Hey look! Lindy West reviews this year’s batch of Superbowl commercials over at MSNBC!
Penn “& Teller” Jillette is not pleased:
I can’t wait till an African-American writes something Penn Jillette doesn’t like and he lets that n****r have it.
David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest... More by David Schmader
@93 – Your comment = my point. QED.
I see a lot of people shrieking, “It’s never okay for a white person to use the n-word!” but there is a distinct lack of the corresponding, “It is never okay for a man to use the c-word!”
I find it fascinating that a white person using the word “nigger” with an intent to make a point generates more flipping out than a man’s use of the word “cunt” to degrade a woman.
Penn Jillette is a cunt.
Lindy is a fucking genius.
No contest.
“Lindy West is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.”
I thought she was in Seattle?
@65 Well I’m Jewish and I find “kike” inappropriate at all times unless I’m talking to another Jewish person about the word. So I guess you don’t get to speak for all of us. Or for other oppressed minorities for that matter.
@50 pretty much.
I love Lindy’s writing. I’m sick of Penn Jillette. And comment trolls remind me of sunny days and popsicles and fluffy little puppies.
Lindy west is a fucking idiot.
@105
A lot of accusations there. Proof?
When a white man calls a woman a “cunt” or a black person a “nigger” he is saying the same thing to both. Which is, “Know your place”. So, I feel that comparison is fair.
Sorry I meant @106
This little clipping came from my Facebook wall. Penn read Lindy’s article because he clicked on a link on a personal friend’s wall. He didn’t tweet this. He said it to me.
I could delete his post, but sadly it will not matter because this is now the world’s business.
I’d also like to note that the unfortunate thing about Facebook is that posting something on a personal friend’s wall quickly becomes saying it “on the internet”.
There is a grey area between saying something on television and saying it in a friend’s living room, and in this particular case it was my living room, so I’m feeling a little violated. And not by Penn, or by Lindy.
Context matters. If people want to stop supporting him for using the word cunt, of course that’s their business. But please know that he did not tweet it to the world, as if Lindy being a cunt were something everyone needed to know. He said it in a conversation on my wall.
Lindy has every right to share it, and I’m sure Penn won’t mind it being made public. But if this information becomes wide-spread, my hope is that the context travels with it.
Also, whatever you may think about the words Penn uses, I may very well think the same things. But I’ve been privileged to see how he actually behaves with at least one non-virtual woman, and he’s a good man when he doesn’t have to be. When it doesn’t benefit him at all. When no one is watching.
His public persona is for public consumption and you all have your right to your opinions about it, but I’ve never been treated less than kindly by him, and he’s had plenty of opportunity. Please take that into consideration when judging his overall character.
“beloved cunt”
After consideration, we cannot in good conscience recommend the use of the word “nigger” as a pejorative under any circumstances. It is too stained with a history of violence, subjugation, and hate to be thrown out as a funny insult to get titters.
Now cunt, on the other hand, that’s a lovely word. Round and soft and hard and slippery at the same time. You silly twats have at that one. But be warned – if you call a person a cunt without a good (or hilarious) reason for doing so, you’re advertizing to everyone what a big ol’ asscrack you are.
This has been a public service announcement from the Profanity and Expletive Review, Verification, and Expert Recommendation Team (PERVERT). You can contact us through our web site or by shouting “FUCK!” loudly and repeatedly.
Thats not Penns verified account yo!
Hi Emily,
If Penn said something to you on Facebook, and the statement is available to the public, then yes, it’s accurate to say that he “said it on the internet.” It’s not an unfortunate thing about Facebook; it’s an unfortunate thing about deciding that Facebook is an appropriate place to say such a thing rather than, you know, in private email/phone call/text message/standing in the kitchen. Nobody gives a damn how he treats you, in this context. It’s irrelevant. You acknowledge that his public persona is available for public judgment, and that’s what’s happening. You know, like both Penn and you do all of the time. It was a stupid ass comment, and that really has nothing to do with the specific usage of the word “cunt.”
@111, really appreciate you sharing all that. I suppose it’s a good thing to hear from you that he doesn’t treat most women like he did Lindy. I would, however, encourage you to revisit your concept of Facebook bystanders. When he posted that on your wall, he wasn’t speaking quietly one-on-one to you in your living room, really. It’s more like you threw a party and invited everyone you like. You know everyone, but nobody else knows everyone, that kind of thing. It’s fun, there’s a happy din of chatter, and this is what he shouts to you, loud so you can hear him. Sure, he didn’t realize a friend of Lindy’s happened to be within earshot, but then he doesn’t seem to have worried about it even a bit.
