Different Strokes: How To Get Away With A Lie Or A Slur
In my last post, I pointed out that people's expectations affected how they read my writing on social media. While high expectations can make us see a poorly written paper as brilliant, and low expectations can make us see a well-written social media comment as badly punctuated, sometimes high expectations lead to disappointment or anger while low expectations lead to indifference or forgiveness. Two recent events involving media figures show how differently we respond to public figures' bad behavior based on our expectations of them.
The first "scandalous incidents" involved two popular news anchors who lied about where they were while reporting on a war. The anchors, Brian Williams of NBC and Bill O'Reilly of Fox, are the kings of their worlds. Williams has been the highest-rated evening news anchor for years. He is also very popular on late night talk shows. O'Reilly dominates the ratings on cable news and is a best-selling author whose books focus on the deaths of such historical figures as Kennedy and Lincoln.
Bill's lie seemed to be bigger than Brian's because Brian was actually in a helicopter in Iraq; he just wasn't in the one that came under fire. Bill wasn't even in the Falkland Islands when he was reporting on that war. He was thousands of miles away in Buenos Aires. Yet people seem to be angrier at Brian than at Bill. In fact, Brian has been suspended for six months while Bill is still anchoring his show, attacking the journalists who had the nerve to point out his lies.
The second incident involved two celebrities with oddly similar names--former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliana and entertainment reporter/reality star Giuliana Rancic. They have little else in common except their ethnic (Italian) background and public battles with cancer. Until 9/11 Rudy was known as a mean-spirited bigot who cheated on his wife; Giuliana is known for handling her cancer battle and battles with infertility with dignity and grace. She seemed to be the nicest person on the not-so-nice show "Fashion Police." But when she went too far on the recent post-Oscars show, suggesting that young mixed race entertainer Zendaya's dread locks smelled of pot, she was accused of racism. I suspect it was the first time Giuliana had faced such an accusation. Rudy, on the other hand, has faced racism charges frequently, most recently when he accused our mixed race President of not loving America.
Giuliana handled the fallout from her too snarky comment with typical humility and grace. She tweeted a brief apology and then taped a longer apology on her show. Rudy's behavior was also typical. He doubled down on his statement and then claimed that he couldn't be racist because Obama is half white and was raised by his white mother and grandparents. Still, there seemed to be more anger at Giuliana's so-called racism than at Rudy's. Reality star and Queen of Snark Kelly Osbourne, who generally seems to be nastier than Giuliana, is apparently quitting "Fashion Police" because she claims Zendaya is a friend.
The obvious reason Williams and Rancic were treated more harshly than O'Reilly and Giuliana is because we expect more of the first two. Williams has been promoted (in a commercial voiced by actor Michael Douglas) as the most trusted man in news. He is also one of the most likable men in news, known for his self-deprecating humor. And Rancic is as sweet as Giuliana is sour. But there might be another reason why we weren't as bothered by the former Mayor's comments as we were by the entertainment reporter's. Rudy's target was the President of the United States, a man in his fifties who knowingly took a job that would bring him much criticism. In fact, Mayor Rudy's comments were mild compared to some others Obama has heard. At least Rudy didn't ask for the "real" birth certificate or call the former constitutional lawyer a "lawless thug." Zendaya, on the other hand, is a lovely, eighteen-year-old girl who is not used to being bullied. The much older (although equally petite) Ms. Rancic looked like the wicked witch verbally abusing Dorothy or the mean stepmother mistreating Cinderella when she unleashed her "Fashion Police" snark on the cute starlet.
Frankly, I think all of these "scandals" are much ado about not much. I discussed in an earlier blog post focused on memoirs the problem with memory. We all "misremember," and I suspect Brian Williams is having trouble separating his nightmares from reality. We also should not be surprised that men who like to be authoritative voices on television and to report from exciting and dangerous places would place themselves at the center of the action in their memories.
I also discussed in an earlier blog post the difference between real racism and political correctness. Rudy is a real racist, so we should just ignore him and hope he's never again in a position where he can discriminate against nonwhite people. I believe Giuliana's problem is the opposite of racism. Some folks of all colors born after the Civil Rights era don't realize that they have to discriminate, that they sometimes have to treat nonwhite people differently from the way they treat white people. If Giuliana had made her snarky smells-of-pot comment about Kylie Jenner's dreadlocks, she would not have been accused of racism. I'm sure that Giuliana knew that Zendaya was not white, but I'm not so sure that she realized that the young actress's father is black or that she remembered the father's race when she was discussing his daughter's hair. In fact, so many non-black people (including blonde actress Bo Derek years ago) have worn dreadlocks through the years that Giuliana may not have associated the hairstyle with black people.
