Port De Soller Mallorca
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Have I lost my Sense of Humour or are others just mean spirited -Good Mom Bad Mom and some TiT called Jimmy Kimmell
Jenny, I found you a couple of months ago and I have come to look forward to your blogs with your warped sense of humour, like, I suppose a mild drug fix. You're clearly a bright, intelligent woman, with, as far as I can tell, a full time job, and a couple of blogs. Within the next few months you will no doubt add the title of 'Best Selling Author' to the many accolades that have been heaped upon you already.
You are clearly in a loving relationship and seem to have a wonderful husband and daughter. In amongst all that zany buffoonery, you also appear to have a heart of gold with the good things that you also do for people, and all of this at the same time while suffering on and off from depression. And during these bouts I hope you have found time to read my comments to you, that I send in the small hope that they help to cheer you up.
As usual I clicked on the link posted on your tweet on 13th December from good mom/ bad mom expecting another funny and slightly irreverent post.
What I did not expect to find was the level of sheer unadulterated meanness from so many parents towards their children. parents and an audience who thought it would be fun to allow their children to open a Christmas gift early and then for the child to find a half eaten sandwich or a small boy to find some 'my little ponies' or whatever else warped present the parents knew was inappropriate and would be hurtful to the child!
And then, to witness these spiteful acts as filmed by parents and sent to Mr Kimmell on his TV show was downright awful. I do have sense of humour and like most people I have been known to laugh at the misfortune of others. But the laughter is normally at the ludicrousness of the situation and its outcome rather than at the person. Mr Kimmell and his audience were laughing, as presumably you were too, at children who no doubt have been brought up and conditioned, no I don't think conditioned is to strong a word, to believe in the goodness of Christmas. They have been conditioned to believe and expect to find, even when things may have been difficult in their families, for whatever reason during the past 12 months, that what they are going to get under the tree from Santa and their parents is beautiful gifts, whether that be the latest toy or gadget, fad, or game, doll or bike or whatever; they are conditioned by us to expect nice things to appear out of their shiny wrapping paper.
These are children for goodness sake not teenagers or adults who we might all play a prank on and then expect them to get the joke. Children, particularly those of a young age, whose moronic parents chose to 'play along' with this weird request, clearly did not get the joke, and I know that you and others will qualify this by saying, "yes but their parents explained it to them afterwards, it was all a joke, they got it", yes well I am sure they probably did. But it does not make it any less a stupid and appalling thing to do to a child in the first place.
I am grateful that I am unable to view Mr Kimmell on this side of the Atlantic as he says in his opening statement that he asked people to do something similar at Halloween, well all I can say is, "I'm glad I missed that one"
I end just with this. I truly truly enjoy following you and I am so honoured that you follow me, although with so many followers I suspect that you do not have the time or the inclination to read every comment that comes in on your timeline , so I will jut be another anonymous follower. That's fine and understandable. I will continue to follow you and share your journey, your life, your troubles and be as supportive as I can from afar as you struggle with whatever demons that occasionally attack you. All I would ask is that you do not support this type of thing that could inflict demons on a child at this wonderful time of year, or any other time for that matter!
I did try and post this on the comments section but clearly I have run on to much for it to be accepted!
I also thought long and hard about putting your link on this oner but in the interests of fairness and to allow people to see why I have apparently have lost my sense of humour, I reluctantly did.
http://blog.chron.com/goodmombadmom/2011/12/mean-and-also-hysterical/
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I agree with you that it's mean, but I did still think it was funny. I guess it's because I could see me doing that to Hailey and I know when I explained it she'd laugh her butt off. We're the kind of family that pulls funny pranks on each other and she loves dumb stuff like that. I guess it depends on the kid, as evidenced by the way the various kids responded.
ReplyDeleteI think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, my friend. :)
Jenny, thanks for commenting, yes we shall disagree on this one, but still Lurvs ya
ReplyDeleteI have never even once watched Jimmy Kimmel, but then I am not a fan of snark in any way, shape or form. He's one of the kings. There's humor and there's humor.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like the show - Jack Ass. Anyone who would participate is truly a Jack Ass.
Hi Julia, Thanks for visiting. There are some shows like that on British TV and I can say, hand on heart that after about 30 seconds I switch over.
ReplyDeleteYes there is humour and humour but this kind of thing is not funny in any way shape or form.
Jackass, I think, has been on TV here but again I clearly have a sense of humour loss at that type of thing!
Howdy, Tom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this one. If it had happened on accident, or one kid wrapped the present for the other, I probably would have laughed with the rest of them. But to do so on purpose? I don't know, I just don't find it that funny.
I can kind of see where Jenny is coming from with the comment about it depending on the child. Agreeing to disagree sounds perfect to me. :) This is a tough one.
