Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel should be ashamed of themselves.
Apparently, at their wedding, a friend gifted them with an "inside joke" video of homeless and transgender people wishing them well, under the guise of being "friends" who "couldn't make it"to the couple's lavish nuptials. Timberlake later apologized for the video, and he should have. It was in poor taste. It made light of the lack of money, education, and health care many Americans deal with every day. It harshly delineated the differences between the "haves," the "have nots," and the "have even mores." Really, who partakes in that kind of "entertainment?"
I mean, other than millions of Americans every day.
No, I am not saying that most Americans bring home a homeless person to make fun of as they throw pennies. However, I know that at least 3 million Americans are indulging in something similar: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Oh, and that doesn't count the ones that don't watch the show, but still mock her and her family on various websites.
I know, you're saying, "This is sooo not the same thing." Isn't it? No, the viewers and their friends didn't go to Honey Boo Boo's house and film her and her family. They left that to the "professionals" at TLC. However, they are still tuning in to watch them and laugh at their "antics" so they can feel better about themselves. You know, their antics that include a lack of education, money, and health care. Their antics that would make them not welcome at the tables of their viewers, or a Hollywood wedding. Their antics that make it somehow "acceptable" for grown adults to go as a 7-year old girl for Halloween.
She's a kid. Not a punchline.
Now you're saying "but they're being paid." Okay. Great. So, you can laugh at someone if you give them some cash? Because money is more important than dignity? Than humanity? If that is the argument being made then we are on a very slippery slope as a society.
Maybe we are already going down that slope. After all, while Honey Boo Boo is the most visible example, there are plenty of other programs centered on laughing at the protagonists: Hillbilly Handfishin', I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Pretty much if it's on TLC or the History Channel, it's one of the genre.
How can we, as a society, be so anti-bullying, and yet let our "entertainment" choices be programmed with little other than bullying? Are we saying that if a bully throws a kid a buck and says it was a "good show," after calling him "fag," it's okay? I know that sounds extreme, but is it far off? What if it were on a show called Bullied?
Or should we all be ashamed of ourselves?