PB mentioned in the comments of my last Garrison Keillor post that GK had written a nice essay on Unitarian Women saying we were the hottest in the world*. Trying to keep an open mind, but mostly hoping that the logic was more interesting than "they'll do the freaky stuff the Lutheran girls won't," I googled around for it, but couldn't find it.
I did, however, find this, another blog complaining about Keillor. My issues with Keillor are primarily that he is litigious and not funny.
The other blog cites concerns that he has little respect for atheists, which isn't unusual among people with Keillor's sort of outlook and doesn't bother me much. The blog, however, quotes Keillor as follows on the issue of gay marriage:
I favor marriage between people whose body parts are not similar. I’m sorry, but same-sex marriage seems timid, an attempt to save on wardrobe and accessories. Marrying somebody from your team. Still, it’s probably good for them to have to fight for the right to marry. My parents eloped against strong opposition from both families and they were in love for the rest of their lives and held hands and were tender on into their 80s. Of course they always had fresh strawberries.
Yeah, that's it, Garrison. Gay marriage is all about the wardrobe and accessories. Men and women are different "teams."
Oh, and searching for articles by Keillor on sexiness also brought me to this gem from Salon.
Women get broody sometimes and want to sit in front of a fire with a glass of merlot and discuss The Relationship, which is never a good idea. You know this. If you were captured by Unitarian terrorists and sat on by a fat lady and told that you absolutely must discuss your relationship, you should say no, no, no.
Awhile ago, Linguist Friend told me about something his ex-wife had once said, and I recall responding that it was a measure of her rhetorical skill that she could say something so brief that was irritating on so many levels. She may have competition in Keillor.
Again, as I wrote in the comments on my last GK post there's something about his very-scripted-sounding style of humor that makes me imagine him delivering one of his treasured bon mots that he'd stayed up late the night before planning, then leaning back, grinning slightly and nodding his head as he waits for my appreciative chuckle.
Which isn't coming.
I do want to see the essay where he actually mentions Unitarians without being rude about us, but I don't think hearing that he thinks we're sexy can save my opinion of him.
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*Personally, I'm partial to the explanation offered by British Novelist Jilly Cooper for why upper-middle class intellectual types have the most fun in bed--because when they are curious about something, they read up on it and learn a lot about it and because they tend to be tall and can reach the dirty books the librarians put on high shelves.
7 comments:
Oh, GROSS on his comment on gay marriage!!!
He's now officially the "formerly liked Garrison Keillor."
Damn it. Someone figured out our scheme. Being gay is like being one of the Bobsey twins. We're kind of interchangeable, which makes our relationships super-easy! That and the societal opposition thing, as he points out.
Someone must have leaked him the secret Gay Agenda Book.
Oh, and by the way, the blog you found-- PZ Myers -- he's great. He's a favorite of mine on ScienceBlogs (along with Ed Brayton and Dr. FreeRide). Check him out here
http://www.scienceblogs.com/pharyngula
Really, as far as anti-gay-marriage sentiments go... this is actually one of the ones I found sort of endearing and non-offensive.
1. Had a pithy little statement that, to wit, said "I just don't think it's natural"... but emphasized the "_I think_" and somehow managed to not make me feel like my desires were un-natural... just not the same as his.
2. Worked in an anecdote about his parents. ("but then again, I've seen other things that loads of other people didn't agree with working out splendidly").
3. admitted: "and if the LGBT people pull it off, it will probably be awesome despite everyone who was against it"
As far as anti-gay-marriage rants go... Orson Scott Card fits sveltly into that "I will never pay for anything you have ever written and will tell all my friends to do the same after showing them that article" category.
The tone is different. Orson Scott Card comes off as a pompous ass who seems incredibly proud of his ignorance for how any sort of homosexual relationship might work and revels in his ability to be bitchy about it. He then basically works off his false premise to say meaner and meaner things while framing gay marriage as the removal of the critical brick of the foundation for civilized living.
I'm going with the lesser of two weevils and say that Kiellor once again charmed his way out of sounding too serious or contrary and I find that sort of endearing.
Considering the target rich environment we live in, Garrison doesn't even register on my scale. In fact, I rather enjoy his wit even if I don't share his believes. Guy Noir certainly isn't any Ralph Reid.
I'm a UU lawyer who can recall how, back in the early 1990s, the president of the California Bar Association was so deeply offended by lawyer jokes that he earnestly called for their condemnation - - as a new category of "hate crime."
The sad thing was - - he wasn't joking.
Lately I've heard Garrison Keillor poking fun at Unitarians Universalists. He did it in such a good-natured fashion that I began to wonder if Keillor isn't "one of us."
Turns out he's not. Keillor says he attends services at an Episcopal church, as a matter of fact.
Still, the UUs who take deep offense at Keillor's religious barbs remind me a bit of that California bar president, who took such deep offense at lawyer jokes.
He really needed to relax a bit.
Blessed be,
Eric Isaacson
I don't think Keillor's comments constitute a hate crime, but I don't think he's funny.
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