How do you feel about what Jerry Lewis said? - 9.5.2007.1

What a unique world we live in today. There are just some things I would never expect to see happen and just leave me with mixed emotions when they do. And the best part is the special moments that the news media and the general media provide every day. Or perhaps I should say, the items they forget to provide us everyday.

Obviously, there was a recent news that Mr. Jonathan Riches finally was brought to justice after 43 years without law enforcement harassment or attention for his murder of two teenage Black men in Mississippi. Aren't we lucky that those in charge of the major media news felt we needed to be protected from the news that our justice system, moving at a pace so slow as to make snails look like jet engines, only works in the most abysmal manner sometimes.

Of course, that is not to say that the legal system is always accurate. There is of course the 41 years that it took for Mr. William Barnes to be convicted of shooting a police officer. Mind you that the police officer in question did not die those many years ago. I know this because Fox News took the opportunity to tell me about this case five times today. Now I'm quite happy about that, especially in retrospect, that Fox News took the opportunity to spend 30 seconds in discussing the incarceration of Jonathan Riches.

I know some may say that "well, at least it covered the story." While that fact is true I find an inherent imbalance in their actions. In 24 hours to spend only 30 seconds on an injustice done to people on the basis of an example for an entire race, that's a slap in the face. Compounding that slap would be taking a similar story and spending 15 minutes in another 24-hour period. Essentially, it's just saying, one group of people aren't worth remembering and another group are. It's just that simple.

But that actually is not what I want to speak about. What I had not expected to happen and what did happen involves Mr. Jerry Lewis. For those who are not familiar with Mr. Jerry Lewis, he's a comedian. And he's 81 years old. He's made at huge number of movies and special programming. That does not include the advances in television programming and equipment he's developed over the years. Focusing on his comedic career he has made movies such as Cinderfella, the Nutty Professor (I'm talking about the original film. Not the one's Mr. Eddie Murphy made), the Geisha Boy, the King of Comedy, and many others. His comedic genius is regarded so highly that in France his last film premiere was made a national holiday so people could see it.

On a more personal level, from what I can tell about it as I don't know the man, there is one thing that stands out above everything else. He is absolutely committed to the muscular dystrophy telethon. He was one of the first celebrities to lend their name to cause and to seek out donations from the public for that cause. In 46 years, Mr. Lewis has never missed a telethon, and during each telethon he spends virtually the entire time awake. It honestly is an amazing display of absolute dedication. The reason why Mr. Lewis does this is completely unknown. It has been said that Mr. Lewis will only reveal the reason why he does this every year after he is dead in a document read during a telethon so that it can raise even more money for this cause.

Given this ability and looking at the dedication to such a worthy cause I was very upset to learn of comments made by Mr. Lewis. 18 hours into this year's marathon he told a joke, actually he started to tell a joke. To call it off-color would be marginalization on a grand scale. Essentially he started to insult gay people. He has since apologized for his comment. He hasn't gone to a rehab, or some other ultraliberal pro-PC excuse. He took the blame, and all he has asked for is for this to not affect the telethon.

So I'm stuck. On one hand, I find it deplorable for anyone to use any group as the butt of the joke. That is especially true when the joke is based on race, ethnicity, or some other factor solely used to distinguish one group from another. On the other hand, is the fact that on a regular basis we all have made those jokes and found them quite funny. Comedians such as Mr. Carlos Mencia say jokes based on exactly that same thought every day.

So which one is right? Should Jerry Lewis be condemned for making a gay joke, or forgiven? Does this one statement justify the end of the muscular dystrophy telethon, and all the positives it has provided? Does the fact that a significant good is happening out way and negative? If the earth were filled with utilitarians, the answer would be easy, but the reality is far from that. I don't know, what is the right answer and honestly that troubles me.

This is what I think, what do you think?