Boy, I'm not sure when Sean Penn became the most hated person on IMDb, nor do I know what crimes against humanity he's guilty of, but man, they must be dropping his name on Fox News night and day, because he seems to be Public Enemy #1 in certain circles.
But I'll leave Mr. Penn to take care of himself and address your complaints about certain elements in the script:
Also, Penn's insistence on the pronunciation of "Niger" is so pretentious, it's disgusting. I understand he's trying to show how much more respectful and sensitive PC liberals are. That's part of what makes them so repulsive.
Whether or not his correction is handled humbly or arrogantly, the moment serves a purpose from a screenwriting standpoint -- namely, to illustrate that Joe Wilson actually knows what he's talking about, in contrast to many other people in the film. He even explains why he does so. Not sure why that qualifies as pretentious, let alone disgusting or repulsive.
The question was "You get on a plane, two guys in turbans, seats 1A and 1B, they look nervous, they're sweaty and they're saying prayers... what do you do? You get off that plane and you're calling the cops! I mean, if we're honest, we all are!"
You're suggesting that "any reasonable person" would get off a plane and call the cops under the circumstances outlined by the journalist tool from
The Wire. But to adopt that character's terms in order to engage in the discussion is already to miss the point. The character in question is a "racist pussy" because he, like many casually bigoted people, finds he has to actively construct hypothetical scenarios in order to justify his own prejudices.
In other words, he creates the equivalent of a straw man in order to goad his dinner companions into enabling his paranoia.
And even if you agree to his terms, well, plenty of people are nervous about flying.
Normally I'd end here, but since you brought up racial profiling, and given the Pavlovian way you scatter your post with certain terms ("liberal" and "politically correct"), we might talk about your name.
Now, plenty of people of all colours have no shortage of things to be pissed off about. And for all I know you mean your name to have an air of irony. But at face value, since you've given yourself three identifying characteristics ("pissed off", "white", and "guy") it evokes thoughts of "angry white male syndrome" -- a troubling phenomenon featuring one of most privileged demographics in the world becoming militant and reactionary at the prospect of losing any of their entitlement; for whatever reason, such people have the feeling that they're "constantly under attack" and that their freedom to do/say X is being eroded.
Like, say, "You can't tell a racially charged joke anymore because of these damned liberals and all their political correctness," or, "I can't compliment a female coworker's looks because I'll get charged with sexual harassment."
For the most part, many of these "freedoms" should never have felt like freedoms in the first place. But nobody likes to lose power.
If you're actually interested in reading more about "political correctness" -- as it exists, not as some sort of all-purpose bogeyman hiding under every white man's bed -- I'd suggest John Wilson's (no relation) book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Political-Correctness-Conservative/dp/0822317133
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Thought_Criminal_J62377
8 years ago
I can't take credit for writing this, but here's the best, most accurate explanation of political correctness, I've ever seen.
THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
It has become obvious to me that political correctness, that creeping, insidious thought-cancer that has permeated every fiber of our societal existence, is here to stay. Therefore, acting in my usual role of humble public servant, have decided to impart upon you the intuitive wisdom of my lifetime, culminating in this really special Guide to Political Correctness.
There are two Absolute Tenets to Political Correctness, supported by a number of Guiding Principles. While the Guiding Principles are important to the facilitation of Political Correctness, it is the two Absolute Tenets that must be obeyed at all times in order for Political Correctness to effectively work and rule the day.
Absolute Tenet Number One: We are all the same; everyone is equal. There are no winners or losers, only homogenous participants. Winners may not exist, or otherwise losers would feel bad about not being winners, and since there are no losers we can't have any winners. That would be a losing scenario, if there was such a thing as losing. But there isn't and that is a winner for all of us, if there was such a thing as winning. But there is not. We are all exactly the same, and are absolutely equal.
Absolute Tenet Number Two: We are all vastly different. We must celebrate our extraordinary diversity. Embracing our diversity allows us to demonstrate that we are not bad people who make all our decisions based on race, nationality, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and religion. We demonstrate this enlightenment, of course, by making all our decisions based on race, nationality, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and religion. Whether we are competent or even capable of accomplishing a task for which we have been assembled is not relevant. What is relevant is that collectively we are balanced and representative of a broader and inclusively diverse culture. It is vital that we are black, white, yellow, brown, red (did I miss anybody?), male or female (did I miss anybody?), old, middle age or young (did I miss anybody?), straight, gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual (did I miss anybody?), mentally impaired, physically impaired, mentally and physically impaired (did I miss anybody?), Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Druid, Atheist, and Satanist (did I miss anybody?). We all must be represented, so that we may be completely equal by celebrating our absolute diversity.
As previously noted, these two Absolute Tenets represent the rock solid foundation of Political Correctness. On that foundation we now construct our PC "Den of Equity" with these associated Guiding Principles:
Guiding Principle #1 - Successful diversity may be judged, to the extent Political Correctness allows judgement, by the effective mix of the variety of demographic representations outlined in Absolute Tenet #2. Virtually any combination of those representations will result in a positive diversity score, with the exception of old, white and male. Those are conditionally diverse categories, normally qualifying as diverse unless an individual represents all three concurrently. Christian also may lower a diversity score, especially when combined with old, white and male.
Guiding Principle #2 - The notion of success, particularly when applied to diversity achievement based on Absolute Tenet #2, shall not be confused with "winning", which is not possible or permissible under Absolute Tenet #1.
Guiding Principle #3 - Political correctness represents enlightened open minded thought, accepting of any and all beliefs and philosophies, unless of course those beliefs and philosophies are in conflict with open minded politically correct thoughts. In that case, those wrong views and thoughts shall be thought of as "unenlightened".
Guiding Principle #4 - Unenlightened thinkers are stupid, intolerant morons who should be burned at the stake for heresy.
Guiding Principle #5 - Conservatives are unenlightened thinkers.
Guiding Principle #6 - The crimes committed by criminals must be judged more for the motivation and thought behind the crime, rather than the actual act of the crime. After all, if a person possesses unenlightened thought in any capacity it violates Guiding Principle #3 (see guiding Principle #4).
Guiding Principle #7 - Unapproved thoughts are illegal thoughts, and cannot be tolerated. They must be banned so that absolute tolerance may be achieved.
Guiding Principle #8 - Tolerance and understanding must be extended to all, with the exception of those categorized under Guiding Principles #5 or #7.
Guiding Principle #9 - Those who encounter people classified under Guiding Principle #5 while engaged in Guiding Principle #8 should immediately refer to Guiding Principle #4.
Guiding Principle #10 - Questioning the PC zeitgeist is strictly prohibited. Any and all dissent must be crushed. Tolerance and open minded thought must be protected at any cost.
Tolerance Is Intolerant Of Politically Incorrect Thought...🇺🇸
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