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The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid

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Mafalda para Presidente
08/12/09

In reply to The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
"All men are created equal - how'd you think that would end?"
We need to market these t-shirts, STAT.
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PoisonPixie
08/12/09

In reply to The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
I can't wait till as someone put it below, "we are all beige". We aspire to it now, as (some) darker people bleach their skin, and (some) lighter people try to be tan as possible. When we all look like Jessica Alba (for instance) no one is going to be able to complain or say their neighbors are bad because of the way they look.
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thesciencegirl
08/12/09

@PoisonPixie: But wouldn't it be nice if we didn't all need to be the same color to stop hating each other?
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SomeAuthorGirl
08/12/09

In reply to The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
Even though I laughed, I agree with you, Latoya. Reason being that I grew up in a radically racially mixed family entirely unaware of what racism actually was until I was old enough to understand (around 11) and be horrified. I don't want to be playing gotcha with anyone. I want more children to grow up with no understanding of why they should think anyone is different from them.
(Except the stupid racist assholes. They're different.)
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keldo
08/12/09

In reply to The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
My god - that woman. I will be horrified by her bullshit tears and sense of victimization once I quell the desire to drag her into a hair salon for a deep conditioning treatment.
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Ipomoea
08/12/09

@keldo: I love you.
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kepster
08/12/09

In reply to The Daily Show Discusses "The Stew Getting Darker"
Larry Wilmore is the funniest man alive.
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BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit)
08/12/09

@kepster: I have a ladyboner for him, fer sure.
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TheFormerJuneBronson
08/12/09

@kepster: I loved him on The Office! I wish they'd bring Mr. Brown back.
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Kali Mama
11/22/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
I dunno...considering a lot of her material (haven't read the book, though!) on TV involves pretty mindless insults of others with a strong vein of pointless racism...I might kinda agree with her? I remain mystified at her ascent.

(I would say the same for the male version of shock-jockeying, I can admit it comes down to personal tastes choices I guess.)
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ArtfulSlinger
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
I don't think she actually thinks she is stupid, but I think she is shocked at how far she got by mocking "stupid" people. I think its refreshing that she has such a blase look at her job, which is so different than most of the idiots in Hollywood.
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brendastarlet is on it
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
Since the 60s, there's always been a pretty, but vulgar comedienne. Think Joan Rivers, Jenny McCarthy, Sarah Silverman and now Chelsea Handler.It offends me to no end, because they are simply using it as a tactic to get attention, and they know damned well that if they were truly not attractive, they would not be where they are.

Conversely, we have women of real wit who don't have to stoop to such tactics: Imogene Coca, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, Betty White, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler.
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stacyinbean
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
Dear Chelsea,

You are too fucking funny to be stupid. Also, where did you get those pants you wore when you were in Lowell, MA about 2 months? They looked super comfy.

stacyinbean
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exelizabeth
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
But Margaret is just reinforcing fat-hate with that blog post. It's not that she's not chubby; I don't know what she looked like at the point she made that comment, but she's been chubby before, and so what? She's lovely. How about not, "Oh, I'm not chubby," but, "I'm chubby and it's fantastic. I love my body."

What it sounds like to me is there is absolutely no way to describe a body that is not thin that is not insulting, because anything that isn't thin is an insult. How, then, to describe such a body? "Curvy"? "Voluptuous"? Are we so fat-hating in this country that we cannot utter a word that accurately describes something without it being an insult?

I don't know if this is entirely making sense, but... I dunno, her retraction really rubbed me the wrong way, because it's not a message to love your body, it's a message to continue to disown words that describe your body because you don't want them to describe your body.
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andBegorrah
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
I balance my self-deprecation with fantastically overblown comments about how fucking awesome I am - both versions are so absurd that no rational person could or should take either too seriously.

Frankly, I don't take myself seriously, but what I expect - nay, demand!! - from myself and from others is that I be judged based on my work. Obviously someone may be incapable of honestly evaluating my professional work or the quality of my personality because they've written me off as a moron,* but that's more a condemnation of them than it is of me, so, you know, fuck it.

*There are way too many examples of my functional ineptitude, so I fully accept that this is an all-too-easy characterization to make. No, seriously, it's fucking amazing I haven't won a Darwin Award yet.
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PilgrimSoul
11/13/08

@andBegorrah: see, I have written you off as BRILLIANTLY FUCKING FUNNY. :)
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rednrowdy
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
why don't we all agree on this: let's stop calling ourselves stupid and start telling the truth. my line is "i'm smart enough to know that i don't know everything". and it's true for every single person i've ever known in my life.

the fat thing - oh, another issue for another post.
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I, Zombie Normal
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
I admit I'm guilty of this. It's a step beyond self-deprecating, a way of disarming people, or lowering their expectations. It's also clearly symptomatic of someone with low self-esteem, but it isn't always that simple.

For me, it was a learned behavior, ostensibly to ingratiate myself socially, as if my intellect was the reason for my alienation. As a child, I had biker parents but was in honors classes, and I knew I was considered weird, so I adapted this "Oh I'm really not smart I just can fool 'em" attitude, and wore this as a shield. It wasn't a successful social endeavor, but it was a defensive tactic I carried far into adulthood.
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citrus buddha
11/13/08

In reply to Dear Chelsea Handler, Please Stop Calling Yourself Stupid
I think it takes a self-confident person to use self-deprecating humor.
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PilgrimSoul
11/13/08

@citrus_buddha: Can I add a work to your sentence? "properly."
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citrus buddha
11/13/08

@PilgrimSoul: Noted. And schooled. :)
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PilgrimSoul
11/13/08

@citrus_buddha: I could have at least spelled "word" properly while schooling, don't you think? :)
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