Every now and then, I've talked about social topics and current events on here, though I haven't done that in quite a while. I had wanted to talk about the election and how truly excited I am about the results, but I came across something online that I needed to weigh in on.
Artie Lange - for those unfamiliar with him - is a former regular on The Howard Stern Show on radio. He's a stand-up comedian and has been on shows like MADtv, and even been in a few movies during his career. He's also battled substance abuse and has talked openly about his sad history. He even attempted suicide once, so he clearly has battled depression and other mental issues over the course of his life.
I don't find Lange's schtick funny. I know some people who do, but I think he's annoying, obnoxious, and degrading, which is precisely where I'm going with this. He took to Twitter on Tuesday to express his thoughts about ESPN's Cari Champion, who regularly appears on First Take on the network.
The link contains some pretty graphic stuff, so be warned before you click on it.
Twitter has led to many celebrities looking foolish and stupid over the years, which sometimes has left me wondering if the collective embarrassing and negative outcomes have outweighed the actual good that has come from it; Charlie Sheen is a great example of someone who really looked like an idiot once he hit the "send" button on his phone to tweet all kinds of awful things about his former boss on Two and a Half Men after he was fired from the show. Artie Lange is merely the latest famous person who felt the need to hit "send" without considering the possibility that there just might be consequences to his actions.
Like I said, I don't find Lange funny at all. His tweets were disgusting, abhorrent, and not amusing in the slightest. What bothers me is that he did think they were funny at the moment he tweeted them; in fact, he thought they were so funny he was sure that other people would be equally amused. He expected his fans would all get the joke since they all appreciated his crass sense of humor.
Domestic and sexual abuse is very much in the public's eye following cases such as Ray Rice, Ray McDonald, and Adrian Peterson. The NFL aired a "No more" campaign during its televised games in October, urging its fans - particularly its female fans - to no longer tolerate anyone who abuses them physically, sexually, or otherwise. Lange clearly didn't get that memo because he thought the fantasy of sexually abusing Cari Champion was hilarious to him.
The hard truth to swallow here is that there will always be people like Artie Lange who find racial jokes and sexually explicit topics to be funny. He did delete the tweets, but it didn't change the fact that he thought they were initially okay. Why does it take negative reaction or blowback for someone to realize they should never have pressed "send"?
There are likely other fans of his who found his tweets funny; they may have even been shocked that he "caved" and deleted them once anyone was offended. They're just as disgusting a group of people as Lange is himself. They perpetuate his behavior, and I don't think it would be that shocking to presume they condone that behavior in their day to day lives.
How does any rational human being find Lange's words funny in light of Ray Rice? Go further back and think about Mel Gibson with his drunken rants. He used all kinds of horrible words on his then-girlfriend, abusing her not with his fist but with words. What makes Lange think this kind of talk is appropriate or acceptable?
I don't purport to be much smarter than the average adult, but I'm clearly smarter than people like Artie Lange. When I went through a roller coaster of emotions last year following my break up with my last girlfriend, I wrote several posts that were only for my own two eyes. There were some pretty strong words of anger and hurt in them, but I wasn't about to share them with all of the internet to see. Still, I needed to express those thoughts somehow; I just didn't hit the proverbial "send" button.
Lange is a disgusting man for plenty of reasons aside from his tweets on Tuesday, and I'm not entirely sure that there's any chance for him to change his ways at this stage of his life. He won't face much more than a brief slap on the wrist in the court of public opinion, which is a shame because of how awful his words were. He won't lose any job, and his fans won't desert him in light of these events. There simply won't be any real repercussions for his actions.
At least ESPN chose not to dignify Lange's tweets with any response. They knew an immature and arrogant idiot when they saw one.
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