Rosie's ching-chong comments
 

I don't believe this has been discussed yet.

For those not following, a few days ago, Rosie (on The View) was talking about all the hoopla over Danny DeVito's drunken appearance. She wondered aloud what it would sound like on Chinese news and proceeded to say something like "It would sound like ching chong, ching chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong, drunk, ching chong".

Many Asian-Americans have expressed anger over this and demanded an apology. After stalling a bit, Rosie has given a somewhat lukewarm apology. Many have said it is not enough, and have called on the television station to condemn the remarks.

I really don't know what I think about this one. My typical response is that if tons of people are offended by something, then there is a reason for that, even if I don't always "get it".

In this case, I'm trying to understand better why it is so offensive. I have a ton of French friends who are always making fun of what English sounds like to them (sounds like ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh). It is not like Rosie used a slur, or said anything nasty about Chinese people. She did a (somewhat dumb and lame) imitation of a language.

I live near Chinatown and hear Chinese every day. It sounds nothing like ching chong to me, so I think her imitation was stupid. But I don't find it racist or an ethnic slur (as has been claimed by some).

Finally, I am weary of people demanding apologies all the time. Apologies should be given when someone is truly sorry for their actions or words. They should mean something. Forcing an apology just means you "win" some kind of political fight, but really nothing is accomplished. My fellow gays are one of the worst groups at demanding apologies. Why not just put the energy into explaining why you are offended and doing some educating?

Any thoughts on this one?

She needs to shut her cakehole!:mad:

:mad: Stuff like this really pisses me off. Its like, some people are just looking for a reason to be offended. Rosie is a freekin comedean, and her intent was to be humerous, not to offend. Now, if it had malicious intent to it, that would be something else. but seriously, there are enough people in the world who GENUINLY ARE TRYING TO OFFEND!! People need to just reserve there anger and resentment for those people:rolleyes:

Well, I look at it more from the point that I just find her EXTREMELY annoying more than offensive.

I love Rosie. The more annoying, the better.

I want to know why THIS is being focused on when a few years ago Dave Chapelle did pretty much the exact same thing (although he was playing Rick James at the time :laugh: ) Is it because of his role in comedy? The fact that people almost EXPECT him to be offensive?

I think it was in poor taste, but I also don't see how it was racially offensive, then again I'm not Chinese.

I also think people are totally looking for things to get on Rosie about. I mean seriously - she keeps getting nit-picked for her comments no this show and it's getting old.

Never mind the fact that Rosie has used the term "Irish twins" on the show many times - and she's only been on it since September.

Politically correct bullshiiitte --- are we that dumbed down :rolleyes:

I'm so sick of people exercising their right to be offended by any slight off-color joke. Can't they just let things roll off their back for a f*cking change?

No, it was OK because he was actually poking fun at Rick James. :laugh:

I dunno how I feel. To be honest, when I first read what she had said - I gasped. :shocked: That was my first reaction. But a few moments later, I was more inclined to think it's not a big deal. Now I'm back to thinking that it kind of is.

It's really hard, if not impossible, lately to be PC, or appropriate, or whatever and not offend somebody. Shows like Chappelle and Family Guy explore this & point out stereotypes and make some of their characters rude or racist or just plain clueless. I think it's great that they put it out there, so we can explore our misconceptions & make us more aware of how we act & are perceived by others.

Whether or not she meant any offense, she should apologize, if only to appease the people that are pissed. Explain that you weren't trying to make fun of an entire race of people, say you're sorry to offend, and let it go.

The Irish twin remarks - is that really offensive to people? I thought it was so old & dated that most people didn't really know, or care, what it meant. Rosie's Irish, right? I guess she figures it's OK to say that - kind of like I tell Poish jokes & I'm part Polish. Of course, I don't get upset when anyone tells Polish jokes, even if they're not Polish. But then again, I'm not going to go around telling black jokes either.

