa Parks got the credit because she was connected to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He also directs an expletive at Jackson.
The character is immediately condemned by others in the barbershop for being disrespectful.

Let me repeat: Jackson wants the producers to remove the jokes he found offensive from future DVD releases of the Barbershop. Should they include a warning? Warning, this motion picture has been edited from its original form to appease the sensibilities of Jesse Jackson.

There are plenty of other movies that disparage the black community as well as its leaders. Why this movie in particular? Because it makes a small joke about Jackson himself? Would he be complaining as loudly if the remark was made towards Al Sharpton?

Just because a person has done good things in their life and is looked up to by millions of people does not mean he or she is free from insults, whether they be fictional or real. Even the nicest people in the world have their detractors and to want to censor a piece of fiction because a genuinely good person had a negative comment made about them is utterly ridiculous.

Imagine if everyone bullied movie studios into editing their movies so as not to contain jokes about them. Gone would be all the punchlines about Clinton, Prince Charles, Celine Dion and any other person who has achieved fame or notoriety.

Every joke ever written will offend someone somewhere on the planet. We would have nothing to read or watch or listen to if everyone went around complaining about lines in movies. Hell, everyone else in the barber shop gets on the case of the guy who makes the comments. But that doesn't matter. If Jesse doesn't like it, censor it.

If the producers actually give in and take the lines out of the DVD version, I give up.

update: Now everything is clear. Apparently Jesse Jackson doubts that free speech is really a civil right.

By the way, if you are not reading Scrappleface religiously, you are missing out big time.

Comments

I agree whole-heartedly. I couldn't believe it when I read that on CNN this morning. Doesn't Jackson have ANYTHING better to do with his time?

I understand that the producers of The Barbershop need to appear sympathetic to Jackson, unless they want their product to be boycotted, but if they actually go to the point of cutting out scenes from their movie beacuse of this, that's insane.

Posted by: Tracy | September 24, 2002 11:20 AM

I was waiting for you to post about this. Assinine. Jessie Jackson got his feelings hurt and is disguising it as racial outrage.

Posted by: domino | September 24, 2002 11:22 AM

Just when I thought nothing that stupid bastard could do would surprise me.

And to the producers, who fell all over themselves apologizing: you're a disgrace and I sincerely hope this ends your careers.

Posted by: Sekimori | September 24, 2002 12:17 PM

bitch needs to unnerstand he can't gon no takin shit if he don't give back. I sent an email to my man Jesse dis morning, and we reckon it be a fine deal to have dat shit baout him and Ms Parks taken out if Rudolph Guliani stop appearing at awards ceremonies. Word!

Posted by: g | September 24, 2002 12:38 PM

Michele, need some BlogRaid?

Posted by: Sekimori | September 24, 2002 01:08 PM

Did it occur to any body that maybe Jesse Jackson has a financial stake in this movie and just maybe stirring up a little controversy might up the revenues?

Posted by: Karan | September 24, 2002 01:35 PM

Barbershop received excellent reviews, has been number one at the box office for the past two weeks and grossed 38 million dollars already.

This film has already received more publicity and money than the producers had hoped for. They don't need negative publicity to stir things up.

Posted by: michele | September 24, 2002 01:43 PM

there goes jesse again... creating "news" and controversy just to get his name in the paper. i guess it was too dangerous for him to go to Iraq and try to negotiate peace?

Posted by: mikey | September 24, 2002 01:45 PM

Haven't Mr. Leno and Mr. Letterman made cracks about Mr. Jackson (I'm following NYT style manuals here)? Has he asked them to knock it off? What's the diff?

Posted by: Linkmeister | September 24, 2002 01:58 PM

I can't get my damn email to work ... do you think there is a chance you would be able to get on aim at some point tonight so we could talk about rh? I don't even remember where that author blog is.

teehee?

Posted by: melly | September 24, 2002 02:03 PM

Actually, to be fair, Jesse said he was given a copy of the script with the jokes aimed at him in it, and said it was OK. The jokes about Parks and King were added later. He doesn't mind the barbs aimed at him, just not the ones that go against dead black heroes.

That said, the movie does not glorify those jokes (supposedly...I haven't seen it, yet), and Jesse Jackson has no more right to censor a movie than I do. The producers to be polite can say (and have said), "Sorry about that, chief." But any further demands should be met with, "Bite me."

Posted by: Solonor | September 24, 2002 03:01 PM

Jesse Jackson doubts that free speech is really a "civil right", according to ScrappleFace.

Posted by: Scott Ott | September 24, 2002 08:58 PM

After reading that, I will amend my previous post. They should say, "Bite me, MORON."

Posted by: Solonor | September 24, 2002 10:38 PM

Heck, the Hearst family should force a withdrawal of Citizen Kane if unflattering protrayals are bad.

Posted by: Mike | September 25, 2002 01:56 AM

By the way....when you gonna send me them big tit pix you promised?

Posted by: sambo | September 25, 2002 08:41 PM

When your momma sends me the ones she promised.

Posted by: michele | September 25, 2002 09:12 PM

When is this black fool going to shut his negroid mouth?