So my friend and I were having a discussion about this Stephen Fry quote the other day:
I'm a bit torn on it, myself. I think it's stupid to get offended over little things: -"Oh, you want to lift that for me because I'm a woman? That's offensive!" "No bitch, that's called being polite." -"You think I'm a criminal because I'm black? That's offensive!" "No sir, we pat everyone down in the airport."
So I can understand where the quote comes from. People get offended over every little thing. Hell, comedians and shows like South Park get yelled at all the time for being offensive when it's very clear they're just saying those things as jokes.
But on the other hand, I see people use this quote (or some variation thereof) to justify the stupidest things. Extreme racism, putting people down, and (most controversially) religion/atheism.
There's definitely a difference between getting offended at comments that don't mean anything and comments that are meant to be scathing and offensive.
I don't think you should just be able to just say whatever the hell you want, then get away by saying "Oh, if you get offended, you're just closed-minded." If you say something that's intended to be cruel towards someone, you should expect them to say something back.
-"You think I'm a criminal because I'm black? That's offensive!" "No sir, we pat everyone down in the airport."
you know racism is still a pretty big issue, innocent black people get accused on a much higher rate than white people, i don't think you actually should be saying it's stupid to get offended by such things; imo it's far more common for people to go "OOH BLACK PEOPLE SO SENSITIVE" even though there's a real issue than it's the other way around. I think being offended is a good phrase, like has been said you have the right to get offended it doesn't automatically mean you should get to impose restrictions on whatever is offending you though.
"I don't think you should just be able to just say whatever the hell you want", then you probably shouldnt be living in a country where its built into your constitution
I think my boi squeezy jibbs makes a really good point with this video. Iirc you can post videos in here right? So many rules to keep track of on this forum TT
Bottom line is, people need to stop being such cry babies
I'm not sure about the complete context of the quote, but Mr. Fry is more likely focused on the fact that they words have lost value. He often "rambles on" (his own words) about the lack context and quality of the use of language:
So in this context I think he's quite right. The phrase is completely devoid of the actual content that speaker often assumes. The statement of it does nothing in an argument about things that are offensive. But I don't think he's really saying anything about actually being offended or what people are offended by.
On March 27 2012 01:36 AwayFromLife wrote: I don't think you should just be able to just say whatever the hell you want, then get away by saying "Oh, if you get offended, you're just closed-minded."
I really, really hate the term "closed-minded". It's a lazy internet neologism that is slowly replacing the real term narrow-minded.
-"You think I'm a criminal because I'm black? That's offensive!" "No sir, we pat everyone down in the airport."
you know racism is still a pretty big issue, innocent black people get accused on a much higher rate than white people, i don't think you actually should be saying it's stupid to get offended by such things; imo it's far more common for people to go "OOH BLACK PEOPLE SO SENSITIVE" even though there's a real issue than it's the other way around. I think being offended is a good phrase, like has been said you have the right to get offended it doesn't automatically mean you should get to impose restrictions on whatever is offending you though.
As long as it is about just a viewpoint or opinion of somebody I can just say: free speech; be as offended as you want but it matters not, it is in fact rather stupid. I think it just means you have no other reasonable argument to make. If you have another argument to make: GREAT then make it. But don't think because you just feel pissed of that that alone is a reason your opinion should be heard.
We had Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands. A moviemaker and interviewer who always offended everyone, anyone. Until he offended the wrong people and got killed in a brutal way.
A monument was made for him. One of his friends, a Dutch standup comedian, spoke for him when it was shown to the public for the first time (dutch with english subtitles):
Since he offended some muslim girls in his speech they invited him in their program to talk about it, about freedom of speech and being offended in general. It became the Dutch tv moment of that year: (also subtitled)
In the context of TL, that argument is often used as an excuse by people who post stupid and immature things that got them moderated. Whenever I see somebody talking about other people getting offended easily, I picture a shitty poster whining about TL's moderation.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EX5v4.jpg)
it doesn't automatically mean you should get to impose restrictions on whatever is offending you though.
