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41 comments

1 sattv4u2  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 9:55:40pm

There are no words!!

2 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 9:58:19pm

This a truly vile tweet for which there is no defense. Neither claims of humor nor satire can mask it. The Onion must apologize without equivocation for this or else it deserves to fail completely, which may now happen anyways.

It’s hard to overstate for ugly this is.

3 TedStriker  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 10:02:34pm

If someone hasn’t already lost their job over this, they should.

4 wrenchwench  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 10:04:47pm
5 blueraven  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 10:08:11pm

re: #4 wrenchwench

Not cool to call the most vile of women that word, much less a 9 year old little girl.

6 sattv4u2  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 10:08:23pm

re: #3 TedStriker

If someone hasn’t already lost their job over this, they should.

agreed
[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com…]

7 wrenchwench  Sun, Feb 24, 2013 10:11:33pm

re: #5 blueraven

Not cool to call the most vile of women that word, much less a 9 year old little girl.

Yup.

8 Lidane  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 12:05:17am

Completely vile and inexcusable.

Whoever tweeted that should be fired and The Onion needs to issue a formal apology.

9 JamesWI  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 12:06:09am

re: #3 TedStriker

If someone hasn’t already lost their job over this, they should.

While I agree that it crossed a line and should have never been posted, I can’t quite get on board with the “We need his/her head (job) on a silver platter!” thinking. I can at least get the humor they were TRYING to convey: That is, that no one would ever actually say that about her, not just because of it being incredibly offensive, but because it runs counter to everything anyone who has interacted with her in any way would ever say. Along the lines of a joke such as “Man, that Hugh Jackman seems like a real asshole!”

Again, I agree that the joke crossed the line, but I can’t agree with the need to immediately call for someone to get fired.

10 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 1:37:27am

Oh, HELL NO. There have to be limits. If we won’t protect our own children from such abominable verbal abuse by demanding that there be consequences for it, then we have a serious moral failing.

11 sattv4u2  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 3:07:00am

re: #9 JamesWI

{sigh}

1st off, the word used
2nd, she’s 9,,, NINE ,,,, NINE
3rd
get the humor they were TRYING to convey: That is, that no one would actually say that about her

But someone just did, even in the guise of (spit)” humor” (spit)

12 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 3:19:58am

re: #2 Dark_Falcon

I’d say it’s pretty easy to overstate how ugly this is.

This is stupid and they should apologize, but it’s not going to sink them if they don’t.

I also really wish she’d won. Fuck the Oscars, man.

13 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 4:20:54am

What. The. Fuck.

Srsly, that sucked. I hope whoever did this has been sacked.

14 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 4:28:17am

Who’s in charge of the Onion Twitter feed, D. Tosh?

15 Flounder  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 5:27:41am

Disgusting.

16 Lidane  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 5:37:23am

re: #9 JamesWI

I get what they were aiming for, but they used a 9-year old as their target. That’s where the offense lies. If they’d said it about anyone else, people would still be upset about that word being used, but it would be a different situation entirely.

They used a child to make an attempt at a joke. Not cool.

17 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 5:41:55am

re: #16 Lidane

It’s also that it was a particular person. Nobody objected to this article:

Foster Mom A ****

Because it’s fictionalized. This is about a real person, a real child. Different.

18 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:04:09am

I imagine the people at The Onion’s corporate HQ in Chicago are having a very bad Monday morning. Around 7am I sent them an email expressing my displeasure and it bounced back with this msg:

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

[redacted]

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain theonion.com by aspmx.l.google.com. [173.194.68.27].

The error that the other server returned was:
552-5.2.2 The email account that you tried to reach is over quota. Please direct
552-5.2.2 the recipient to
552 5.2.2 [Link: support.google.com…]

19 Interesting Times  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:30:51am

re: #17 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Because it’s fictionalized. This is about a real person, a real child. Different.

Exactly. I’ve often said the difference between satire and bullying is that the former targets the powerful, while the latter targets the powerless. A young child - even a rich and successful one - can never truly belong to the “powerful” group.

If they’d written something like “Oscar-winning child star is kind of a brat”, about a fictional actor, it might have worked. But to use a real child, and an insult that’s in no way appropriate for children in any circumstances whatsoever? Yeah, wrong on so many levels I can’t possibly list them all.

