Some Thoughts On Tracy

I've never been a Tracy Morgan fan. I don't know why, I just don't care for him. I never thought him homophobic, and I've never thought him funny. Turns out I was wrong on that first one, and right on the second.

Now, to be fair, I loves me some shock comics. Lisa Lampanelli? Not many more shocking than her, but she's funny because you know it's all about the joke. Some might find her offensive, I find her offensively funny.

But, back to Tracy Morgan. It seems that he recently gave a stand-up performance in Tennessee that was basically a homophobic rant, without any of the humor. I mean, I tell fag jokes at work. If I do something idiotic--and, yes, it's been known to happen--I'll usually utter something like, "Fags are dumb."

But, um, one thing you won't ever hear me say is that I would stab someone if they were gay. Tracy Morgan said that about his own son. He said if his son was gay, he better come home and talk to him like a man or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N_____. 
"Fags are dumb" coming from a raging homosexual is kinda funny. Stabbing your gay son, somehow misses that mark.

He called anti-bullying campaigns a bunch of bull shiz, and said gay people need to stop being pussies and whining about insignificant stuff like being taunted, teased and bullied to the point of suicide. Yeah, I know; not so funny.

Now, back to me, and some funny. After my bout with the shingles, I returned to work with one last pussy-scabby thing on my forehead that I'd covered with a BandAid. When someone asked what happened to my head, I said I was gay bashed by a Girl Scout because I only bought one box of thin mints. That's kinds funny, right. Maybe I should send that one to Tracy.

But his jokes about gay bashing, and bullying, coming on the heels of so many recent suicides of young LGBTQ youth, wasn't just untimely, it was sickening.

Tracy called being gay a choice, because "God" don't make mistakes. Well, he's half-right. God doesn't make mistakes, but I was born this way. And when you start sputtering about god and gay and choosing that "lifestyle" in a state like Tennessee, which is rapidly becoming the seat of homophobia in this country, you've crossed a line.

And the Tracy Morgan apparently ended his little comedy routine with a line about how, if gays can take a dick up their asses, then they can take a fucking joke.

Oh, Tracy, honey, we can take a joke, but you are not funny.
Mean-spirited isn't funny.
Hate isn't funny.
Bullying isn't funny.
Murder isn't funny.
That you should have learned in Comedy 101.

And, now, of course, all sorts of folks are coming out on Tracy's side, and against Tracy.

Openly gay NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt had this to say:
"I speak for NBC and myself personally when I say we do not condone hate or violence of any kind and I am pleased to see Tracy Morgan apologizing for recent homophobic remarks in his standup appearance. We will always recognize an artist's freedom to express him or herself, but not when reckless things are said no matter what the context. Unfortunately, Tracy's comments reflect negatively on both "30 Rock" and NBC - two very all-inclusive and diverse organizations - and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

Kind of a weak slap on the wrist to one of the co-stars of a hot show. I kind of think that if Tracy Morgan were on a show that was not doing so well, Greenblatt's reprimand would have been more harsh.

And Chris Rock, initially, defended Tracy Morgan, tweeting:
“I dont know about you, but I dont want to live in world where Tracy Morgan cant say foul inappropriate s—.”

Apparently Chris Rock's supportive Tweet came before he actually knew what Morgan had said because he then changed his stance a little:
"Tracy morgan is a tad off we all know that so when tracy says something i usually don’t take it anymore serious than i would a statement from gary busey or flavor flav. when i first heard the statement i thought it was offensive but it also reminded me of my father saying ill kill you if you ever bring home a white girl but after reading everything tracy said. wow i get it that s— wasn’t called for and i don’t support it at all. now can i please go to the tony awards without getting my ass kicked.”

You can go, Chris, but now maybe you've learned to find out what, and whom, you're supporting, before you open your mouth.

The Human Rights Campaign believes Morgan should do more than just apologize:
"Tracy Morgan exercised extremely poor judgment and he did the right thing by apologizing. But that’s just not enough. He’s a role model and Morgan now has a responsibility to make amends for his horribly hurtful and dangerous ‘comedy’ routine. He also needs to go further than his apology and correct the record: no one should feel ashamed because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and they should definitely not become a victim of violence. Words have consequences and Morgan should be held to a higher standard. Until he does something meaningful, his brand will remain tarnished.”

I'm kind of ambivalent here. I think sometimes an apology is enough. Doesn't mean I forget what he said, and won't be watching to make sure he doesn't go there again, but we need to learn to forgive a little. Not forget, forgive.

