Comedienne/Actress Sarah Silverman told Playboy recently:
“I’m not against marriage, but it’s just not for me…”
That’s an entirely reasonable position. Not every person is suited for marriage.
But then she pitched intolerance:
“I think it’s gross and [bleep]-ing crazy.”
Not a follower of gossip tweets, I do however recall a not so private break-up from a certain late night talk-show host that may have played a role here.
We can presume President Obama and family would object. During his campaign and term as president his proud advocacy of traditional marriage and family has coincided with the vast majority of Americans.
Any honorable married person could easily find Ms. Silverman’s remark offensive. To be labeled as both “gross” and “F-ing crazy” by a vulgarian is ironic. Perhaps irony was the comedienne’s intention, then again maybe not.
Exploiting the “gay marriage” hot button, she said, “If you’re getting married today, it’s the equivalent of joining a country club that doesn’t allow blacks or Jews.” That fashionable meme crudely diminishes the centuries of slaughter, persecution, desperate hardships and struggles of both blacks and Jews the world over.
The analogy is also clumsy and humorless.
Ms. Silverman would’ve done better to echo Groucho Marx, who once famously quipped: “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.”
Our family of five has for years found Ms. Silverman’s R-rated humor mostly hilarious, and we will continue to be fans of her work.
On a personal note, I once had the pleasure of meeting her while participating in an informal screenplay “table read.” She was nothing short of charming and professional.
There’s no accounting for taste when it comes to humor, but it’s nearly impossible to see how this politically charged insult against marriage by Ms. Silverman will endure.
Hopefully she’ll reconsider her anti-marriage bigotry, or come up with a better punch line.