I don’t mind the c-word as such, I know when it’s wordplay. But he whipped it at one of my favorite writers so eagerly – at her, mind you, not the work. He personalized it, so I’m not bothered doing the same in return, and on more evidence than he had.
Well, all of you who love Lindy – as I do – should be pleased by the fact that this kerfluffle has likely gotten her some new readers.
Enjoy your evenings.
White people, don’t use the N-word. At all. Ever. Even if you think you can in this one scenario or you’re cool enough or have been “given permission.”Just choose not to okay?
Also, I love Lindy. <3 I wish she’d come back to us.
I don’t see a difference in degree between the c-word and the n-word. I appreciate David Schmader’s point. Like Fnarf says, Reading comprehension, people. Don’t call a woman a cunt just because you don’t like her writing. It doesn’t feel like you don’t like her writing, but like you want to say she is not a full human. Thanks @102 and @109.
And it even feels like implied violence.
Hey if I had to work with Chuck Mudede I would use any excuse I could to use the “N” word.
Amanda, I see what your thinking, but I’d like to point out that ‘Nigger’ is neither a color nor a body part. It’s not a synechdoche. It’s not equivalent to ‘cunt’.
Both words are vile and needn’t be used by anyone, save the ignorant or the scholarly. Schmader was unthinking and Jillette is an idiot. Maybe the Stranger should suspend commenting.
Who the fuck is Pendulum? Is he down with the clown?
@65, A sincere question: would you be square with usage of the term kike if it was being used by a neo-Nazi?
lol, I had to look up who Penn Jillette, I don’t know his name w/o Teller after it. And now I care less.
Update! It turns out that show business folk are frequently assholes. Lindy and Penn are both entertaining and assholes, sometimes at the same time.
Lindy: *hipster jokes*
Penn: “I don’t get it! Hey you kids get off my lawn!”
@109: As a black woman, my experience having each of those words used against me was exactly how you describe it. That said, I recognize that my country has a different history with race than the US, so the context for the words is different.
Anyhow, totally uncalled for on Penn’s part. What a jerktastic move.
That wasn’t Lindy’s best piece, but trying to find a humorous thread between a bunch of unrelated commercials within a word count isn’t an easy writing task.
How about a new rule: anyone can say what they want to say, and anonymous internet commenters don’t get to tell anyone what they can’t say. Deal?
@128, is your comment intended as irony?
@128: Lawl, looking at your comment history, apparently you’ve got issues with black people in general. You can say what *you* want, and the rest of us can feel free assuming you’re an asshole.
@106 But I don’t care about Ms. West’s writing. I don’t care if she is a Nobel Prize winner in Literature or the worst writer on the face of the planet. This is about the use of the words “nigger” and “cunt.” If Ms. West had been black and had written the same items, do you think it would have been alright for Penn to call her a nigger based on the same rational? Or do you agree with the people who have said it is never okay fora white person to call a black person a nigger, but that it can be alright for man to call a woman a cunt? If so, what is the factor that makes a difference in your mind?
He was rude, he was insulting, he was obnoxious, but as far as his point, buried as it was in vitriol- he wasn’t wrong.
The Stranger is free. It costs nothing. Still, I never pick it up. The forced humor, the sloppy writing by solipsistic dullards (Hello, Charles!) and the general carelessness of the production have made me come to the realization that the act of literally picking it up from the stack under the roof downspout is not worth the trouble. I’ve read some features when friends suggest I do so, but it’s mostly the sad attempt at humor that keeps me away. Lindy’s piece is an excellent, bad example of same.
To recap: Penn is an ass, Lindy is not at all funny, and her piece was uninteresting and pointless.
Does anybody have any confirmation as to how much sleep Penn Jillette lost last night worrying about what internet zeroes think of him?
Penn Jillette exemplifies for libertarian individuals a pattern I’ve always perceived in the libertarian party itself: the turd in the punchbowl. Let me explain. Think of the libertarian party as a bowl of punch. Some punch is lame, but this particular bowl of punch is awesome! “No unjust wars!” “Legalize drugs!” “Let local municipalities govern themselves in ways they see fit!” “Mind your own damn business!” And I’m like, “sweet, this punch is awesome, I’m going to have a glass.” And then I get closer and see “No public education!” And I’m like, “Dammit, this punch bowl has a huge turd in it.”
Likewise with Penn Jillette. I think the way he combines magic and comedy in a knowing, “this is bullshit, right?” way is entertaining. I like his show, bullshit. I like that he’s an outspoken atheist. He makes me laugh. But goddamn is he an asshole.