Hmmm, I watched it, and I think that this is one of those things that would be funny for some kids, but not others, and it would depend on how you hyped it. That one kid who ate the banana, the girl with the sandwich and the kid who just started cracking open the eggs were good sports and gracious kids who probably would not embarass their parents if given something they didn't like by great-aunt Millie. The parents also probably didn't make a big deal about it. The kid who threw the hello kitty dress? AT THE CAMERA and then stalked off, screaming and crying, and THEN came back to heap more abuse on his asshat parent's head? That kid has a sense of entitlement a mile wide, and absolutely no perspective. However, his parent probably really hyped up the whole early gift thing too. So, yes, I agree that was really mean, to that kid, but I also think that kid came across as a spoiled malcontent who thinks the world revolves around him, and was WAY to old for that crap. Jimmy Kimmel is a jerk for promoting stuff like that, but I take serious exception to the person who called it "child abuse". Come work in my field for a day or two (forensic science) and THEN talk to me about child abuse.
ReplyDeleteKat, thanks for stopping by and commenting.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the attitudes mentioned, and that says more, I think about the parents, don't you think.
As for child abuse, yes, it may well be, in a mild form, but I am sure in no way covers the magnitude of what you are confronted with in your working environment.
But I suppose I should also be thankful that people like you are of the same mind as me, that it was a horrible thing to do, so thanks for the validation.
Okay, I've had more time to think about this so I felt the need to respond again. Annoying, I know. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think the reason it bothered me is because of a child's innocence.
They are only young once, so although it's not like telling them everybody is going to die one day, it is one way in which our child can retain that innocence just a little longer. Allow them to enjoy a gift for what it is "supposed" to be, a gift.
Aren't we disapointed enough later in life? No Santa, no Easter Bunny, no superheroes, cartoons aren't real, we have to pay at mortgage. You get the idea.
Hey Kirkus, toy can come back as often as you like.
ReplyDeleteKnow what you mean and that was exactly what I was trying to say, but as usual, others like yourself do it much more eloquently.
When I see my five grandchildren over Christmas the joy in their faces at having Santa visit them is just wonderful. Anything that would take that away from them is not welcome in my house.
Hi Tom, just wanted to say that I agree with you on this. I felt pretty confused because I usually like dark humour, I'll find the funny side in a lot of things but I guess this one left me with a funny taste in my mouth. Especially the one where the kid seemed genuinely upset and said "this is the worst christmas ever!"
ReplyDeleteIt's probably an "aww, kids are so funny sometimes" moment to some, but that one just broke my heart! Perhaps if they were a little older they might appreciate the joke a lot more, but I imagine a lot of these kids are gonna grow up and remember that one time when their parents played a cruel trick on them and instead of laughing, feel a bit down. But like other's have said, it depends on the kid.
Hi Sahra, and thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I like to think I have a twisted and sometimes warped sense of humour. I could have written more about this in relation to the attitudes and reactions of some of the children vis-vis parenting and upbringing but maybe later.... and your comments remembering in later life... So right. I remember one good day with my father, the rest were absolutely terrible and I did not shed any tears at his passing....
ReplyDeleteHere's what I posted over at Chron.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea seems unnecessarily mean to me. Then again, I put my relationship with my children above showing off on a TV show. No kid is honestly going to tell his parents he's grateful for a half-eaten sandwich or a black banana or a potato. Would you? Even as an adult, if your parents gave you a black banana for Christmas would you laugh? Or express gratitude? The entire purpose of these videos is for parents to ridicule their children on national TV. Kids deal with enough bullying at school. Why get it from their parents too?
The only time I laughed was when the kid told Jimmy Kimmel to suck his balls. Jimmy Kimmel can suck my balls too.
Ret, Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.
ReplyDeleteI agree I also found the 'suck my balls' comment the funniest part of it! I don't know whether it's just me or us, getting old, apologies if you are not old! There is a show on Brit TV where people send in their videos of 'funniest moments' and most of them from what I have seen of it are kids who have hurt themselves and the laughter soundtrack is played over it. The child who is hurt is left to its pain while the, presumably, parent continues to film the episode. I can't bring myself to watch it.
The thought often crossed my mind, that the kids being laughed at will grow up to be as moronic as the 'parents' doing the same to their own children in later life!
We have a funniest home videos here in the States too, Tom. I can't watch it, and it's not because I have no sense of humor. Maybe I AM too old to laugh at accidents when I know the consequences won't be seen on camera.
ReplyDeleteI didn't grow up to be my parents. I hope these kids don't either. It's painful to see how desperately some people need the attention of strangers. (Said the blogger. Ha!)
The kid who received the Hello Kitty clothes was probably thinking his parents were making fun of him. I think the parents crossed the line and I really can't fault him for getting upset.
ReplyDelete