No Way, yo
I donˆ‚t get it, I really donˆ‚t get it.
Whatˆ‚s the deal with this scandal over T.O. and Nicolette Sheridan on Monday Night Football? Thanks to Cody and Red Iˆ‚ve now seen the footage of the skit and I seriously donˆ‚t see what the issue is; Iˆ‚ve seen worse during MNFˆ‚s commercial breaks. What more can I say that hasnˆ‚t already been said? Look at the footage for yourself, is this any worse than the Coors twins? (Which were brought to us by former Republican Senate candidate Pete Coors) Is this any worse than the Enzyte commercials?
I think the leagueˆ‚s being incredibly hypocritical about this whole thing. How is it OK for them to be sponsored by Levitra, but not OK for the MNF skit to air? As I look at the gallery of people offended and outraged by this incident Iˆ‚m left to wonder what the hell theyˆ‚re thinking, left to attempt to understand why theyˆ‚re so bothered.
I can understand why Tony Dungyˆ‚s bothered by this. He feels, as an African-American male, that T.O.ˆ‚s role in the whole stunt has played into stereotypes that Dungy himself has worked hard to overcome. I can respect that, however maybe Dungyˆ‚s onto something here, maybe heˆ‚s giving us the keys to understanding why it is that so many people are outraged by this incident. Maybe the discomfort people are experiencing wrt this situation is racial ˆñ
There are a few ways to look at this. The first is a modification Dungyˆ‚s way; that Brian Urlacher, for example, would never have been asked to participate in this skit because heˆ‚s white and you just wouldnˆ‚t ask a white athlete to participate in this kind of stunt. Iˆ‚m not so sure I buy this one, but itˆ‚s a discussion worth having.
The way of looking at this that makes more sense to me deals with the fear of miscegenation. Maybe the reason that people are so bothered by this is that it was a white woman (and an attractive and sexually available one at that) jumped into the arms of a black man, not just any black man but one who plays a game that embodies the American sense of strength and by extension- virility. Iˆ‚m relatively certain that the uproar over all of this would have been greatly different (or non-existent) had Ms. Sheridan jumped into the previously mentioned Mr. Urlacherˆ‚s arms. Whereˆ‚s the danger in a naked white woman jumping into the arms of a white man? Isnˆ‚t that what this nation is all about; isnˆ‚t that what the right is trying to defend when it bans gay marriage?
As Red so deftly put it, as a heterosexual male thereˆ‚s nothing remotely titillating about Ms. Sheridanˆ‚s body in that scene. Beer commercials are more arousing than that skit, so whatˆ‚s the deal? Rationalizing like this, miscegenation is the only thing left to be offended by, unless youˆ‚re Tony Dungy and then you have a whole other set of issues to deal with.
Honestly, the only thing that offends me about this is the way T.O.ˆ‚s been treated throughout. They made the man apologize when the only thing he did wrong was look at a naked white woman. Granted, I guess it is a big step forward when all society has done is make him apologize, a few years back, heˆ‚d have been lynched.
Judith Butler, Franz Fanon and Homi Bhabha where are you now? Seriously, some post-colonial whoopass needs to be brought to bear on this situation.
I have mixed feelings about Dungy's statement. I find it somewhat difficult to respect an argument consisting of "Well of course, *I* get it, but what about the children?!" I can only imagine the distress a parent feels, but in general I think explanation and discussion is generally better than trying to protect your kids from everything that may be confusing or hurtful. That sort of reasoning has been the battle cry of parents for all kinds of censorship that I find totally unreasonable. I don't know about you, but just going to school and having a life exposed me to all kinds of racism and cruelty and stupidity. You learn from this, and you grow. I don't know if I'm right or not, but I also get the impression that Dungy would have objected to the ad because his children were watching, regardless of the race of the athlete in it. So there are sort of two different things he's talking about. T.O.'s involvement, as a black athlete potentially playing into layers of stereotypes; and the general nekkidness (this has to be the reason he mentions the R-rating for MNF).
But, at the same time, maybe it's different if it's an athlete, and somebody who is a role model to children. I remember how excited I got whenever I saw an Asian person on TV, and how disappointing it was whenever they started to act.
I think all the people who object to this WTF MILF MNF commercial seem to have forgotten the sexy series of Alias ads Jennifer Garner did for the Super Bowl in 2003. (a series of popular comercials which, by the way, are mysteriously absent from iFilm's 2003 Super Bowl commercial archive http://www.ifilm.com/?sctn=collections&pg=superbowl2003 )
....and these weren't any old MNF pre-show commercials. They were aired in the middle of the Super Bowl! Where was the uproar then? I don't remember any at all. In fact, everyone I talked to kinda liked Jennifer Garner strutting about in lingerie.
So what's the difference between then and now? Besides the flashing of a 38 year-old boobie wearing a hat, not much. I think this country seriously needs to get its collective head examined.
I agree that this country needs it's collective head examined, however the difference between the two ads is really telling about what the shrink would find. It is ok for a woman to walk around wearing almost nothing. It is ok for there to be sexual innuendo and imagery (like throwing a football through a tire in male performance enchancing commercials--I tried to type the name of the drug in question, but I was censored by Ernie's blog, talk about hypocricy!!! ;) ). It is ok for cheerleaders and dance teams to incorporate grinding against the ground in routines. It is not ok for people to look like they're going to actually engage in sexual activity. America has this odd thing about wanting their cake, but not wanting to allow anyone to eat it...