Since when did being free in this country mean being free from being offended?

I would like to thank the late, great George Carlin for the title to this one. The most recent victim of "be careful, you might offend someone" is, Saturday Night Live. Here is an excerpt from an article criticizing their most recent skit...

'SNL' Criticized After Airing Tiger Woods Domestic Violence Skit While Rihanna On Show
Sun Dec 6, 11:42 AM PST

"Saturday Night Live" is making headlines for featuring a skit over the weekend, which parodied domestic violence.

On Saturday night's episode, the NBC sketch comedy show made light of Tiger Woods' scandalous week, satirizing reports - denied by the golfer - that his wife, Elin Nordegren, attacked him prior to his early-morning car accident on November 27 with a sketch featuring Keenan Thomson and host Blake Lively.


However, the show's musical guest was Rihanna - a victim of domestic violence earlier this year from then-boyfriend Chris Brown -- prompting concerns from several media outlets that the show's humor was insensitive from some corners.

"It was another sketch that gave us pause," noted PopEater in an article titled "'SNL' Lampoons Alleged Violence in Tiger Woods' Marriage," on Sunday. "We think, had the genders been reversed, 'SNL' wouldn't make light of the potentially violent situation."

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/article/tv.accesshollywood.com/tv.accesshollywood.com-snl-criticized-after-airing-tiger-woods-domestic-violence-skit-while-rihanna-show

First of all, there has been NO confirmation that Tiger Woods is the "victim of domestic violence". So, until it is confirmed that Tiger has lived in fear of his ex-model, 115 lb wife beating him within inches of death, shut the fuck up about that! The idea that Tiger was busted cheating, and his wife got in a few hits with a golf club to his rear window was the parody of this skit. They made the parody because Tiger IS NOT the "victim of domestic abuse". I have news for you. Neither is Rihanna. At least the writer of this article got the terminology remotely correct. Thank you for NOT using the term, "domestic abuse". You are in the minority.

I am so tired of twits like her sucking up the attention while REAL domestic abuse victims cower in their homes fearing for their lives. Let's look at the facts of what happened between Rihanna and Chris Brown. First of all, let's remember their ages. They are children playing in an adult world. Rihanna intercepts a text on Chris Brown's phone, one that apparently pointed to him having relations with another woman. Big surprise there, Rihanna! She proceeds to engage him in a long drawn out argument, when he is driving the car, where she demands the answer that SHE wants to hear from him. He can't take any more of her mouth, and shuts it for her. Now, was he wrong? OF COURSE HE WAS! BUT, what is HER culpability in this? Does she have any? Yes, she does. She knows he is cheating, she just read it in his text. She wanted to fight. She got a fight. She lost. These two children made an immature decision. Instead of her asking him to pull the car over, getting a cab, and cooling down before discussing this issue, she picked a fight based in pure emotion. Instead of him pulling the car over, and handing her the keys, and getting out, so as to avoid a confrontation that can lead to only anger and aggression, he hit her.

So, Rihanna parades around the country telling her tale of woe, and effectively victimizing herself to the point of boosting her record sales. Chris Brown publically apologizes to Rihanna, and every other woman who may come along in another text. They both appear on Oprah, give press conferences, and make millions from their moment of heated anger. Did Rihanna suffer some bruises, and feel fear while he was hitting her? Yes, she did. Does he REALLY feel sorry for what he did? I doubt that his sympathy lies with her plight, but more with the fool that he has made himself to be. The best part of this story, is that the twit took him back after prancing around claiming to be a victim of domestic abuse.

Now, HERE is where I really take issue with this nonsense, and our perception of what is and is NOT domestic abuse. There are MEN and women in this country that endure days upon weeks upon years of horrible abuse, both mental and physical. It is taboo for men to speak out about the psychological abuse inflicted upon them by the women who claim to love them. It is fashionable to be a "survivor of domestic abuse" in the eyes of some women. Domestic abuse, and being a victim of it, is a forced state of mind placed on your partner by coercion or fear. It causes a person to live a life void of security, trust, independence and self worth. It can leave scars that are both physical and mental. Now, everyone has made Rihanna into some kind of hero for "helping young women to see the trappings of abusive relationships". How quickly you all shut up when she took him back.