What Giuliana Rancic, Brian Williams, and the rest of us can learn from these "scandals" is that sometimes it's better to have a bad reputation. The people most likely to get away with a lie or a racial slur are those known to be liars or bigots.
The first "scandalous incidents" involved two popular news anchors who lied about where they were while reporting on a war. The anchors, Brian Williams of NBC and Bill O'Reilly of Fox, are the kings of their worlds. Williams has been the highest-rated evening news anchor for years. He is also very popular on late night talk shows. O'Reilly dominates the ratings on cable news and is a best-selling author whose books focus on the deaths of such historical figures as Kennedy and Lincoln.
Bill's lie seemed to be bigger than Brian's because Brian was actually in a helicopter in Iraq; he just wasn't in the one that came under fire. Bill wasn't even in the Falkland Islands when he was reporting on that war. He was thousands of miles away in Buenos Aires. Yet people seem to be angrier at Brian than at Bill. In fact, Brian has been suspended for six months while Bill is still anchoring his show, attacking the journalists who had the nerve to point out his lies.
The second incident involved two celebrities with oddly similar names--former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliana and entertainment reporter/reality star Giuliana Rancic. They have little else in common except their ethnic (Italian) background and public battles with cancer. Until 9/11 Rudy was known as a mean-spirited bigot who cheated on his wife; Giuliana is known for handling her cancer battle and battles with infertility with dignity and grace. She seemed to be the nicest person on the not-so-nice show "Fashion Police." But when she went too far on the recent post-Oscars show, suggesting that young mixed race entertainer Zendaya's dread locks smelled of pot, she was accused of racism. I suspect it was the first time Giuliana had faced such an accusation. Rudy, on the other hand, has faced racism charges frequently, most recently when he accused our mixed race President of not loving America.
Giuliana handled the fallout from her too snarky comment with typical humility and grace. She tweeted a brief apology and then taped a longer apology on her show. Rudy's behavior was also typical. He doubled down on his statement and then claimed that he couldn't be racist because Obama is half white and was raised by his white mother and grandparents. Still, there seemed to be more anger at Giuliana's so-called racism than at Rudy's. Reality star and Queen of Snark Kelly Osbourne, who generally seems to be nastier than Giuliana, is apparently quitting "Fashion Police" because she claims Zendaya is a friend.
The obvious reason Williams and Rancic were treated more harshly than O'Reilly and Giuliana is because we expect more of the first two. Williams has been promoted (in a commercial voiced by actor Michael Douglas) as the most trusted man in news. He is also one of the most likable men in news, known for his self-deprecating humor. And Rancic is as sweet as Giuliana is sour. But there might be another reason why we weren't as bothered by the former Mayor's comments as we were by the entertainment reporter's. Rudy's target was the President of the United States, a man in his fifties who knowingly took a job that would bring him much criticism. In fact, Mayor Rudy's comments were mild compared to some others Obama has heard. At least Rudy didn't ask for the "real" birth certificate or call the former constitutional lawyer a "lawless thug." Zendaya, on the other hand, is a lovely, eighteen-year-old girl who is not used to being bullied. The much older (although equally petite) Ms. Rancic looked like the wicked witch verbally abusing Dorothy or the mean stepmother mistreating Cinderella when she unleashed her "Fashion Police" snark on the cute starlet.
Frankly, I think all of these "scandals" are much ado about not much. I discussed in an earlier blog post focused on memoirs the problem with memory. We all "misremember," and I suspect Brian Williams is having trouble separating his nightmares from reality. We also should not be surprised that men who like to be authoritative voices on television and to report from exciting and dangerous places would place themselves at the center of the action in their memories.
I also discussed in an earlier blog post the difference between real racism and political correctness. Rudy is a real racist, so we should just ignore him and hope he's never again in a position where he can discriminate against nonwhite people. I believe Giuliana's problem is the opposite of racism. Some folks of all colors born after the Civil Rights era don't realize that they have to discriminate, that they sometimes have to treat nonwhite people differently from the way they treat white people. If Giuliana had made her snarky smells-of-pot comment about Kylie Jenner's dreadlocks, she would not have been accused of racism. I'm sure that Giuliana knew that Zendaya was not white, but I'm not so sure that she realized that the young actress's father is black or that she remembered the father's race when she was discussing his daughter's hair. In fact, so many non-black people (including blonde actress Bo Derek years ago) have worn dreadlocks through the years that Giuliana may not have associated the hairstyle with black people.
What Giuliana Rancic, Brian Williams, and the rest of us can learn from these "scandals" is that sometimes it's better to have a bad reputation. The people most likely to get away with a lie or a racial slur are those known to be liars or bigots.
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