ACK! I'm so confused. :(

And wouldn't it be sweet to see Ms. Rosie lead THAT pack?? She brings this crap on herself and I hope she catches all kinds of hell for it. She's Ms. Uber-sensitive when it comes to all-things-gay so let her squirm awhile. Actually, the sad thing is is I don't think she "gets it", that what she did was offensive in the least. Meanwhile, you could have sworn Kelly Rippa was hangin' with the "god hates f**s" people.

Hey Rosie.... Hypocrite much?? :shrug:

Bless her heart... she's got issues on top of issues. I suppose that's my psych stuff coming into play. She's a very, very bitter person who is also a very, very angry person. Here's hoping she gets help somewhere. :nod:

It is one thing to assert that Gay Aiken's hand was dirty from dirty gay sex, which clearly is what she meant when she puntuated her sentence with "hoooney." It is quite another to say ching chang chong is a vague reference to the Chinese media.

Personaly, I find neither offensive, though Ripka clearly was pissed and attacking Gay personally and Rosie was joking 100%.

My Mom saw Rosie in Vegas walking by. She said hi to her and Rosie responded, "Hi, how ya doin'?" :)

I can see why what she said was offensive but clearly she didn't mean any harm by it.

I believe that, too. It's just that she needs to learn that others do the same thing, ie "shut the pie-hole" and relax.
Bottom line... Rosie is one of those people that go through life looking for reasons to be offended and are very seldom disappointed. :nod:

This world would be a better place if everybody wasn't so f*cking sensitive. Rosie and China included.

Exactly!

I mean where do we draw the line? Who does not want to laugh at anything ever again though satire, etc. :shrug:

What the f*ck does "hooney" mean, and why does that make her comment anti-gay? I say "I don't know where your hand has been" to people often, gay and straight. :shrug:

This is true. I watched this hilarious comedy show the other night with Lewis Black and a couple other guys. They did some gay marriage jokes that probably some will find offensive, but I thought were just funny and not meant in a mean-spirited way.

It makes it hard to fight against truly offensive stuff when people get outraged over every little thing. I'm still trying to understand why an imitation of a language is that offensive.

^^^^

She looked pissed when he put his hand up to her face (which was way rude) and then clearly attacked him by asserting his gayness was dirty - even if in jest.

She said what she said with that whole big queen hand and head gesture and then punctuated it with a very gay term like honey. I mean does anyone really think after seeing that that she was not attacking him in retaliation for the hand thing and she did it by asserting his hand was dirty from gay sex. Here is the video - you judge for yourself.



In the end, I think she was taken aback and was pissed at him and then tried to cover it with humor.

Put it this way, like Rosie, I know of no gay person who cannot tell that KR was camping it up and EXACTLY what she meant.

^ And like you said, why do we not deem it offensive if we imitate an Italian accent, or an Irish one, but it is offensive if it's Chinese? If she had actually used English words with a Chinese accent, would that have been OK?

Because people would rather judge everyone else's actions rather then their own. I am almost positive that everyone at one point or another has found humor and/or amusement in something that could potentially offend a specific group of people. Hell, I make fun of old people and their driving skills. Should I send an apology letter to AARP? Hell. No.

Strand - I've seen the video. I do think she was teasing him about being gay, and letting him know that everyone knows he's gay even though he's not out. But I honestly don't think she was implying that he's dirty because he has gay sex. I could be wrong, but I'm taking her word for it.

Personally, I would be appalled if anyone put their hand on my mouth/face, even if I knew them well, gay or straight. BECAUSE PEOPLE'S HANDS ARE FILTHY DIRTY DISGUSTING GERMY & GROSS! :wavey: Although I would have said "get your filthy ass hand the f*ck off my face, assh*le." Or something to that effect. :cool:

^^

LOL - I would have said that too :nod:

But and to the point, even in jest, she was implying his hand was dirty not from the common everyday touching of people we all do. She implied it was because he was gay. Is that offensive and not funny? I do not really think so.