Where is the TV time for the REAL survivors of domestic abuse? Where is Oprah when man trapped in a 30 year marriage FINALLY gets the divorce that he has feared? Where is his story of how his loving wife threatened to kill herself, take him bankrupt and keep their children from him if he ever left her? Where is the empathy for the women who work two jobs, and take the beating that could be for her children because her drunk boyfriend/ husband has threatened to kill her, her children and anyone who aids her in leaving him? THAT is domestic abuse. THAT is being trapped and not seeing a way out that does not make the pain even worse. Rihanna flapping her mouth at a moron who is cheating on her, and him reacting out of frustration is a violent incident, NOT domestic abuse. IF you strike another person out of anger, you are person of weak character and deserve whatever the laws determine is a fit punishment. Those laws should be equal regardless of gender or sexual orientation. IF you put yourself, willingly, into a situation where it can turn violent and then capitalize on the weakness of another with NO culpability in your part that was played, well then, you are a twit, and a manipulator. Rihanna, you have not saved other women. You have exposed yourself as an immature child who has mastered playing the victim to hide the embarrassment of being in the public eye.

There are those who will criticize my stand on this issue, but I have never been silent before, and am not about to now. This idiot and her antics has diminished the severity of the crime of domestic abuse, and made people roll their eyes at the very mention of the term. Did she go on stage, and say, "Being a victim of abuse, I want to stop here, and say something. I think that making fun of the idea that Tiger could be a victim of abuse is callous and I refuse to take part in a form of entertainment that belittles the idea that men are ALSO abused in this country, and it should not be made light of. I am a victim of domestic abuse, and I want everyone to know that BOTH men and women live in fear and violence, and I will not participate in this any further." Nope. She went on, and made her money. What a great spokesperson for the abused in this country. What a crock of shit!

Domestic abuse has been defined socially as a woman being beaten by a man. There is STILL no consideration for the thousands of men who live in fear of their wives and girlfriends. Ladies, listen to me. If you raise your hand to a man, you better be ready and willing to take a punch. How many women have struck first and played the victim? I guarantee MANY! We have made such an issue out of men hitting women that we have lost sight of what abuse really is. It is control. It is not allowing the one who loves you to be a person. They become a possession. They are controlled and beaten emotionally and physically to the point of losing the will to live. How can we place Rihanna and Tiger Woods even REMOTELY into that category? What is happening is EVERY incident of violence between people involved in a relationship falls under "domestic abuse". This is NOT helping the people who still do not see a way out of their situations.

Was it tacky and tasteless for SNL to parody Tiger Woods? Yes, it was. Frankly, that is the style of humor that SNL has become. They are tacky and tasteless and they go for the easy laugh. What we need to ask ourselves is why is it funny? Why did Rihanna go on that stage? It is funny because we don't take abuse inflicted on men seriously. Rihanna went on stage because she is NOT a victim of domestic abuse, she is the victim of a violent incident, and has NOT been scarred by it, but profited from it. She used the moment to sell albums, for fuck's sake!

Part of the freedom that we enjoy in this country is freedom of speech. If you are offended by the skit done by SNL, GOOD! Just be offended because the parody of Tiger was symbolic of the lack of attention paid to REAL domestic abuse that men endure, and NOT because the attention whore, Rihanna, might have been upset by it. Clearly she wasn't, but she may get a few more interviews out of pretending like she was. We need shows like SNL to shove in our faces what our culture reflects! The very definition of what is funny, is that it MUST be relatable to be funny. How many of you laughed at the idea of Tiger with a golf club wrapped around his head? Now, how many of you would have found it funny if that were true, and he was fighting for his life with head injuries and in a coma. We can't keep moving the line, people. We push it forward and pull it back until soon, the line is nothing but a blur. The skit was allowed because Tiger is not abused. Rihanna went on anyway because she did not have enough of a problem with what they were doing not to. What does that tell about us, as a society? It tells us that we have made a WAY bigger case out of one side, and not enough of one on the other. Where is the line? I think that SNL just showed you. Open your eyes and see it for what it was. It was just another weak attempt at going for the cheap laugh. The question is, why was it cheap, and why did Rihanna contribute to it?

Be offended, and be free. You cannot shut out what you find to be "offensive". You cannot silence those who mock something you see as serious. Comedy would die. It's very essence depends on the flaws in human nature. Just stop using every damn thing you don't like as a cause that has to be fought. Stop creating false heros and willing victims, and watch how fast shows like SNL go off the air. We need idiots like Rihanna and Tiger Woods, or you idiots would have nothing to talk about. It isn't like we are involved in a major war, and economic disaster, healthcare is in the toilet, and...oh, never mind it is DEFINITELY more important to bitch about Rihanna's black eye and Tiger's affairs. The sad thing is you just keep missing the big picture.