CNN's Roland Martin defended Morgan, claiming the comedy routine was just that - a routine:
"Say I’m wrong. Fine. Say I’m insensitive to gays and lesbians. Fine. I’ll wait for the usual bigots to say that I’m defending Tracy Morgan because he’s black. Fine. But think for a moment at all the times you’ve laughed at comedians based on the things they had to say. Then ask yourself: Did I laugh, and why? Sorry, if I’m being honest here and not focusing on political correctness. I just believe that many of you would be shocked and amazed that you laughed hysterically at some of the most sexist, homophobic, racist stuff imaginable by comedians of all shapes, sizes, ethnic backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations."

Oh, Roland, refer back to my comments on Lisa Lampanelli. I can, have, and will continue to, laugh at insensitive, rude, comics, but talking about killing someone, anyone, much less your own son, for being gay isn't funny.

Wanda Sykes, like me, wasn't amused:
"I fault the TN lawmakers. They've created an anti-gay environment. Don't believe Tracy would be so ignorant in LA. I do believe in free speech, but for a youth in TN or any other numerous place, Tracy just yelled, ‘Fire,’ in a crowded theater."

Then Wanda talked to Roland Martin:
"Ro, I love and respect you, so I feel that I can tell you that your column is some bullshit. We can do better. Tracy has the right to say whatever he wants to say, just like we have the right to say, not acceptable. and WE as a country. We used to picnic to watch public hangings, but WE figured out, that was some sick shit."

I think i fall on Team Wanda, and I'll explain in a bit.

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios had this to say:
"While it is certainly a good thing that Morgan has started to take responsibility for the offensive content of his routine by apologizing publicly to his fans and the gay community, he must do more to balance the harm that his words have inflicted. He could take one profound step to show his sincerity by meeting with parents and young people who have been personally effected by anti-gay violence or family rejection. GLAAD has reached out to Tracy Morgan's publicist and offered to facilitate such a meeting. We implore him to take us up on this."

Again, let the man apologize. Let him take responsibility and let's see how he handles himself in the future before we decide to make him do an Apology Tour. I mean, why don't we just send him around the country, knocking on the door of every single LGBT person in this country and apologize in person?

Openly gay actor, Cheyenne Jackson, who periodically appears on '30 Rock' with Tracy Morgan:
"I am disgusted and appalled by Tracy Morgan's homophobic rant. The devastating repercussions of hate-filled language manifest in very real ways for today's LGBTQ youth. I've known Tracy for two years, spent many long hours with him on set, and I want to believe that this behavior is not at the core of who he is. I'm incredibly disappointed by his actions, and hope that his apology is sincere."

Now, here's an actual gay man with an actual responsible response to Tracy Morgan. No boycott. No firing. Just accept the apology and keep watching Morgan to make sure he meant it.


Tina Fey, Morgan's co-star and boss, didn't think it was funny either:
"The violent imagery of Tracy's rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the GLBT Community. It also doesn't line up with the Tracy Morgan I know, who is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person. I hope for his sake that Tracy's apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian co-workers at '30 Rock', without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with, or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket."

I think we ought to listen to the people who know Tracy Morgan before we decide to demand that he be physically removed from our TV screens.

And we should listen to Tracy Morgan himself:
"I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

Okay, so here's my take.

What do we do now? Do we get out our pink monogrammed stationary out and flood NBC with letters demanding Tracy be fired? Do we stop watching '30 Rock' altogether? Do we boycott and march and shout? Or do we take the high road, take his apology, accept it, move on, and hope  it never happens again?

See, what Tracy Morgan said was Free Speech. Hateful, oh, indeed, But free. Don't forget we live in a country where a church can protest at funerals with signs that say 'God Hates Fags' and 'Fags Must Die'.

It's Free Speech. It's wrong, what he said, but let's hope he learned his lesson, and let's hope that other folks who feel, or at least felt, as Tracy Morgan did, have also learned their lesson.

I've heard people say that this is like the Isaiah Washington incident, where he called one of his fellow actors a 'fag' during an argument. Washington was subsequently let go from his show. But Morgan's rant was different. His was intended....intended....to be funny. Washington's comment was a slur shouted in anger about a co-worker, and made the work environment, with him still there, intolerable. There is a subtle difference.

So, I hope there won't be this big call to fire Tracy Morgan or stop watching '30 Rock'--although I've never seen the show--or boycott NBC. I said before, referring to myself, and maybe some of you, that 'fags are dumb'. I just hope we aren't stupid. And unable to forgive.