Fair warning
A reader and I have been sparing over Jim Rosenberg's column last Sunday in which Rosenberg describe's the mayor's day. The reader thought some of the language and imagery was over-the-top crude. Like what, I asked.
9:00: Watch crane at Wachovia Building renovation move up and down and think about sex.
11:30: Send someone to get Part 119 of Jerry Bledsoe's "Cops in Black & White," a chart graphing the regularity of David Wray's bowel movements against the phases of the moon.
2:18: Watch jackhammers at Painter Boulevard construction go up and down and think about sex.
Yeah, well, Rosenberg is an acquired taste, sorta like Scotch whisky or pig knuckles.
Someone else, hearing me talk about this exchange, suggested that we label stories the way television does certain programming: "Content may not be suitable for all readers." I fear we'd have to put it at the top of every page.
Comments (8)
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Some people just have too much time on their hands to be so concerned about such things.....and, to that particular "reader" - what's on YOUR mind that makes pick apart what is OBVIOUSLY a spoof and try to find smut in it?
Get a life.
Posted on February 16, 2007 10:14 AM
No one bothered to ask me, but I have a very specific standard in mind when I write: Johnny Carson and Dave Barry. They representto me the humorists with the broadest possible appeal in both broadcast and print over the last 25 years, and I figure I can't go wrong by following their lead. I keep links to their work
handy when I feel like I might be close to crossing a line.
Johnny joked about sex nearly every night for thirty years. Dave Barry
has made a career of bathroom humor. I don't think it's even credible to argue that this column or any other I have ever written fails to pass the Carson/Barry test. I also carefully edit each column to make sure I'm kidding each side of the ideological divide in relatively equal doses, making myself the biggest target of all.
The News & Record doesn't pay freelancers that much. I write the column to bring a little humor and fun into my life and the community. I get an unexpectedly large number of e-mails every week that say, "Thanks for the laugh. I needed it." It makes me feel good. I understand that there are a wide range of sensibilities when it comes to humor, and that I'll probably cross back and forth over various lines drawn by various people. This reader didn't write to me, although my e-mail address is at the bottom of every column, but John shared the original message
with me. In it, I am called "crude," "vulgar," "unintelligent," "disrespectful," and a "disgrace." I don't even know how to respond to that. Every week, I take my best shot at generating a few laughs. The worst thing you can say is that I laid an egg or offended people with different sensibilities.
I just can't understand someone who in the face of that truth can fire off a letter so angry and meanspirited. I'm not saying I'm right or they are wrong -- I don't even see any sides here. I'm just answering a question that no one bothered to ask me: what standards do you apply when writing your column, Jim?
Posted on February 16, 2007 2:14 PM
How about this label:
"Content may be inappropriate for decent Americans due to its conspiratorial deployment of left-wing bias."
or
"Facts contained in this article are used for propaganda purposes only and do not represent the empirical world and the actual incidents occuring therein."
or
"The analogies contained herein have been written by a trained professional and are intended for comedic purposes only. Because of their potential to induce moral depravity, they should not affect sexual or execretory thinking at home."
Posted on February 16, 2007 11:12 PM
It could be worse, Mr. Sun......you could be totally unfunny, like Al Franken.
Posted on February 17, 2007 3:23 PM
Top five Jim R. traits:
1. infantile
2. juvenile
3. puerile
4. penile
5. erectile
Posted on February 17, 2007 5:34 PM
Percy seems AWFUL bitter about something.
Posted on February 17, 2007 7:07 PM
Cartoon contest. Jim R. judges it, obviously.
Posted on February 17, 2007 8:26 PM
Is there such a thing as "execretory thinking"? Sounds painful.
Posted on February 19, 2007 9:00 PM