It was a glorious Olympic moment. Gabby Douglas, a 90-pound bundle of strength, skill, speed, and power, won the women’s all around title at the Olympics — the first African American to achieve such glory.
Immediately following her feat, NBC cut to a commercial. The ad was for a new NBC sitcom, Animal Practice, and featured a monkey performing on the gymnastics rings.
And before you knew it, the racialists had taken dead aim at NBC, trying to piggyback their cause on top of Douglas’s marvelous victory and take the network to task for their “racist” ad.
The Daily Mail:
Angry viewers lashed out at the network on social media platforms like Twitter, accusing them of racism.
‘Disgusted at NBC for showing Animal Practice with monkey right after Gabby wins her gold,’ one user posted.
Another called it ‘risky.’
In a statement to MailOnline, NBC Sports said: ‘Gabby Douglas’ gold medal performance last night was an historic and inspiring achievement.
‘This spot promoting ’Animal Practice,’ which has run three times previously, is one in a series with an Olympic theme which have been scheduled for maximum exposure. Certainly no offense was intended.’
Of course no offense was intended. And you’d have to be an idiot to take offense in the first place. In fact, most of us probably take offense at the way the race baiters hijacked Gabby Douglas’s golden moment for their own low purposes. It beggars belief that anyone could seriously entertain the notion that the coincidence of a monkey in an ad appearing immediately after a young black teenager won what is arguably the most prestigious competition in the Olympics was deliberate, and hence “racist.”
Why did NBC even bother to respond? The criticism is nonsense on its face, without merit, and so transparently a ploy for attention from people who don’t deserve any notice at all that one wonders at the network’s sensitivity. A bogus issue is made using a bogus charge and NBC apologizes as if it is their fault? Ridiculous.
The extent to which our society has been taken over by these racialist charlatans — where intent means nothing, and the deliberate exaggeration and twisted logic inherent in their critiques is taken seriously by a media that should know better — makes communication a mine field where everyone must not let slip anything that could be remotely used in a racial context without it being blown up into an incident.
NBC should not have apologized.
“Of course no offense was intended.”
That’s no defence, hasn’t been for a LONG time.
Offense is in the eye of the beholder!
NBC is as far to the left as you can get without drowning in the Pacific. Of course they apologized, they think the racialists are right. Watching liberals cannibalize each other may be the only fun we conservatives have left.
Silly. I call my kids little monkeys all the time, especially when they are climbing things and swinging from things. Hmm, kind of like gymnastics.
My children are not monkeys! They are great apes!
If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey. It’s an ape! (Speaking of absurd illogical assertions.)
“Little monkeys?” Remember when Howard Cosell said that? The thought police immediately SWATted his office and home.
And I call my grandkids Monkeyboy/girl, as apropos.
However it is kind of fun seeing NBC make fools of themselves, it couldn’t happen to “better” people.
I found the ad offensive too but mostly because I think monkeys are disgusting- especially monkeys dressed in clothes.
As far as the racist thing goes- is it just me or under Obama have we seen much more talk of black vs white, men versus women, gays vs straights, rich vs. poor etc etc etc? I really wish the media would stop “seeing” all this hatred “for” us. What’s next? Are they going to burn down the Reichtag- uh I mean congress and blame the republicans “for America’s own good”?
I find it annoying that they always refer to me as “white”, I think of myself as Human (race) American (culture).
The species of dog has many ‘races’ (subspecies, aka *breeds*), all of which can interbreed, creating viable offspring, well, until the Great Dane daddy gets hold of Chihuahua mommy, but I’mna not going there. We don’t describe dogs as belonging to the Labrador *race* so where did this terminology come from?
Even if there is a scientific basis for race, which I am quite skeptical of, often cultures of people are confused as races (or it is intentional in the case of Hispanics to make them into a vote buying protected class). Criticism of a culture is not racism. If you dislike a person simply because their phenotypic expression of their genes results in a darker skin color or different shaped eyes, then you are a racist. If you dislike a person because their cultural values are different from yours that is not racism. Monkey commercials aside, that is the root of most of the crying wolf racism that is prevalent these days.
