If you read this blog with any frequency, you know that I don’t make a habit of promoting or talking about celebrities. Today is a new day and find it odd and out of character, but I am compelled to react to the insensitive, callous, outlandish, and mean spirited use of language making news in the past week. I don’t mean the Paula Dean incident.
I would dare say that Kanye West’s over the top simile in comparing a shaking Benz to Parkinson’s disease shows real ignorance, a tremendous lack of compassion and understanding about the illness, and displays an obvious disregard in caring about being informed on what living with Parkinson’s disease means.
Parkinson’s disease isn’t the punch line to a joke! I am reminded of a phrase my parents used to say that I advise Mr. West and the rest of the world who want publicity: There is nothing cute about being stupid. I would even modify that statement to be, there is nothing cute about being insensitive.
Mr. West is an extremely successful, wealthy, popular, black entertainer, with the attention and influence on millions of fans. Rather than use his platform in front of the world for something positive and beneficial, he chose to alienate the ill and compare them a sputtering vehicle. I for one consider this degrading insulting and just plain wrong on so many levels.
Much ado has been made in the media about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s new baby daughter, North. Instead of talking about his music, her career, and the baby, maybe something should be said about the disconnect of humanity that many of these performers have for someone unlike themselves. Is this insensitive mentality a trait to pass on to his daughter? Obviously, Kanye didn’t get the memo concerning a kinder gentler world.
I can only hope that Kanye sees the error of his ways and uses better judgment and more informed choices in the future. He has a responsibility to his child do to what is right. That’s what I think–what do you think?
