Home › Blogs › Ben's blog

A quick note about this John Mayer business

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 15:00 — Ben

So this musician John Mayer gave an interview to Playboy in which he discussed sexual intercourse with Jessica Simpson without using a negro dialect. Or something. I really don't know much about what he said or much about the man's body of work, for that matter.

(Oh, "Your Body is a Wonderland"? That guy? Jeeeeee-ZUS.)

I mention it only because the hullaballoo, as captured in this blog item at the top of Yahoo's annoying new home page, caught my eye:

John Mayer's Nashville fans were treated to more than just a rock concert last night. They also got a lengthy, tearful apology, delivered mid-song, and the promise -- or threat, depending on how one feels about the musician -- that he'd be quitting what he referred to as "the media game."

There's more, including a video. Because this is 2010, Mayer apologized first on Twitter before blubbering on stage. It's a brave new world, brothers and sisters.

Now, this may sound a bit odd, contradictory or perhaps even hypocritical coming from somebody who pays the mortgage "doing journalism" -- though certainly not celebrity journalism -- but I think anyone who deals with the press should always keep these two maxims at the very front of his or her mind:

First, journalists are untrustworthy bastards. They're quote hunters -- the juicier and more embarrassing the better. Even I've been burned by reporters before.

Second -- and this one is really important -- never say nothing to nobody about nothing. Ever.

There are caveats and exceptions to both rules, of course. (Obviously, don't think twice about talking to me.) I don't understand why a guy like Mayer, who is evidently a gossip and tabloid magnet, didn't learn to keep his yap shut years ago. Could be it's all an act; he's really just generating controversy for the sake of publicity; and this latest stunt got out of hand. "It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it," Mayer tweeted, "because I realize that there's no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged." An understatement if ever there was one.

Or maybe Mayer thought people were only kidding when they say they just read Playboy for the articles.

Bookmark/Search this post with:
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • Magnoliacom
  • Newsvine
  • Furl
  • Facebook
  • MySpace
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Buzz Up!
  • LinkedIn
  • Technorati
  • Icerocket

Trackback URL for this post:

http://blog.infinitemonkeysblog.com/?q=trackback/7103

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 15:14 — Anne (not verified)

Mayer

The whole thing could have been avoided of course but in my opinion this just gives Mayer another reason to sing the blues. I say bring it, he's a virtuoso. Nice read Ben!

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 15:33 — Capuchin the Wry

O-word, U-word, T-word, N-word

my gracious. If one reads Mayer's use of the "n-word" in context, one immediately notices he is using the word in a proper sense and without a hint of malice. He is, essentially, quoting certain elements of certain neighborhoods who would use the phrase he does.

but now he is driven to apologize for a fairly witty observation "you wouldn't call it a 'hood pass'..." because of nothing, really, except for a mass hysteria gripping the nation over the use of a word.

this is why books like Huck Finn get banned, and no one will ever watch Blazing Saddles again. Context, that perplexing and scary concept, has been dethroned.

All that on top of this: I have never heard John Mayer's works, and to judge from the interviews I just read, I wouldn't like his work very much and there are probably more than a few philosophical topics upon which he and I would disagree vehemently. Yet even I can see that what he said was innocuous, from the 'racist' standpoint.

I will end this post with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, but toned down a bit for modern adult sensibilities:

"y-word c-word f-word a-word o-word t-word p-word s-word o-word t-word t-word, a-word s-word o-word t-word p-word a-word o-word t-word t-word, b-word y-word c-word f-word a-word o-word t-word p-word a-word o-word t-word t-word."

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 16:16 — Ben

You forgot...

...the dreaded z-word!

(Hmmm.... Curious... Googles 'z-word'... Wow. Huh. I wasn't thinking of that. I was thinking of this.)

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 16:13 — Dr. Zaius

The N-word ... We've all got the vapors!

Right on, Wry.

I read about this ginned-up controversy this morning. Yaaaawwwwwwnnnnn.

Make no mistake: John Mayer is a good musician, but is apparently a class-A douchebag — based on his own admission to cut out the douchebaggery in 2010 when it comes to the ladies.

But to get on him for answering a question about how he's cool with Jay-Z and others in the hip-hop community by saying, "I've got a 'hood pass,' or a 'nigga-pass' " is the height of absurdity. Jay-Z probably told Mayer himself: "Yo, brutha. You're cool. I give you my official nigga-pass so you don't get no sh!t."