The only thing offensive is how horridly bad Animal Practice appears to be. Another flop with bad writing, bad acting etc. That’s what I find offensive. As for the ad running after Gabby’s performance, no biggie. A show about animals that showcases a monkey isn’t shocking. Also, making references to animals, isn’t Gabby’s nickname the “flying squirrel?” Why weren’t people offended by that or is there some kind of difference between a monkey and a squirrel..that sounds discriminatory in itself. How must the squirrel feel?
This is the worldview that NBC has spent the last 15 to 20 years cultivating. They shouldn’t be all that surprised when those with similar beliefs risk turning on the network and devouring it.
This is what we get for allowing this nonsense to get a foothold in our culture in the first place, but now that it has one, it makes no sense to defend the ones who started and propagated it from the consequences of their own actions,it must run its course or the fools will not learn from their mistakes and they will keep repeating them. Intelligent folks could see this coming a mile off. Harry Reid and his comments that others should be forced to disprove one’s wild accusations against them are a case study in this foolishness,now he will be forced to “disprove” allegations that he is a pedophile, which I can guarantee some will take as true. This is why,as Americans, we agreed upon social rules like not ascribing motivations to people that they have not said they had, and treating people as innocent until proven guilty.
When either side of an argument discards these rules of etiquette, they set the stage to be hoisted upon their own petard, and richly,righteously,deservingly so.
Yes,it is wrong that NBC has been mischaracterized as racist against blacks because of a bizarre juxtaposition of an advertisement. All people of integrity and good sense know that. Even the NBC folks know it’s wrong, but like a child or a sociopath, they most likely believe it’s wrong because it caused them a little discomfort. The greater evil in this is allowing them to continue to believe this way. Race-baiters and folks like Harry Reid need to learn that what they have done is wrong because it causes EVERYONE to suffer when anyone pulls a stunt like this.They need to learn that some things must not be sacrificed for political expediency,because when you do,it causes a chain of collateral damage that hurts many more innocent bystanders than your intended target. These isolated incidents will not teach them these facts.
NBC has not learned their lesson over this incident,they will just walk on the egg shells they have strewn about more softly from now on. Many more high-profile hucksters will have to fall prey to the toxic environment they have created before the elites who pimp this nonsense ,and before America decides,as a nation,to sweep the floor clean and step confidently and boldly again.
I look forward to that day,but I fully expect that at least 20 more years of shenanigans and victim-mongering will have to take place to get us there.
I hope this event put all those who would imitate the tactics of NBC and Harry Reid on notice that such incivility is a two way street,as others have commented lately “Sow the wind,reap the whirlwind”.
By the instructions of Athena, Cadmus sowed the dragon’s teeth in the ground, from which there sprang a race of fierce armed men, called the Spartoí (“sown”). By throwing a stone among them, Cadmus caused them to fall upon one another until only five survived, who assisted him to build the Cadmeia or citadel of Thebes, and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.
Absolutely spot on in your commentary, and the article linked,by the way.
NBC knew Gabby was going to be the winner leading in to that all important max viewership targeted advert that’s the reason for the tape delays to begin with. For instance, they will modify AT&T commercials depending on who wins a swimming race that day.
No excuses or benefit of the doubt for the NBC production monkeys who like to edit racism into other shows. For all we know, if Gabby didn’t win Gold then NBC chooses a different commercial that wouldn’t create a racial controversy for their political friends.
And for all we know, you didn’t take your meds today and are spouting utter lunacy.
Tiger Woods never existed. Obama plays and wins the British Open and the magnificent win is broadcast on tape delay generating massive interest in prime slot ad buys.
First commercial after his win is about a monkey who learned to play golf.
Let NBC’s production amateurs and professional racialists defend themselves on this one.
You must have a laminated race card.
I thought the turtle ad was stupid. Which track and field athlete was that about? Does one of them have a skin condition? Is NBC filled with eczemists?
“The only time people notice your race is when you are making a big deal out of it.”
Once again, reality (Gabby Douglas’ win) and fantasy ( some moronic ad for a sitcom) become one in the same. They can not separate what goes on in the real world from what’s rolling around in their heads. I’m convinced not that Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.
Three observations:
1) It’s just too delicious to see NBC hoisted on its own petard after years of pointing the racist finger at everyone the Democrats tell them to.
