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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
The Right Stuff. Yes, the Jose Jimenez routine by Bill Dana. Or you can add Garret Morris: "Baseball been berry, berry good to me." Caricature is different than stereotyping. But, in today's PC/SJW atmosphere, it just carries too much baggage.
I like what Neil Gaiman said, in a blog post from Feb 2013: "I was reading a book (about interjections, oddly enough) yesterday which included the phrase “In these days of political correctness…” talking about no longer making jokes that denigrated people for their culture or for the colour of their skin. And I thought, “That’s not actually anything to do with ‘political correctness’. That’s just treating other people with respect.”

Which made me oddly happy. I started imagining a world in which we replaced the phrase “politically correct” wherever we could with “treating other people with respect”, and it made me smile.

You should try it. It’s peculiarly enlightening.

I know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking “Oh my god, that’s treating other people with respect gone mad!”


Treating other people with respect is never a bad idea. One can learn from the errors of one's past ways, I think. Just because it was once acceptable to treat others with disrespect doesn't mean it was right. KWIM?
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hello, Mr. King.
I am a big fan, truly. I think you're very talented and I love reading your books and stories. However, I think you should be aware of something. I was reading the afterword of Different Seasons, and I think you should know that you sound like a bigot! You wrote something about novellas, expressing your belief that they are not met warmly, and went on to describe the voice in your head that was making nasty comments about the novella. You said the voice in your head was, "heavily accented and rather greasy..." You continued writing in the accent, spelling words phonetically. As I mentioned, I am truly a fan of your work. However, I don't know what would possess you to be so rude, and I guess no one else has told you that you should be careful about that. I don't expect that you will actually read this, and for that, I am really sorry. I'm sure that you didn't intend to insult or hurt anyone's feelings, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that part of Different Seasons afterword did just that. We have never met, and I have no idea if you're an ******* or not. I hope not. Prove it and watch your words. Thank you for your time, and thank you for the stories. I really do love them!
"Prove it and watch your words"? :facepalm_smiley:

I think we will just let his millions of fans watch his words :facepalm:

If everyone was as sensitive as you, what a world we would be living in!
:belial:

By the way, I have a friend who speaks heavily accented English and he gets the utmost respect from me - I admire people who can speak more than one language

p.s. Calling the author an Assh*le is probably not a good way to introduce yourself!
:biggrin::biggrin2:;;D
 
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carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
Anyone who ever took a class in basic English Literature should recognise "tongue-in-cheek" and "caricature" in prose, especially when taken in context of what SK was explaining in the paragraphs referenced. If what he wrote there is to be construed as bigoted, might as well cancel a lot of shows on Comedy Central and put an end to those satirical cartoons in the New Yorker while we're at it.
I have a BA in English Literature along with a degree to teach it. I do not read that passage as "tongue in cheek." I read it as the musings of a 35-year old relatively well-off, white man in the US not really thinking about what he is saying/writing and the repercussions it may have with certain audiences. As I stated earlier, I do not think SK is a bigot. To me, the passage is startling to read in 2016; back in 1982 when I first read it I probably laughed out loud and thought nothing of it.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
I would never presume to TELL Sai King anything. I'm sure he will take your input into deep consideration while working working on his next novel.
yeesh.

Welcome to the boards, but please do not come into this message board that he kindly provided for us - first post and call him an As hole.

I have a problem with that.
Why not? He's just another person.

I agree with your observation on her butthole comment though; that was out of line, especially for a first-time poster.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
I would never presume to tell him how or what to write.
OK, that makes more sense. You originally said "anything."
laurarox certainly has the right to voice her opinion on what SK writes though. She should not have come here as a newbie and started off in such a negative way, that I agree with. It has made for some lively, thought-provoking conversation though.
 

Sundrop

Sunny the Great & Wonderful
Jun 12, 2008
28,520
156,619
OK, I'll bite. I just went back and reread that section. While I don't think SK is a bigot, I really can't explain or understand why he chose such vivid stereotypical language and imagery. I can see laurarox point of view. if someone can explain it, then please enlighten me.

Different Seasons: Four Novellas - Stephen King - Google Books
Thanks for the link. Different Seasons is one of the books that I'm missing in my collection, so I didn't have a copy readily available to read the passage in question.
After reading it twice though, it really didn't strike me as bigoted or insulting. Maybe I'm under sensitive as opposed to being overly sensitive. In any case, it really didn't bother me.
While I fully support every person's right to voice an opinion about anything in the world, I do feel like political correctness is often taken to extremes, and more often than not, some folks just walk around with a huge chip on their shoulder, looking for something to argue about.
 

Sundrop

Sunny the Great & Wonderful
Jun 12, 2008
28,520
156,619
Thanks for the link. Different Seasons is one of the books that I'm missing in my collection, so I didn't have a copy readily available to read the passage in question.
After reading it twice though, it really didn't strike me as bigoted or insulting. Maybe I'm under sensitive as opposed to being overly sensitive. In any case, it really didn't bother me.
While I fully support every person's right to voice an opinion about anything in the world, I do feel like political correctness is often taken to extremes, and more often than not, some folks just walk around with a huge chip on their shoulder, looking for something to argue about.
I came back too late to edit, but wanted to add that I find it rather ironic that on many occasions, the folks who are screaming the loudest about freedoms, are also the ones trying to keep others from using those same freedoms......
 

mjs9153

Peripherally known member..
Nov 21, 2014
3,494
22,165
yeah,a thirty four year old book..whew,when did that happen?Holy cow,some of us are getting up there,that read it when it first came out!But,I wouldn't get too worked up about it,that was quite some time ago..i was discussing with another member on another thread the old Tarzan books,now if you want to read some startling racist imagery,go back and read those! I had forgotten all about it,read it as a kid back in the seventies,but reread one recently for kicks,and was taken aback at some of the phrases..
 

staropeace

Richard Bachman's love child
Nov 28, 2006
15,210
48,848
Alberta,Canada
I have a BA in English Literature along with a degree to teach it. I do not read that passage as "tongue in cheek." I read it as the musings of a 35-year old relatively well-off, white man in the US not really thinking about what he is saying/writing and the repercussions it may have with certain audiences. As I stated earlier, I do not think SK is a bigot. To me, the passage is startling to read in 2016; back in 1982 when I first read it I probably laughed out loud and thought nothing of it.
Agree.