Last night, Jay Leno was making jokes about the extremely recent murder of Robert Blake's wife, that struck me as so tasteless as unfunny that I have basically decided never to watch the show again. What would make you stop watching a show or reading a website?

-- Kymm Zuckert (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), May 10, 2001

Answers

I remember going into a greeting card store about 10-15 years ago looking for a birthday card. I picked up one that had a photo of a gift box on the front and the words "On your birthday, you ain't gettin' shit!" I was disgusted beyond belief when I opened the card and saw a photo of the gift box opened. You guessed it -- inside, beautifully surrounded by tissue paper, was the longest turd I'd ever seen photographed. I didn't shop in that store for many years afterward.

Can you imagine the process of creating that greeting card? How demeaning could that possibly be to the photographer and whoever had to create the exhibit? Faugh!

/Robert

/Robert

-- Robert (rbdimmick@earthlink.net), May 10, 2001.

Ugh, Kymm -- I didn't even see that monologue, but I think I'll be avoiding Leno from now on too. That's just sick, and tasteless.

-- Mary Ellen (sarcasticah@yahoo.com), May 10, 2001.

I completely agree with you, Kymm. You are not being overly sensitive. Was it Mark Twain who said "Show me a person who knows what's funny, and I'll show you a person who knows what isn't." ?

I recently stopped reading a particular website aimed at women. The women on the forum were upset because a 14-year-old boy was going to do jail time for killing a 4-year-old little girl. They all thought that it should be forgiven because he was only 12-and-a-half when he committed the crime. All I could think about was those last horrifying, violent, tragic moments of that little girl's life.

-- Jessica (macno@1stconnect.com), May 10, 2001.

Two words: Pauly Shore.

-- rbfndd (Ethilrist@prodigy.net), May 11, 2001.

I used to love Leno...back when he'd do guest spots on Letterman and do his TV Guide schtick. Then, they had the whole fiasco where he got the Tonight Show and Letterman went to CBS. I started noticing that the vast majority of the jokes in his monologue were very mean- spirited. He doesn't know how to tell a joke that doesn't take a stab at someone. His jokes don't feel like they're in jest, either...they feel mean. And, he simply *would* *not* *relent* when it came to OJ. I didn't want to hear about OJ...I was *sick* of OJ. And, Dave refused to do OJ jokes. That decided things for me then and there. I don't watch Leno anymore. Period. I don't care who the guest is.

-- Joanna (jlc@io.com), May 11, 2001.

I don't watch Leno because I find him talentless. In my estimate, he lacks the barest shred of comedic timing, anything resembling charisma, and even rudimentary interview skills. I don't remember ever having the misfortune of catching an OJ joke, and I didn't see the show you saw, Kymm, but I have seen one or two of those "How Stupid People Are" bits, where he quizzes Average People on the street and airs humiliating footage of their ignorances, which came off as mean-spirited. Likewise some of the "Stupid Headlines" segments. Those usually come off as being at the headline's author's expense (even if the author is anonymous).

Leno is a boor. I wouldn't be surprised he lacks the sense or good taste to not yuck it up about murders and stuff.

And in answer to Kymm's question, there is one particular journal out there I avoid because certain comments from the author convinced me he's an ass. To be honest, I was never hooked in as a regular by this guy to begin with. I'd check out entries here and there, if they were linked from whom/whatever I was reading, but even in that sampling, I'd find statements and jokes I considered boderline.

What finally put me off for good came well over a year ago, maybe even two by now. The author alluded to an episode in which a woman journaler left her then-fiancé and then stopped posting, while the fiancé started a journal which described the hurt he was going through. What the author I won't read said was something along the lines of "With all due respect to (the ex-fiancé)'s pain, (the woman) should start writing a journal again."

I don't know if I can persuasively describe precisely why this struck me as insensitive, rude, and unnecessary. To begin, the "with all due respect" rang hollow. You want to demonstrate respect for a person's pain or heartbreak, don't treat it glibly. Moreover, expressing one's personal wish for (the woman) to post a journal again simply needn't involve (the ex-finacé) at all. Why bring "his pain" into it at all? "I wish (woman) would post a journal again," would be sufficient. And decent, and properly respectful.

Myself, I hope posting this doesn't cross the line into talking smack. I'm afraid it comes close, but it's not what I want to do.

-- Michael (mwalsh@lynx.neu.edu), May 11, 2001.

Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! "fiancé" "fiancé" "fiancé" "finacé"

This isn't one of those editable forums that'll let me fix that blasted typo, is it?

-- Michael (mwalsh@lynx.neu.ed), May 11, 2001.

Michael, I heard that the guys who run the Internet won't allow that hussy to write things on the web anymore anyway.

Seriously, I don't see what's so egregious about the remark you quoted. Of course, nor do I remember who said it or even whether it was referring to me or not [if so your timeline is a little off: try 1998.]

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), May 18, 2001.