That is how I am thinking about it. If she had used a different language, would people have been offended? Like say, French? People parody french language all the time. Or any other language? Which language would be okay, and which not? And why? Is it okay only if huge groups of people with that heritage or who speak that language don't get all pissed off? And it's not okay when the language group does get pissed off? Can you make fun of people who weren't oppressed much in that past, but not people who were? No groups/ethnicities really escape some kind of prejudice, at some time. I mean, are we to stop making fun of British people's teeth? That would be terrible, because making fun of British teeth is funny.
Can we imitate how Russian news would sound as a joke, but not Chinese? What are the rules, and why are they somewhat arbitrary?
And on and on.

i think michelle says it best..

Somewhere on the news it said that ching chong was some kind of bad Chinese slang, of which I'm sure Rosie had no idea. If ching chong is something vulgar or nasty in Chinese, then yeah, people are going to be offended.
If anyone even tried to put their hand near my face, I would probably bite them. :laugh: Seriously though, I have a thing about germs. I don't like doorknobs. And putting your hand over the mouth of someone who is not your child or spouse is rude.

^^

I always thought "ching chong" was just the default "mock or imitate" chinese phrase...I mean I remember being little and when we'd "speak Chinese" that's what we'd all say...

Of course I wouldn't do that now, as I can see where it's insensetive.....

Uh...
 

I think people need to see the movie "Clerks 2" with the hilarious use of the word "porch monkey" (Wanda Sykes facial expression when Randal says "Porch Monkeys" is classic!)

Brian "The Half-breed potato peddler & blanket-head...ya know half Irish & half Indian" j.

Btw, for the record, I dont drink like the stereotypical Irish and I dont live in a tee-pee & say "How" like the stereotypical Indian.

Yep, that about sums it up.

I remember watching a documentary on racism in Canada a few years back, with discussions related to if/how it differs to racism in the U.S. There was a Korean guy on there who talked about how all the way up until high school, various classmates would tease him by pulling the eyelids (so they would slant) and make these "ching- chong ching-chong" references to him. This guy's exact words were "where does this whole 'ching chong' thing come from anyway?"

So yeah, when Rosie said that, I thought of the racism documentary guy and that it really doesn't matter if I find it offensive, it matters if Asian groups find it offensive.

When I was in high school...
 

years ago, one of my friends named Darrell was of Japanese decent. People would tease him the same way, and Darrell, being the California transplanted 'surfer/metalhead dude' would say "What the f**k are you saying dude, I only know English. My parents only know English, my Grandparents quit speaking Japanese when they immigrated to the US and wanted their children to assimilate with other US citizens who speak English"

We would roll on the ground as he ripped into those dumbass jocks. **** he would say to 'em was in his classic 'valley talk' accent only from a true Californian.

You are aware that she thought the Japanese should have been in internment camps in the United States during WWII?

I have "In Defense of Internment".. i rather like it.

I love Rosie. She did it as a joke and nothing more than that. It's not like she went all out like that guy from Steinfeld and meant to treat people in a mean way. Rosie is funny and I love her on "The View."

People really need to stop being so sensitive about everything. It's called comedy.

I am not Asian/Asian American so I cant relate to their position....I truly dont see what the fuss was about?

What's an "Irish Twin?"

Thanks, you just reminded me that I had the same question earlier, but didn't want to google it at work for fear breasts would pop up or something...

HEre's what I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_twins

rish twins is a slang term that refers to siblings born 9 to 12 months apart - usually in the same calendar year, or who are in the same class in school. It references a perception about families of Irish Catholics who may not use birth control (and thus may have children in quicker succession), but it is often used endearingly by the families of the "twins" themselves.

She's a f*king idiot trying to sell books.

totally dude! Like Omigawd!

Um, a large portion of the NATION did. Granted, hindsight is 20/20, but at that time, with anti-Japanese hysteria sweeping the nation, civil rights were out the door. Kinda like now.

Yeah, but Malkin knows better.