20 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:31:23am

re: #9 JamesWI

While I agree that it crossed a line and should have never been posted, I can’t quite get on board with the “We need his/her head (job) on a silver platter!” thinking. I can at least get the humor they were TRYING to convey: That is, that no one would ever actually say that about her, not just because of it being incredibly offensive, but because it runs counter to everything anyone who has interacted with her in any way would ever say. Along the lines of a joke such as “Man, that Hugh Jackman seems like a real asshole!”

Again, I agree that the joke crossed the line, but I can’t agree with the need to immediately call for someone to get fired.

There is no humor NONE WHATSOEVER in using the c-word, I can’t even…I can’t imagine anyone trying to defend this.

Is it OK to call somebody the N-word as long as it’s a white man.

This was a CHILD.

NO. EXCUSE.

21 Dr. Matt  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:41:01am

This is not even remotely funny even if it’s an attempt at ‘sarcasm’, ‘whit’, or whatever. This is gutter trash. Now, set an egg-timer for the right to claim The Onion is a librul, socialist, commie website in bed with the “Obummer Admin”.

22 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:44:43am

re: #19 Interesting Times

…But to use a real child, and an insult that’s in no way appropriate for children in any circumstances whatsoever?

This x 1000.

re: #20 Vicious Babushka

There is no humor NONE WHATSOEVER in using the c-word, I can’t even….This was a CHILD.

I can’t either. I keep trying to imagine what sort of person sat there typing out that tweet thinking it was even remotely humorous, but I just can’t.

23 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:47:52am

re: #22 CuriousLurker

This x 1000.

re: #20 Vicious Babushka

I can’t either. I keep trying to imagine what sort of person sat there typing out that tweet thinking it was even remotely humorous, but I just can’t.

And anyone who would defend it, claiming “It was just a JOKE! You people need to lighten up!”

24 Ghost of Tom Joad  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:49:09am

I’m all for good satire and jokes…but, like everyone else said. That word alone, and a 9-year old…there’s just some lines you don’t cross.

If they do nothing else, they need to profusely apologize directly to that young lady, and then do everything in their power to make amends for it.

I swear I fucking hate Twitter. I’ve seen more vile and dumb things come out of it in a week than I’d care to see in a lifetime. Folks, don’t let your children do it, because I can easily see that shit coming back to haunt them when they’re applying for a job/college etc.

25 Ghost of Tom Joad  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:58:57am

re: #16 Lidane

This^^

If it was an adult, people would be upset, but in the end it’d just be forgotten after a few news cycles. When it’s a 9-year old who also happens to be not white (yes, that also adds another level of “Dafuq was you thinking when you tweeted that” to this)…just /SMH.

26 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:01:41am

re: #9 JamesWI

While I agree that it crossed a line and should have never been posted, I can’t quite get on board with the “We need his/her head (job) on a silver platter!” thinking. I can at least get the humor they were TRYING to convey: That is, that no one would ever actually say that about her, not just because of it being incredibly offensive, but because it runs counter to everything anyone who has interacted with her in any way would ever say. Along the lines of a joke such as “Man, that Hugh Jackman seems like a real asshole!”

Again, I agree that the joke crossed the line, but I can’t agree with the need to immediately call for someone to get fired.

I can’t. Would you feel the same if they’d said that about your daughter or your little sister or your niece? Somehow I doubt it.

27 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:04:10am

I have a suspicion that the Onion tweeter will use the excuse “I was so drunk!”

28 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:10:03am

re: #27 Vicious Babushka

I have a suspicion that the Onion tweeter will use the excuse “I was so drunk!”

I can’t think of any excuse that would work for me short of the tweeter having literally been forced to do it under threat of severe bodily harm or death. The deafening silence on the matter (i.e. no apology) since it was deleted speaks volumes, and not in a good way.

29 Interesting Times  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:13:27am

re: #28 CuriousLurker

The deafening silence on the matter (i.e. no apology) since it was deleted speaks volumes, and not in a good way.

