I think that any sane and decent person is just hoping that this guy recovers. I shouldn't be surprised that there are people online who are neither sane nor decent, and yet the comments section on the above New York Times story still caught me off guard. There are plenty of reasonable comments from people who are concerned about the injured performer and the safety of all of the other actors. But then there's the bitchy folks who seem to take glee in this. They don't want to see the show shut down for safety concerns--they just want to enjoy a juicy story about an epic flop closing while it's still in previews. Yeah, I expected that.
Here's what caught me off guard: The third comment was from Tom from Boston. Here's what he wrote:
"Whee! What a disaster! And all this to bring us the deathless literature of comic books. Good God, what has "culture" deteriorated into?"Fuck you, Tom from Boston. Fuck you for being so indifferent to the fact that a man is in the hospital tonight. Fuck you for using his pain as an opportunity to show everybody how ever so superior you are. (Golly Gee, where would we be if we didn't have Tom from Boston to tell us how terrible comic books are?) Fuck you, Tom from Boston, fuck you for the sick implication that this accident somehow would have been acceptable if it had been the result of somebody trying to bring us culture (in a form that you consider to be undeteriorated.) Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, a thousand times fuck you for opening your jaw-droppingly shitty post by saying "Whee!"
Tom, if you're reading this, you're no doubt thinking that it's hypocritical of me to complain about your complete lack of decency and online etiquette by telling you to fuck off. (How vulgar of me!) But honestly, is there any more appropriate response?
You have no sense of humanity, Tom from Boston. Fuck you.
Over react much?
ReplyDeleteI think Tom from Boston is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteAnn Miner
Give it a break. Why don't you direct your anger at Taymor et al. who have failed to make sure that their show is safe for actors and audience?
ReplyDeleteTom's comment was more relevant and coherent than your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI love how the first four posters are so staggeringly oblivious, they don't see how inappropriate it is to cheer on a serious injury--hey, it's all for the lulz, amirite? Much? Superiorsmirk?
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post and on target. Tom from Boston is a unempathetic piece of shit--good for you for standing up to that kind of callousness.
It is Tom from Boston's unwarranted pop-cultural arrogance that is at issue here. He sets himself up as on a pedestal to proclaim the inanity of a medium, as if there was fault in making an attempt to put anything derived from comic books on Broadway. He may be entitled to his opinion of comic books, but putting that opinion forth in such a light is to expose it to the derision is richly deserves and, here, has received.
ReplyDeleteDear 3rd commenter named "Anonymous",
ReplyDeleteDo you understand how theatre works? Seriously. It is the job of the crew, the director and stage manager to make sure the set is safe before the actors are to step foot on it, especially in an Equity theatre-which Broadway would be. The actors will have rehearsed on the set multiple times before the day that this actor got injured. So before you blame the director, etc, take that into consideration.
Also, injuries happen all the time on film sets, but they are rarely talked about because it is less detrimental to the production. Live theatre takes a hard hit when one of the actors is injured. This is not to say that it is ok to shrug it off, this is very serious and my hopes are the actor makes a speedy recovery. However, there are so many movies in which actors get hurt and no one ever knows (example: The Expendables-Sly injured his shoulder to the point of needing surgery, but the only way to know that is to watch the special features on the DVD.)