I WILL TELL YOU FROM MY CAST IRON CHAIR: Ok, maybe I'm just being crotchety, but even if it's being done ironically and for grownups only, can't we decide as a society that
the cultural "redemption" of convicted rapist Mike Tyson need not involve his starring in a Scooby Doo-style cartoon show?
YEP.
ReplyDeleteRandy, Joe, and I were recording the podcast last week and I saw a commercial go by for that show (I had the football game on mute). I asked the guys, "Are we ok with convicted rapist Mike Tyson getting his own cartoon show?" They both immediately replied nope.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I'm all for the idea that once a person has served their time they should be allowed to be reintegrated into society, but redeemed? Not necessarily.
Well and there is redeemed and starring in a cartoon tv show.
ReplyDeleteA) YEP. Sorry not sorry, Mr. Tyson and everyone involved, but this is just tasteless.
ReplyDeleteB) I saw it as less Scooby Doo and more The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, for what it's worth,
I'm with you.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! I just . . . . I just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding was he would fade into bolivian.
ReplyDeleteUmm, there is no need to redeem him, but, If people decide to redeem him I will not argue with them, especially since he might be a rapist.
ReplyDeleteI, however, never believed that the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of the sport raped that woman. I feel no worse about believing that Mike was innocent in contravention of the finding of his Jury than I did about Juice being found innocent by his, which I also believed was wrong. Just saying, we sometimes disagree with Juries. Do any of you who believe as I do that OJ Simpson killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown feel bad about ignoring/disputing the finding of OJ's Jury? If not, then what was it about the facts in the Rape case that convinced you that Iron Mike Tyson, the most disciplined fighter in the sport until his mentor's death, was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of rape such that you should accept the finding of guilt. A black man whose career was made on viciousness and brutality in sport was charged with a crime that involved viciousness and brutality in real life… he was convicted by his primarily white jury. Could Mike Tyson get a fair trial? How much do we really respect our black heavyweight champions other than Mohammed Ali? How many have died unknown paupers, how many have been imprisoned? And unlike OJ, Mike was never a hero to anyone outside boxing… Just thinking out loud. So, while I won't defend his redemption, I will not fight if others decide to watch a cartoon with him in it. I hope I am never so redeemed. And, if they ever make me heavyweight boxing champion of the world, I'm going to ride this white thing out a little longer and pass on doing it as an African American. We are happy as a society to enjoy the stellar heights of sport created by poverty and disrespect that creates the motivation to excellence. Name a heavyweight champion who went to private school.
THIS.
ReplyDeleteI think one can believe what one wants regarding his conviction, but no matter how I feel about that, I find the Cuddly Mike Tyson In His Relative (for boxing) Dotage Makeover to be, in a word, gross.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU. He was on the View this morning (please don't judge me for watching, it's a sick day) and I couldn't help but wonder - when exactly did we all jump on board with Tyson as some sort of adorable funny-voiced human teddy bear? The ladies are all cooing over him, promoting his cartoon, awwwing over the fact that he's sober and happy (but vulnerable and struggling!) and the audience is applauding wildly. Really, people?? No no no no no. He is not your cuddle buddy.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as a side note re culture-wide hypocrisy - it's especially egregious considering that that same audience was probably shaking their heads and getting angry at the NFL over Ray Rice just a few weeks ago.