Bullying Through Comedy

Bullying Through Comedy - Hi everyone! - I was going to continue last week's post on salt and its devastating health consequences in case of long- term over- indulgence. However, after watching this year's Oscar night, I got sucked back right into the apparently hard dying issue of bullying. I honestly feel, I have to get this off my chest as it has been bothering me quite a bit. So, last Sunday Ellen Degeneres, the hostess of the four- hour long Oscar marathon, truly proved her wits and roasting skills, and I'm sure, a lot of people liked it. I did not like the part though where she started picking on an Oscar nominee who had rather unwillingly attracted unnecessary attention due to a mishap the year before. Ellen obviously had a blast calling that stupid incident as that woman had tripped on her way to receive her first Oscar into everyone's remembrance. Not enough, she kept the comedy going by basically jokingly teasing her about the same matter in front of millions of people watching that night. To make the whole situation even more uncomfortable for her almost to the point of awkward, Ellen let everyone know that the poor woman had just had a da capo by tripping again! I didn't think that that was funny at all! "Clean up your own backyard", comes to my mind instantaneously, or "just don't throw around with stones as long as you, too, are sitting in that infamous glass house". Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, and the more I heard that night, the more repulsive it got. Ellen Degeneres is a top- notch domestic celebrity, and thousands if not millions of fans look up to her. Is it okay for someone like her to humor themselves at somebody's expense like that in the disguise of comedy? I let you answer this question. - Two days ago on the Today Show a whole segment was wasted on poor John Travolta for supposedly having got tangled up in pronouncing one of the singers' names wrongly during the Oscar spectacle. Really, who cares? Yesterday this made it into the headlines even! You've got to be kidding me! Not enough, today they proudly reported about Travolta having apologized for his misstep like a little repenting boy! That's pathetic and simply disgusting! Apparently to amp it all up and stay hype with today's youth, the stupid term of "travoltasizing" or so was coined in the 'Orange Room'. Do you feel better now that you've knocked John down and made him feel like crap, I wonder? Ah, what am I saying, just a couple of puns and jokes as a reaction to somebody's mishaps, slips and flubs which aren't even worth mentioning - that's all, I guess. Dear Ellen, dear Today Show team: Making fun and cracking a few jokes on someone is in fact bullying even if a little classier maybe. Today's kids learn from the news and other public mass media sources that it is perfectly okay to "pick" on others since even famous grown- ups do so without having to fear any consequences. For God's sake, practice what you preach! How are the young supposed to correct this shoddy behavior if older and influential generations very well tolerate and approve of bullying so openly and gayly? Exactly, by us behaving like kids, our youth will definitely not step up to the plate and take on the reversed role of parents. After all, why would they? We simply can not hope for a miracle which out of the blue and all by itself stops the problem of bullying in its tracks for once and all if all that we do is continuously behave like reckless and immature teenage rascals. Being funny does not automatically include laughing at somebody or making people laugh about others' weaknesses. If you guys feel you need to expose someone humorously, why not pick yourselves instead? Not that this would be be better, spiritually speaking,  but at least innocent people's feelings are spared this way.