WRITTEN BY A.C. SMITH AND JAMIE NEBEN

A.C. Smith

I am pleased that David Letterman finally apologized to Sarah Palin on Monday night, but he did not go far enough.  Besides the two remarks he was sorry for that involved the governor’s daughters, he didn’t mention another offensive one he also told regarding her appearance.   Although, on the surface, this joke was aimed directly at her, all three are actually tied together because they paint the whole family as “slutty.”

Beyond that, when Sarah Palin goes after somebody, 90% of it is about policies.  But when people go after her, it’s more about her personal characteristics than her policies.  That’s the case with Letterman, and it only reveals his political leanings.  Furthermore, children of politicians should be off limits in comedy, unless they too are involved in politics, or are otherwise doing something on their own to be in the news.   But these types of situations are the price we pay for freedom.  Of course, there should be no mandate to prohibit it due to freedom of speech, but when we see things like this, we should stand up and voice our displeasure.   And if there’s lies being told, or financial losses and other types of damage that results from these jokes, the affected person should have the right to take it to court.

Maybe Letterman knew that it was a 14 year old girl at the game.  Maybe he didn’t.  Since Bristol Palin has been more in the news, perhaps he assumed that most people would think it was her rather than her younger sister.  The fact is, he knew that Sarah Palin has more than one daughter, so he should have checked to see who was there.  Either way, it’s bad enough to joke about an 18 year old, but now that we know who was at the game, the outrage should have been ten times worse.   

Jamie Neben

First of all, I agree that David Letterman’s so-called jokes about teenage girls (it doesn’t matter which one) are indefensible, and I’m glad that he has received the message loud and clear.  They shouldn’t have been told in any setting, let alone national television.  However, before we act as judge, jury, and executioner, I believe we need to look at the social fabric we’ve created over the years.   If Dave is indeed guilty as charged, our environment is most likely an accomplice.

Comedians, in particular, have a long history of telling sexist jokes.   Letterman is no exception.  Neither was his friend and mentor, Johnny Carson.  Nor Jay Leno.  Both male and female comics joke about the human condition and that includes the differences between the sexes.  We also see it in television, movies, music, plays, you name it. Sometimes it’s observational and insightful.  Other times it’s downright vulgar.   Whether either style is funny is merely opinion.  As they say, there’s no accounting for taste. 

But then we have the issue of a young, possibly underage, girl being the butt of the joke.   Are we so offended because these are living people?   We seem more forgiving when the circumstance is fictional (at least in 2009).  For instance, Lolita is now considered a classic in film and literature, and the song Young Girl by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap still receives regular radio airplay.  Are they more acceptable based on their complicated, dramatic narratives?

Finally, if we give Letterman the benefit of the doubt, is it unfair to use Bristol Palin as the topic of any joke?  After all, if she didn’t enter the public arena during the election period, she certainly did by appearing on television afterward to talk about her baby.  Incidentally, Chelsea Clinton didn’t escape malicious jokes either when she was but a teenager.  But instead of being delivered on a nightly entertainment show, the jabs came from none other than Rush Limbaugh and John McCain.   

So now that there’s no way to plead ignorance in the future, let’s see if Dave will try harder to be a more responsible comedian, broadcaster, and human being.   I will try harder too.