2) Everyone seems to think the ad placement unintentional, but remember NBC shills for Democrats – the party of slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow, and segregation.
3) The people who claim to be offended because they associate black people with monkeys are the real racists.
Very well said, John Galt. (Who are you, anyway?) My first reaction was to be exasperated in the network’s behalf, and remember the words of a hero: “Apologize for WHAT?” But then came the realization that this is NBC we’re dealing with here, and it was time to enjoy the wash of Schadenfreude that comes with watching any MSM institution grovel, scrape, whimper, and wet its didies.
Your sharpest and deadliest point is of course your third. Really, just what kind of person sees a monkey and thinks, “Aha! Got to be a racial slur!”?
…begging the question, is NBC et al really against racism, or ‘for’ it?
Don’t laugh, take a look at our first Progressive president and one of the leading lights of both der Austrian paperhanger and our secretary of state.
“Really, just what kind of person sees a monkey and thinks, “Aha! Got to be a racial slur!”?”
The same people who looked at the Lord of the Rings movie and decided that Orcs were Black people. They live to be offended.
I did not see the sequence, but, from what it sounds like, I would have been offended at /all/ of the gymnasts being, effectively, compared to monkeys. That the gymnast was black… I’m going to enjoy watching NBC squirm.
Ah, the extraordinary capability of liberals to read minds at work again. Or do they just assume everyone thinks like they do?
Trolls don’t just live on the Internet, folks. They walk among us. Its these self-important jerks that have nothing better to do than to create controversy where there isn’t any.
Is it a REALLY crappy coincidence? Yes.
Deliberate racist plug? No.
You’re no doubt correct on the point. However, the networks’ news divisions have –especially since Katrina –pretty well exposed (deliberately, it seems) the ideology under which their entertainment divisions guide –the flag under which the whole blue armada sails sinkingly backward.
What ideology? Well, the place to start would be the first Progressive president, see links in my reply under comment #11.
So re the ad juxtaposition, the reaction to it could be seen as a variation on the old adage ‘the exception that proves the rule’.
I think it’s all pretty funny. After all NBC is the network that edits videos of a black man carrying a rifle in Phoenix to not show his skin color. Screw ‘em. They deserve to be chastised. NBC: Nothing But Crap.
There was no racism. The connection was not racial but because she is a small “flying squirrel” and then we get a small monkey doing gymnastics right after…so making the connection is not that big a leap.
The juxtaposition was a mistake and anyone with any common sense should see that immediately. Nevertheless, that it happened to NBC, who throughout its subsidiary MSNBC does this all the time was just priceless. If only Andrea Mitchell or Lawrence O’Donnell could have been implicated. Oh well, guilt by association as they say over at MSNBC. Who knew MS stands for Monkeys and Simians?
From one primate to another, congratulations to Gabby Douglas on her win.
I saw it and thought, “That’s a dumb commercial: if the monkey can do rings, it doesn’t need a vet.” I guess I judged it on the content of its character rather than the color of its skin, huh?
I love it when NBC manages to hoist themselves on thier own petard. Eat it bitches,YA!
As long as we’re being nitpicky, the Monkey was on Rings which is a male event. Gabby does Vault, Bar, Beam and Floor along with all of the women.
Agree that the series looks pretty bad from the ads.
Perhaps tehy did it to mock her because she is a Christian???
….that’s what you got from this? I’m sorry, maybe I missed something, but you might want to explain your reasoning.
Well hot damn! I happened to be watching that sequence and had half a hunch some idiot lefty with nothing better to do than find one more way to be indignant would pitch a bitch. These morons are like zombies – they see a real live person (offense) – point their crooked fingers and begin shrieking.
Everything Bob Costas says in that clip is racialist!
“… but still it’s noteworthy; Gabby Douglas, the first African American to win the women’s all-around in gymnastics; the barriers have long since been down, but sometimes there can be an imaginary barrier, based on how one might see oneself. Douglas has made it a point to say that she was inspired by Dominique Dawes, who competed in 3 Olympics for the United States, and was part of the magnificant 7 in 1996. Safe to say that this summer, much of America has fallen in love with Gabby Douglas. Also safe to say that there are some young african-american girls out there who tonight are saying to themselves, ‘Hey, I’d like to try that too.’”
