Last Thursday, Glenn Beck, the profusely pulmonary pundit of political conspiracy hailed by followers as the voice of change in the right wing and damn nearly a Grand Wizard to those on the left of American discourse, offered his take on why the new alternate universe-dwelling Spider-Man -- a half Black and half Latino young man named Miles Morales-- is somehow the result of words spoken by First Lady Michelle Obama:
“I think a lot of this stuff is being done intentionally. What was it that Mrs. Obama said before the campaign? Because it's strange how so much of this seems to all be happening." He said this after playing an audio file of Mrs. Obama very vaguely stating, "we’re gonna have to change our traditions.”
Listen to Beck's comments in context here.
Video content by MediaMatters.org via FrumForum.com
Beck goes on the record with a bit of snarky brashness, in my opinion, saying up front and quite adamantly in this clip that he doesn't care about any of this and yet wonders if by her suggestion that we must change our conversations and traditions Mrs. Obama is somehow doing this on purpose. Is this type of subtly conspiracy-alluding tone one of fear? Is it one of apathy? It is a mark of implicit racism? Or, more pointedly, I question whether it is Mr. Beck's purpose is to make us all live in an underlying state of paranoia over the fact Michelle Obama and other humans on Planet Earth do not have an issue with a mixed race and possibly gay super hero (in relation to rumors around the media sphere which the comic's creators have already denied) whose portrayal may be reflective of not any agenda, but rather simply the reality of our world in August, 2011.
Roll on... with Spidersense.
I think that Mr. Beck is full of that old-time paranoia over the mathematical FACT that the world is getting browner by the second and that his opinions will (fortunately) no longer matter.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for some of us; but not most.
thanks for the heads up Mikey.
em2wice
Thanks, em. I share your views pretty exactly. Beck was normal when Bush was in office and now, in my eyes, any vague reference to change scares the Jesus is a Republican out of him.
ReplyDeleteCome back next post. I'm talking about an all-deaf Rock band called Beethoven's Nightmare.