Michael Richards, the N-Word, and the real villains
So Michael Richards messed up. Big deal. H e's one actor --a superb comic actor, mind you--whose career has fallen far from where, on merit, it deserves to be. And he's apologised. Well, good. From what he said (and yes, I saw the original sickening diatribe), he certainly sounds sincere. And really, can you read minds? If you think he's sincere, maybe he's not. If you think he's insincere, maybe he isn't. None of that matters. The only thing that does matter is what Richards does. That's the main part of his apology with which I disagree, in which he says (in answer to Letterman's question) that his job now is to work on himself. I mean, sure, fine, that's good--but it would be better if he could work with others, especially fellow Whitefolks ( Tim Wise is a great example of how to do that). But what's infinitely more important than the fate of this (excellent) actor is the structure of Hollywood itself. Hollywood is in the heart of Nativ...