I think that it’s “safe to say” that if Gabby Douglas was white, Bob Costas wouldn’t have spent a second talking about her race. He might have been talking about her parents, or her coaches, or her training, or her dedication, or any number of other things that might actually shed some light on what makes this young athlete interesting, but, of course, Gabby Douglas happens to be black, so all Bob Costas can do is talk about her race. He makes up “imaginary barriers” without ever getting into what those barriers might be. He brings up her role model, in order to make a racial connection. He talks about how “young African-American girls” might be inspired. Why not all young girls? Why wouldn’t a young asian or white gymnast be equally inspired by the triumph of a charismatic, talented young woman because they don’t share the same race?
Every word that came out of Bob Costas mouth was racialist. Every single thing he said was tightly focused around race. He does nothing but spout information-free racial platitudes that say nothing about the woman — as if the only thing that matters is her race.
And then they cut to a commercial of a gymnast monkey.
Of course they had to apologize. Bob Costas and NBC don’t care about any other aspect of Gabby Douglas except for her race! He put her race on a pedastal. He honored her connection with other athletes of her race, and he talked about how other young athletes of the same race might be inspired by the success of someone of their race. One would think, after listening to Bob Costas, that the Olympics were a competition not between nations, or athletes, but between races. And now a representative of this very special race has won, so let’s take this opportunity to celebrate their race. Then, in their own little racialist bubble, they committed the ultimate sin.
NBC has no need to apologize for running the commercial. They really ought to apologize for what happened in the minute leading up to the commercial. The placement of the commercial was clearly an accident. The little racial sermon prior to it was no accident at all.
Good for you, jms! Yours is the refreshing voice of reason and analysis. Reading your comments honors the memory and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., as exemplified in his “I Have a Dream” speech when he said that a person should be judged by his character not the color of his skin.
And Beyonce sends her a card and black websites have field day. If she was white it’d be crickets. Hilariously, The Root had not one story on their homepage about Aurora the day of the shooting but did have “Trayvon Martin: Week 20.” And these are the people who chide white America for underreporting black murder. Black Americans think they live in a gulag and so any little accomplishment where they go through the minefield of white racism without getting blown up is given an hysterical reaction.
Did NBC apologize?
“Of course no offense was intended.”
They did not state that they were sorry or that if given the chance they would change their actions. This is not an apology, it is a clarification…and appropriate.
Oh, but in their universe, they had to.
They have put forth this sort of nonsense themselves for so long and over a wide spectrum of incidents (plus you know what their politics is) that they were compelled to agree with those calling them to task.
They know full well the lessons of racialism, they practice it every day in their news editing and style.
Just ask George Zimmerman.
Of course it was unintentional and just a coincidence.
But NBC brought this on itself by its frequent race-baiting. Or does the name “Zimmerman” not ring a bell, as just one recent case in point?
Payback’s a bitch.
Fun of course that now that it is blue on blue. Those types also turn on their own eventually.
Hello, NBC. Welcome to our hell.
–Your neighbors, the Conservatives
I thought of George W. Bush as soon as I saw that monkey. What does that make me?
Now that you mention it, he does kind of look like a monkey.
JMS said it well. Very well.
Face it, peepz…. literally anything can be (and maybe everything is) considered “racist” by the left. Acknowledging them is as bad as their accusations; they should be ignored..
Well… Now that the lefties are acting all outragey, there does seem to be some resemblance. Thanks for pointing that out, lefty people. I would never have thought to look at Gabby that way. Though Gabby is much more humanoid in appearance than Crystal, Crystal is further ahead in her show biz career. Good luck to both of them. Remember… If Obama had a daughter she’d look like Crystal. Or Gabby. Or, something like that.
Surprised I haven’t seen more people point this out, but women gymnasts don’t perform on the rings. How could this be a reference to Douglas?
what’s the “olympics”?
and who watches NBC anymore?
It needs to be remembered that under the fcc rules a station or network can use their licence if they are not seen as serving the public good. NBC backed down for VERY good reasons. If there is a lawsuit they probably settle out of court because the cost of losing could be the corporation’s destruction. This is why broadcast television is terrified of lawsuits, and the FCC wants to control cable.
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Ehat the heck is “television?”
What the heck is “television?”