True. At the very least, they could issue a “the incident is still under investigation, but for now we apologize profusely for [list goes here, I’m in no mood to write it for them]”

30 Ghost of Tom Joad  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:17:38am

re: #28 CuriousLurker

There’s no excuse for it. I doubt it was something the person (was going to say guy, but, never know) thought about before sending it out (another problem I have with these things like Twitter. People just hammer something out without thinking about it, click post, and bang, the internet never forgets!) I get what they were trying to do, but people need to think before they let fly.

I can’t even begin to count the number of things I have rolling around in my head that I find hilariously funny, yet if I were to post them to some form of social media, I’d get instantly (and rightfully) crucified for them. I still happens now and again…but damn. When you’re doing it for a large media outlet (satire or not), you’d hope somebody would take a minute to think shit over before firing off.

31 Interesting Times  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 7:55:47am
32 Eclectic Cyborg  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 8:04:58am

What the ever loving crap? My opinion of the Onion just sank considerably. They do some great stuff, but that was over the line.

33 Eclectic Cyborg  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 8:08:15am

The tweet has apparently been deleted now. It no longer appears on the list of recent tweets for the Onion account.

34 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 8:11:03am

re: #33 Eclectic Cyborg

The tweet has apparently been deleted now. It no longer appears on the list of recent tweets for the Onion account.

It’s been deleted but there has not been an apology.

35 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 8:19:16am

re: #33 Eclectic Cyborg

The tweet has apparently been deleted now. It no longer appears on the list of recent tweets for the Onion account.

It never happened.
//

36 wrenchwench  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 9:09:48am

The apology.

bbl

37 JamesWI  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 11:23:57am

re: #20 Vicious Babushka

There is no humor NONE WHATSOEVER in using the c-word, I can’t even…I can’t imagine anyone trying to defend this.

Is it OK to call somebody the N-word as long as it’s a white man.

This was a CHILD.

NO. EXCUSE.

re: #26 CuriousLurker

I can’t. Would you feel the same if they’d said that about your daughter or your little sister or your niece? Somehow I doubt it.

Can either of you point to the part of my comment where I actually defended the joke? Where I said it was acceptable?

No?

What I SAID was that I’m not joining in on the need for heads to roll over a satirical publication making a bad joke that crossed the line. An apology is certainly called for (and apparently they’ve done that now.)

The Onion traffics in transgressive humor: pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. When transgressive humor works, it really works. That’s the reason why, when people come up with lists of the best comedians of all time, most of them are people that many would consider extremely offensive (Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Louis C.K (who had his own c-word controversy about Sarah Palin, I believe)). When you think of some of the best pieces the Onion has run, you think of jokes that make you cringe a little, before you laugh your ass off. But when they fail, it’s not like a normal comedian telling a bad joke- it crosses the line into truly offensive.

If we start calling for jobs every time a transgressive comedian (or comedy organization) crosses the line, it’s true that we probably would get less terrible “jokes” like this one, which would be a good thing. However, we’d also get less of the good stuff, because if crossing the line means you get fired, writers will be afraid to push the boundaries at all. Then we’ll have the Jay Leno version of the Onion…..never offending anyone….and never making anyone under the age of 70 laugh.

38 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 3:00:34pm

re: #37 JamesWI

re: #26 CuriousLurker

Can either of you point to the part of my comment where I actually defended the joke? Where I said it was acceptable?

No?

James, can you point to where I accused you of defending the joke or saying it was acceptable?

No?

Let’s review:

What you said, and what I highlighted and down-dinged was:

I can at least get the humor they were TRYING to convey…

And what I replied was:

I can’t. Would you feel the same if they’d said that about your daughter or your little sister or your niece? Somehow I doubt it.

Meaning I cannot GET the HUMOR in using such a vile & overtly sexual term to describe a 9-year-old little girl under ANY circumstances, and I doubt you’d be able to either if it had been directed at a beloved child in your family. If I’m wrong and you could indeed tolerate such a thing, then we inhabit vastly different internal universes, and no amount of debate or discussion is going to make us see eye to eye.

39 JamesWI  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 3:30:04pm

re: #38 CuriousLurker

James, can you point to where I accused you of defending the joke or saying it was acceptable?

No?

