(no subject)
So my writing class at 12:10 was canceled. As a result, I’m sitting out in the atrium area of the law school and my stupid computer has decided that it doesn’t want to be connected to the internet. I’m sure it will connect in a little while. Because that’s how it is. Awesome.
So I keep reading stuff on various websites about the whole Isaiah Washington thing. The thing I posted the link about yesterday - him going into rehab basically for using a derogatory word. Here’s my take on the whole situation:
I don’t care that he’s famous. If anything, he should be held to a higher standard. I’m sick of celebrities being able to get away with drunk driving, underage drinking, and using words like Isaiah Washington used. While rehab can (one would assume) help you deal with addictions, I don’t think that going into rehab should give you a free pass for breaking the law or being a complete and utter asshole.
On top of that - Isaiah Washington used that word at his place of employment. Grey’s Anatomy is a television show, true, but it is also a job for a good number of people. Including Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight. If I went into my job and started calling people racial or homophobic slurs, I would be fired. No “let’s have some meetings to determine what we should do;” I would lose my job. It’s not okay that because someone is a celebrity they aren’t held to the same standards as the rest of us. At least in this situation. This should not be okay. Forcing someone to continue to work with a person that has used that word to their face is wrong and not fair and not okay. (And as a side note: The initial incident that this whole thing stemmed from? It involved Isaiah Washington slamming Patrick Dempsey against a wall and choking him. I'm pretty sure that I can't assault my co-workers and get away with it either.)
In addition, I think it is a huge problem that Isaiah Washington is so cavalier in his use of that word that he had no qualms in using it again after the Golden Globes. Not only did he use it in front of all the press in the room, he forced his way up to the microphone and interrupted someone to reiterate the fact that he’s not homophobic and didn’t use that word by, wait for it, using that word. That’s another problem for me. That word makes me as uncomfortable as the "N word." You’ll notice I haven’t used it once in this entry. In addition, when I was talking to Lauryn the other night about all of this, I didn’t even feel comfortable using the word in a conversation discussing how bad it was with one of my best friends in the world.
I think Americans need to realize that words like the one used by Isaiah Washington are just as bad as the "N word." If this was reversed and T.R. Knight had used that racial slur to refer to Isaiah Washington, he would have been fired. I don’t doubt that for a second. Any word that is used to degrade people based on their sexual orientation, race, gender, disability, etc. is wrong. People should be free from being harrassed or discriminated against based on who they are.
I don't know how I feel about firing Isaiah Washington without any kind of wrap-up for his character. I obviously don't think anyone should get away with saying the things he's said. I think that my major issue is that I love Grey's Anatomy and I (used to) love Burke. But I can no longer watch the show and not see Isaiah Washington instead of Burke and think about what he did. During the scene last week between Burke and George, I know I was supposed to be thinking about how George is his "guy" and how George was looking to Burke for support about his dad, but all I could think was, "Wow. T.R. Knight kicks so much ass for being able to do this scene believably and not punch Isaiah Washington in the face."
So I keep reading stuff on various websites about the whole Isaiah Washington thing. The thing I posted the link about yesterday - him going into rehab basically for using a derogatory word. Here’s my take on the whole situation:
I don’t care that he’s famous. If anything, he should be held to a higher standard. I’m sick of celebrities being able to get away with drunk driving, underage drinking, and using words like Isaiah Washington used. While rehab can (one would assume) help you deal with addictions, I don’t think that going into rehab should give you a free pass for breaking the law or being a complete and utter asshole.
On top of that - Isaiah Washington used that word at his place of employment. Grey’s Anatomy is a television show, true, but it is also a job for a good number of people. Including Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight. If I went into my job and started calling people racial or homophobic slurs, I would be fired. No “let’s have some meetings to determine what we should do;” I would lose my job. It’s not okay that because someone is a celebrity they aren’t held to the same standards as the rest of us. At least in this situation. This should not be okay. Forcing someone to continue to work with a person that has used that word to their face is wrong and not fair and not okay. (And as a side note: The initial incident that this whole thing stemmed from? It involved Isaiah Washington slamming Patrick Dempsey against a wall and choking him. I'm pretty sure that I can't assault my co-workers and get away with it either.)
In addition, I think it is a huge problem that Isaiah Washington is so cavalier in his use of that word that he had no qualms in using it again after the Golden Globes. Not only did he use it in front of all the press in the room, he forced his way up to the microphone and interrupted someone to reiterate the fact that he’s not homophobic and didn’t use that word by, wait for it, using that word. That’s another problem for me. That word makes me as uncomfortable as the "N word." You’ll notice I haven’t used it once in this entry. In addition, when I was talking to Lauryn the other night about all of this, I didn’t even feel comfortable using the word in a conversation discussing how bad it was with one of my best friends in the world.
I think Americans need to realize that words like the one used by Isaiah Washington are just as bad as the "N word." If this was reversed and T.R. Knight had used that racial slur to refer to Isaiah Washington, he would have been fired. I don’t doubt that for a second. Any word that is used to degrade people based on their sexual orientation, race, gender, disability, etc. is wrong. People should be free from being harrassed or discriminated against based on who they are.
I don't know how I feel about firing Isaiah Washington without any kind of wrap-up for his character. I obviously don't think anyone should get away with saying the things he's said. I think that my major issue is that I love Grey's Anatomy and I (used to) love Burke. But I can no longer watch the show and not see Isaiah Washington instead of Burke and think about what he did. During the scene last week between Burke and George, I know I was supposed to be thinking about how George is his "guy" and how George was looking to Burke for support about his dad, but all I could think was, "Wow. T.R. Knight kicks so much ass for being able to do this scene believably and not punch Isaiah Washington in the face."