NOT OFFENSIVE

I don't want to start a flaming war here. But I don't think the last show was offensive because Kramer was not TRYING to make fun of people who are mentally handicapped. He was just being himself--with a numb mouth. It's impossible not to offend someone when you're trying to make people laugh. I just refuse to always be Politically Correct.

The last show was definetly not offensive, if you noticed the writers carefully used the correct terms, such as mentally challenged and not mentally retarded. If anything the show was making fun of the majority of the population who are not mentally challenged, because we tend to treat these people as if they are mentally retarded when in reality they are just like you or me but communicate in a different fashion to what we normally see in society.

Quoth Mark Simmons:

Bingo. The way the fellow in the cab talked to Kramer...pure D patronization.

In fact, one could make the argument that ALL of the so-called offensive episodes -- Schindler's List, pizzabortion, et al -- make fun of people's attitudes towards things rather than the things themselves. And rightly so. This is the essence of satire.

Tangent-- I am curious as to how many of those who found the above (and other) episodes offensive turned off the TV when they became offended? Just a thought...

In article , [email] (SARAH B. MOHLE) wrote:

I agree. I didn't think it was offensive because, really, the joke was not at the expense of the mentally disabled. The target of the joke was those patronizing people who make ostentatious displays of "compassion" towards disabled people in order to show the world how caring and concerned they are.

Certainly it's going to bother some people when TV shows depict actors imitating handicapped people for laughs. But how is that different from shows where people caricature ethnic groups for a joke? Is it always wrong, or only wrong when the joke hits close to *your* neighborhood?

Regards,

Bryan Byun e-mail: [email]