Let’s review:

What you said, and what I highlighted and down-dinged was:

And what I replied was:

Meaning I cannot GET the HUMOR in using such a vile & overtly sexual term to describe a 9-year-old little girl under ANY circumstances, and I doubt you’d be able to either if it had been directed at a beloved child in your family. If I’m wrong and you could indeed tolerate such a thing, then we inhabit vastly different internal universes, and no amount of debate or discussion is going to make us see eye to eye.

By saying that I got what they were TRYING to do, what I was saying was that I get that the writer, when he posted the “joke” wasn’t thinking “I just called a 9 year old girl a c***,” he was thinking that the “joke” was that no one would ever think of saying anything bad about her, because according to everyone that has met her/seen her, she’s the sweetest/cutest thing in the world. That the “joke” was the absurdity of thinking anyone would ever say something bad about her, let alone something so terrible.

Like my infinitely-less offensive example of “Man, that Hugh Jackman seems like a real asshole!” The joke being the absurdity of calling him that, when everything we see of him shows him being possibly the nicest person on the planet (Did you see him running up to see if Jennifer Lawrence needed help after she tripped on the stairs? If I was a woman/gay man, I think my heart would have melted.)

I think the joke writer was going for something like that, and simply made a terrible mistake in not realizing just how offensive using that particular word, combined with this particular person, would be. A terrible mistake that certainly calls for an apology. But not one where I think we need to immediately be up in arms demanding people lose their jobs.

40 CuriousLurker  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 6:20:16pm

re: #39 JamesWI

By saying that I got what they were TRYING to do, what I was saying was that I get that the writer, when he posted the “joke” wasn’t thinking “I just called a 9 year old girl a c***,” he was thinking that the “joke” was that no one would ever think of saying anything bad about her, because according to everyone that has met her/seen her, she’s the sweetest/cutest thing in the world. That the “joke” was the absurdity of thinking anyone would ever say something bad about her, let alone something so terrible.

I get the distinction you’re making, but I’m unable convince myself that someone of any age, gender or background could be so clueless, so utterly tone deaf as to use the c-word like that, even when employed by The Onion.

Like my infinitely-less offensive example of “Man, that Hugh Jackman seems like a real asshole!” The joke being the absurdity of calling him that, when everything we see of him shows him being possibly the nicest person on the planet (Did you see him running up to see if Jennifer Lawrence needed help after she tripped on the stairs? If I was a woman/gay man, I think my heart would have melted.)

Heh. I know who Hugh Jackman is because I’ve seen him in films (handsome!), but I don’t follow celebrity news, so I wasn’t aware of him rushing to assist Jennifer Lawrence (I had to look up her name—I don’t watch a lot of movies and haven’t seen any of hers). Jackman sounds like a decent guy.

I think the joke writer was going for something like that, and simply made a terrible mistake in not realizing just how offensive using that particular word, combined with this particular person, would be. A terrible mistake that certainly calls for an apology. But not one where I think we need to immediately be up in arms demanding people lose their jobs.

You’re entitled to your opinion, but I disagree on the last point. I’d be okay with the tweeter losing his/her job if for no other reason than it shows a serious lack of judgement, even when working for an outfit like The Onion.*

___________________________________
* I’m talking about from a business perspective here. The Onion is no longer the relatively small outfit it once was that catered primarily to university towns—it has grown into a mass market publication with an international audience, corporate headquarters in Chicago, and a valuable brand (equity) to protect. They make $$ off of advertising both in print and online.

This is their audience. If an employee does something stupid that royally pisses of a large portion of their target market, their ad revenue will suffer if they don’t quickly rectify the problem as advertisers will respond to public pressure.

People may well prefer the more romantic notion of The Onion as fearless iconoclast & defender of free speech or whatever, but where business is concerned, profit margins will trump free expression 99.9% of the time. The apology was nothing more than a business decision, IMO. If anyone is fired over this, that will also be a business decision. Freedom of speech ≠ freedom from consequences, especially in the corporate world.

41 Dark_Falcon  Mon, Feb 25, 2013 9:01:54pm

re: #36 wrenchwench

The apology.

bbl

That is an appropriate apology. It takes full blame for the fault and does not attempt to weasel. While I’m still pissed that bit of filth was posted in the first place, this does go some of the way towards atonement.


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