On September 4th, America watched sadly as fellow comedian and actress Joan Rivers passed away, and the public promised to remember her for years to come as the amazing woman she was.
Or... was she?
Joan Rivers had said many, many controversial things during her time, the most recent one being this video regarding her views towards the current Gaza conflict. Joan, when told about the number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza, reacted by completely blowing it off and then telling the camera that they "deserve to be dead." This, of course, angered many people, fans and others alike.
However, why is it that once a person passes away, we find the media always remembers them in good spirits? The foul deeds are often forgotten in light of a tragic death until many, many years later, if at all. For example, many celebrities tweeted their support of Joan Rivers while she was in a coma, all of them praying that she would make it through.
More and more people have been calling the media out on their biased coverage by tweeting with #karma and claiming that Rivers "wrote her own epitaph by wishing death upon Palestinians."
What do you think of this controversial situation? Is it right for the media to remember Rivers in good graces, for the sake of her family/friends/fans? Or is it important for the media to acknowledge that Rivers is NOT the blessing that some make her out to be?
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6 comments:
Joan Rivers' frontal and often abrasive humor was definitely something that many people saw controversially, and a handful celebrities, such as Sandee Althouse, upon her death, commented that although they did not appreciate her type of humor, they are sorry for the loss. The fact that Rivers made people laugh for a career, and was very successful at it (whether the jokes were appropriate or not), naturally makes people sad to see it come to an end. For all deaths but especially so for celebrities, I believe that we like to idolize the dead. We create rosier depositions of their lives and forget their many imperfections. For example, when Steve Jobs passed, many people commented on the inspiring and innovative man that he was, but ignored the fact that he could often be arrogant or outright mean to his colleagues.
Along with the Palestinian comment, Rivers has also made Holocaust jokes and called Michelle Obama a "tranny," along with countless other insensitive comments. It's important to point out that when she was called out for her previous jokes, she refused to apologize and often even furthered the joke. However, with the recent comment on the Gaza situation, she actually apologized for her comment. Although this does not lessen the severity of what she said, I think it reveals the fact that she draws limits at certain points, even if they aren't drawn correctly.
In my opinion, I don't think there's really any right or wrong as to how the media chooses to remember Rivers. The media is free to report news in whatever way they like, as long as it is accurate and trustworthy. And seeing the media pay respects to Rivers for the sake of her family and fans is touching. During such sensitive times, it is best to be supportive since there are plenty of people out there who care about Rivers, despite the numerous controversies that surround her. Besides, when the media decides to portray Rivers positively, there will be immediate backlash from other people. So the media doesn't always necessarily have to take responsibility for pointing out Rivers's flaws; there are plenty of others doing so already. The audience can also learn more about Rivers from other sources such as social networks or news websites. In this way, the general audience can get full coverage of Rivers and draw their own conclusions about her.
I don't really know much about Joan Rivers and her life but the main stream news stations have portrayed her as being an influential TV host and comedian. These comments about the Gaza situation are something just coming to my attention now and I do believe they are incredibly insensitive and disrespectful. However I don't think the media should focus or talk about her recent comments. When the media cover a death of a celebrity or influential person they talk should about their life and accomplishments because that is how they are remembered. Its a respectful and appropriate way to report a death. Talking about her inappropriate comments would make people remember one mistake she made, which should not be how she should be remembered. People are entitled to their own opinions and can believe whatever they want about Joan Rivers, but I have no problem with the media not talking about her controversial comments when reporting her death. It would be not only unfair to Joan Rivers, but also disrespectful to her family, friends, and supporters.
Thank you guys for your comments! Thank you Netta, too, for pointing out that she apologized for her Gaza comment - I probably should have acknowledged that, my apologies.
I understand Spencer's view on why the media reporting on only the positive aspects and achievements of her life are necessary - after all, this is how her friends and family want to remember her! However, I still don't think it's fair to glorify her in the way some media outlets have. After all, imagine if you were on the butt end of her jokes - how would it feel for someone who said you deserve to die to be remembered as a hero?
That being said, I respect Victoria's comment on that the media should be able to choose how they report news, and that there will be a backlash anyways (as there was with the trend #karma).
It seems to me that covering the death or any other monumental event regarding a controversial public figure will always be just that--controversial. I think that it is always important to acknowledge the good and the bad that a person does and not try to define a person as being concretely admirable or atrocious. In this case, Joan Rivers is being lauded as a pioneer for women, as she was probably the first very prominent and successful female comedian in the country. And while I don't think that the media praising Rivers for these reasons is necessarily wrong, I think that so soon after a person has passed away it is not appropriate to go as far as attacking fans or friends of Rivers for showing their support and sending their condolences to those who were close to Joan Rivers, which I have recently seen directed towards Rivers' family and friends. Regarding the media's coverage of Rivers' death, I think that it is completely acceptable and fair to respectfully acknowledge the controversial and insensitive actions of or comments made by Joan Rivers, but I personally think it would be in bad taste for a media outlet or anyone in particular to overtly celebrate her death because of her past actions.
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