Thursday, October 2, 2014

Attacks on Miss USA Contestant Continue

*Originally published on 5/5/09


This has been in the news quite a bit. Most of us know that Miss California, Miss Carrie Prejean, spoke her mind and declared her support for traditional marriage during the Miss USA pageant. As a result of this, she was voted as runner up. I would go on a rant about this, but it's no secret that Hollywood likes playing politics and much like it is her right to state her opinion, it is the right of the judges to vote for someone else.

Since then, however, things have gone much farther. One of the judges, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, slandered her with obscene terminology.

Today a story broke discussing "racy" photos that Prejean took. I saw the photo in question and it was no different from the photo shots actresses and models take for magazine covers. I find it odd that people called it inappropriate for a beauty queen/ Miss USA contestant when the shot in question is the same sort of thing models pose for. Even if you do disagree with her, what does posing for photos have to do with it? If you're going to call foul for those types of photos, then you should be doing that for everyone because the number of famous women who have posed like that are Legion. The fact is that they are using these to try and discredit her, which is BS if you ask me.

The worst comes from MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann who had Michael Musto on his show last week to discuss the issue. Together they made a bunch of lame jokes and implied that Prejean used to be a man. Is that necessary? I've already said my opinion on the whole gay marriage issue so you know that politics aren't the question. Even though I don't share her opinion, I don't wish her ill nor do I think her an idiot. She's entitled to her opinion and there is nothing wrong with supporting traditional marriage. There's no bigotry in her voice, at worst it's misplaced idealism, nothing more.

If I do have one beef with Prejean it's that she's not standing up for herself. She's being very diplomatic about the whole thing. Which would be fine in most cases, but with the level of vitrol that has been thrown at her, she needs to step up her game. These sort of comments fall well beyond the line of slander. She could take Musto for what little he's worth as well as giving Olbermann's account a huge dent. Better yet, take a page from the Angry Video Game Nerd and start throwing out some profanity laden rants, and pens that'll show em that you're not screwing around. They deserve it. Their behavior has been despicable. Where's the understanding and appreciation of other people's heritage and upbringing? For all the talk of tolerance, you don't really seem to be showing any towards her for her religious view.

This is a controversial issue and it would be one thing if they just said "I disagree, and here is why I think homosexuals should be allowed to marry". The media however, has seen fit to just drag her name through the mud out of spite. For all their talk about championing a cause and crusading for justice, they're acting petty and vindictive. Even though I disagree with her on the issue, I can find no justification for the media's, particularly MSNBC's, reaction to the situation.

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