as the olympics come to a close tonight, i continue to wonder about curling. what an odd sport and even odder to watch who participates. it was on every night or certainly every time i turned on nbc or msnbc. during the last 2 weeks, curling has been the butt of jokes on most late night talk shows, bill maher and last night on snl too. it's not like me to make fun of people or things or sports, but i haven't been able to control myself on this one.
what's gotten me thinking about my reaction to this sport is what makes it ok to make fun of something or someone? where is that line we have all crossed at some point. it seems that when a majority of a group of people see humor, it's acceptable. that's great when you're part of the majority, but bites if you're not. it's hard to be part of a small group of people believing in something. being different. standing alone. i like when things are different and people are unique. i appreciate the creativity.
it's sometimes necessary to step outside yourself. when i was in high school, i loved pushing the boundaries about being different - feeling unique. back in the 70s there was a line of products from an english company called mary quant. they made the most incredible nail polish colors. the metallic green and blue reminded me of sally bowles in cabaret and i loved wearing them (much to the chagrin of my mom). today i needed to step outside myself - and i'm enjoying looking at the metallic blue on my nails. no doubt my blue nails may be the butt of some jokes this week. (starting with the look from my mom at dinner tonight.)
wwcd: getting prepared to get what i gave
you strike a chord with this idea that what is different is often the target of jokes. "different" can also just be unfamiliar - and that is where majority ridicule of minority attributes usually begins. that metallic blue nail polish is a good physical reminder that jokes made at the expense of someone else are expensive for us all.
ReplyDelete