What the f&@^ is wrong with that? He wasn't calling anyone a nigga to degrade them. He was using it in the context of the moment, and in the way it is serially used by Jay-Z and others. It's ridiculous that this is even an issue. Why can't we all just grow up, be adults, and recognize that the intent of word use matters more than simply the word itself?

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 16:18 — Ben

Re: The V-word

You are in big trouble now, mister.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 16:27 — Dr. Zaius

Re: The V-word

Ooooooh. I'm trembling in fear.

And what's the V-word?

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 16:38 — Ben

Re: Re: The V-word

You used it in your comment above. I can't bring myself to type it. I'm experiencing the vapors just thinking about it.

Oh, no! Now I'm in trouble, too!

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 20:02 — Joel

Oh hell, I gotta be me.

"He was using it in the context of the moment."

Ah, so it's contextual then? But the context of 300 years of slavery, lynchings and Jim Crow is a breeze to disregard?

I know, I know: I'm being my usual priggish self. But most of us here are writers, right? We do what we do because we recognize that words have power, right? So why is it so hard to understand that certain words are so powerful -- thanks to that context again -- that we have to be very, very careful about how we use them? And that we even have to be very, very careful -- thanks again to history -- about how who uses them? (And why do so many white people feel this terrible injustice about that set of circumstances, such irritation that they can use the word but we can't? That doesn't seem principled so much as it seems foolish. And it's ridiculous that some people play the naif about such matters.)

I'm not calling for an infringement of the First Amendment. John Mayer can say "nigga" all he wants every day for the rest of his life, for all I care. But I'm quite happy to see the bootheel of society's disapproval stamp down on his head and hurt his record sales.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 17:41 — RobbL

Hmmm.

I dunno about the "hood pass" thing, but you've gotta admit that the whole "my [penis] is sort of like a white supremacist" bit is pretty unacceptable.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 18:30 — crywalt

On Salon

Over at Salon a woman of black extraction got all up in arms about John Mayer's comment and how white men don't like black women and how bad it feels to be a black woman getting ignored by white men. I found a photo of the writer online and honestly, I can say if she's being ignored, it's not because she's black, it's because she's not that attractive.

As far as Blazing Saddles, HDnet played it a couple of months ago, unexpurgated and uninterrupted. I was blown away by how crude it is and how clearly Mel Brooks had to find a very game actor to work with. Cleavon Little had to make it clear he was in on the racist jokes, many of which were really over the top. That movie could never be made today, or at any point in the last 25 years for that matter. Even for the time it was too much, but it works because of Little's performance.

The other thing I realized is that the scenes everyone has memorized -- which are some of the funniest stuff ever put on film -- are separated by vast, near-endless gulfs of scene-setting, moving the plot forward, and half-jokes which have nothing to do with anything but somehow never congeal into actual humor. Why is Hedley's executioner a hunchback? Why is he about to hang a guy and his horse? It's not actually funny, it takes way too much effort to set up, and it completely fails to find a context in the movie. There's a ton of stuff like that. Mel Brooks in redface speaking Yiddish is another fine head-scratching example.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 19:02 — Dr. Zaius

RE: On Salon

To illustrate Crywalt's point ...

Salon's La Toya Tooles

That's her Twitter photo. I think cry's being a little tough in his evaluation. She seems OK to me. Cute enough. But she's apparently being ignored by white men. That's unfortunate.

Here's a black woman not ignored by white men (or any straight man):

So I think Ms. Tooles might be generalizing a bit too much.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 19:37 — crywalt

Obvious

The obvious argument here is Halle is light-skinned.

Personally I love really dark-skinned women. I love light-skinned women. I love women in general.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 19:49 — Joel

Re: Obvious

I love women of every color. Except orange. And there's a LOT of those in Philly.

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 20:01 — crywalt

Colors

Purple, blue, whatever color. I'm a big fan.

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:50 — Capuchin the Wry

Er --What

were we talking about? I've forgotten

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:47 — Capuchin the Wry

"my [penis] is sort of like a white supremacist"

you see? that there is a much more inflammatory remark, because of the context.

and again, he seems to be like my brother -- i like his freedom of speech, but don't like the opinions expressed with the speech. I can distinguish between the two, or, if you prefer, "discriminate." ;o/

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:53 — Capuchin the Wry

As for what this means?

"my penis is sort of like a white supremacist?" I can only hazard a guess that he is referring to circumcision. ;o/

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 12:33 — crywalt

Pointy

Maybe his penis only wears pointy white condoms.