My father read my post on Slim Thug and raised an interesting question — is it the best move to ignore problematic statements from celebrities?
This came up earlier with the John Mayer sitch, also. It’s a tricky one for me to answer. On one hand, I get exactly what he’s saying. On the other, I’m trying to figure out who in the world was looking to Slim Thug or John Mayer for legitimate opinions on anything?
Maybe I’ve been in talk radio too long, but I think people have the right to be as stupid as they want. I’m really not in the business of trying to fix those folks. And what Slim Thug said, by and large was stupid. And again, his biggest problem was essentialism.
But I just can’t pretend to take someone seriously that I never took seriously before, and I think people’s energy would be better placed toward those who are taken seriously and promote ideologies just as damaging and dangerous as his. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to talk about people that really matter if I’m wasting my time talking about this cat. How much sense does that make?
And sorry, but I’m not going to do it. Now, had Obama said what Slim Thug said, I’d speak on it. Jesse Jackson? Same thing. Hell, even Jeremiah Wright, and I barely remember what he looks like.
But Slim Thug? C’mon now. I didn’t listen to him yesterday, and I’m not gonna listen to him tomorrow. I still ask the same question — if you listened to his music, what about his blog bugged you that hadn’t before? That just doesn’t make any sense.
Look, I’m all for being mad about what’s messed up in the world. But I just don’t have time to waste on him or whatever he said. And, I have no idea how you claim to be so busy and have time to get upset with that and continuously comment on it.
If what he said was worthy of dismissal, then dismiss it rather than, yanno, inadvertently giving him, his thoughts, and his work more shine than you believe they deserve. Seriously, am I the only person that sees how stupid that is?
So, should I just dismiss a celebrity saying something stupid in a public platform? I don’t know about “should,” but if it’s someone I deem unimportant — and someone that doesn’t seem to have any legitimate importance — then yes. I don’t know how you’ve got time to do anything other than that.
