Saturday, September 01, 2007

Why we make fun of Miss SC

I think we ought to give Miss Teen South Carolina a break.

It was quite a phenomenon I've observed, how quickly the videos have been submitted to YouTube since the story first came out in the news. It seemed like everyone was getting in line to make fun of her.
Today, the 1st of September, I find YouTube has a considerably large collection of videos on the subject of what a stupid blonde ditz she is. I admit I found some of them to be really funny, and I was even compelled to read some of the comments made. The comment that most got my attention was on how we have taken advantage of the fact that it's a lot safer to make fun of a person who is white, especially if she is female and blonde.

I believe the reason blonde jokes have become so popular is because it is no longer PC to make fun of ethnic groups, as my generation has had so much fun doing while we were growing up.
As Kris Kristofferson says, " Cuz everybody's gotta have somebody to look down on" (Jesus was a Capricorn)

But if we want to make fun of someone for being stupid, I think we ought to shift our focus a little bit. What about the 1/5 of Americans who can't find the USA on a world map? Does that seem to bother anyone as much as it does me?

We were so busy laughing at Miss SC, that no one appears to be trying to answer the question she was asked, except as another joke.
Why is it that 1/5 of the American people (that's 20%) cannot find their own country on a map?
Had someone asked that question of me, I'm not sure I could answer it either, though I'm more inclined to blame poor education rather than a shortage of maps.

Still, I'm sure we need to find the answer to that question.
I consider this a wake-up call for us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was able to find the United States by going to Yahoo Maps http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTExNmIycG51BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEc2VjA2ZwLWJ1dHRvbgRzbGsDbGluaw--#q1=United%20States&mvt=m&trf=0&lon=-98.591309&lat=39.859155&mag=13

Anonymous said...

I think you're on to something Bill!
I agree, I might have some trouble answering that question myself (especially if asked in front of millions of people on television.)

I find it sad for America to be laughing at HER when 20% of them are the REAL butt of their own joke! It's just a shame on them.

Yeah, she's a white blonde, but I believe they're just using her fumble as a distraction of the real issue here! Making fun of her takes away from the focus of why it is that such a high amount (1 in 5) simply cannot pinpoint America on a world map.

It's taking away from the issues that matter most; like better education (or, in her case, better availability of world maps) in the United States.

Either way, the media and all those lined up for her sake better get in line for the real issue here and work to make some real differences (other than an embarrassed Miss SC!!!)

Until then, KEEP LAUGHING AMERICA, the jokes on you!

Later Bill!
Alex