(no subject)

[wickedflea]

WTF happened to Kramer?!? He's a total nutjob!

Comments

[m-fallenangel.livejournal.com]

I saw him once get pissed off in an interview when the guy he was talking with called him a "comedian". He got snooty and said he wasn't, that he was "an actor who does comedy."

Okay, so why's he doing a stand-up bit?

Anyway, I always loathed him (and the show that made him famous). I'm glad to see he really is as big an asswipe as he always appeared to me.

How soon until he does the Denis Leary check into rehab, come out with a book deal and a sweet new gig?

[theodicy.livejournal.com]

FUCK whoa.

[buscemi.livejournal.com]

Is he getting old and bitter or old and crazy? Yikes.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I actually love Seinfeld, and I think he was good on the show. But everything else I've ever seen him in has sucked hardcore. I don't know why he bothers to do anything with all the bank he must be sitting on.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

YUH.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

I dunno, mang! What's weird is that just this weekend I was looking him up on imdb and Wikipedia. Apparently he's a big Mason--which is neither here nor there, really--I was just surprised to see it for some reason.

[buscemi.livejournal.com]

I saw him at a grocery store a couple years ago. He looks about the same as he does on tv. (No, he wasn't acting crazy at the time.)

[ex-randompre165.livejournal.com]

The difference being that Dennis Leary has and always had more talent in his pinky than Richards has in his whole body. Leary drunk > Kramer sane. Hell -- Dennis Leary could be dead and still make me laugh more than Michael Richards ever did.

[lastcallforcorn.livejournal.com]

jesus christ!

just found this, in his apology:

"I'm not a racist. That's what's so insane about this," Richards said, his tone becoming angry and frustrated as he defended himself in a clip from the show played on CBS before "Late Show" aired Monday night.

uh, you're... not?

[hauntedskipper.livejournal.com]

I watched the video.
I read all of the above comments.
Here is my take...

I think it was a case of overacting and over-reacting.
Michael was obviously trying to make some sort of whacked out point about the heckler not being able to afford normal priced tickets and then relate that, somehow, with being segregated into the old "blacks in the balcony" seating.
I think that we only came in on the fight between the two parties when it had escalated to the point of him saying that "back in the day", not referring to himself or his own wishes, heckling of that sort would be dealt with by a lynching so the offending party should be grateful for the advancements in society.
How this relates to a comedy club was obviously lost on Richards' audience... especially after he pronounced that there was an "n-word" in the balcony, as if those people were some strange circus anomalies.
Did he go too far? Absolutely!
Was it warranted for the situation? Not in the least!
Is that a conversation to bring up even under the best circumstances? I can't think of any circumstance that should warrant that type of extreme dramatization to make a point... especially about something not related in the least.
Furthermore,
Do I think that that video proves that Michael Richards is a racist? No.
I think that it proves that he does not know how to deal with criticism and could do with going to a few diversity and tolerance classes to learn about being sensitive to others.
He should also give up on stand-up comedy, it is far too upclose and personal for his ego to withstand.

[albert71292.livejournal.com]

Only two things I've liked him in was Seinfeld and the movie "UHF".

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Good thoughts. The whole thing is so weird. I saw Richards on Letterman the other night, and he was obviously very upset about the whole thing. He seemed not to know where it even came from. He seemed . . . well, crazy.

[hauntedskipper.livejournal.com]

I saw it too Chris... well, the taped versions of it on You Tube.
And you're right, he was certainly flummoxed by his own outburst but he did say one telling sign that stood out to me and that was when he said that he was "in character" and he was "free associating".
Any one who is familiar with Michael Richards comedic works knows what he is capable of when left to his own creative devices: from Transylvania 65000, to Fridays on ABC, to UHF, to Seinfeld.
And for any person to say that they have never went "too far" in certain circumstances... well, they are liars, plain and simple.
Plus the fact that we have no idea what spurred him into his tirade.
It would have taken the subject of race to have been brought up for "Free Association" of that magnitude to have taken place.
So that, in itself, seems to indicate that it was the hecklers, themselves, who threw the first racially charged stone.
They certainly didn't hold back at firing the word "Cracker" at him... and if that's not as racial as what he said... then there is a terrible bias going on in this country.

This in no way makes what he said right.
Michael Richards is certainly responsible for his actions.
{Although, he had said "does this shock you?" and "these are only words, words, words" which seems to indicate that he was making a point by saying the words and not actually calling the person those vulgarities.]
Regardless, he should have dealt with the hecklers calmly and quietly early on and had them escorted out by the proper security and authority.
Of course, this would most likely have spurred on more racially charged heckling and force him to end the show just as abruptly; thus still ruining the event for all of the polite patrons who paid their hard-earned money to see an entertaining show.
But, Michael would not have lost his composure and be in the predicament he is in now.
Still, he is doing the right thing by apologizing and CBS is being very gracious by rerunning it on Monday night.