It’s time for hero/ zero. The winner this week is a female athlete who is at the top of the tennis game, and the zero is yet another Trump connected bigot who needs to watch his mouth plus a ‘Supernatural‘ site not being very super.
Hero – Serena Williams
When you are at the top of your game, people don’t like to give you the credit that you deserve because let’s face it; there are a lot of haters in this world. When you are a woman at the top of your field, it’s even more of a slap in the face when those that know you are the greatest won’t acknowledge just how badass you are. That’s why Serena Williams is a hero because not only does she blatantly say that she’s the greatest, she explains the misogyny and sexism that prevents others from making the same proclamation.
No one can really touch the tennis star. Williams is not just good for a woman playing the game, she’s good, period. Yet it is still hard for her to get the recognition that so easily comes to men across the sports industry. She told ESPN’s The Undefeated recently,
“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is just a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with, as well as being black, so it’s a lot to deal with, and especially lately. I’ve been able to speak up for women’s rights because I think that gets lost in color or gets lost in cultures. Women make up so much of this world, and, yeah, if I were a man, I would have 100 percent been considered the greatest ever a long time ago.”
I admire her confidence not just in herself, but also in her ability to speak this truth. Women don’t get the accolades due to them, and that is still something that affects us today. Williams brings attention to this fact because it has to be discussed. Women are leading Fortune 500 companies, winning coveted titles and are still mansplained to by their male counterparts.
Williams went on to say,
“I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I could be the best. We [she and sister Venus] came from nothing and in tennis, you kind of have to have something. We came, and we conquered.”
Never let anyone dull your shine or make you doubt your abilities. If your hard work has shown that you are the greatest because, ya know, you’re undefeated and stuff, own it.
For showing women everywhere how to carry themselves like a boss, Serena Williams is a hero.
Zero – Carl Paladino
The kind of behavior and train of thought demonstrated by Carl Paladino is the reason I cannot stop talking about Trump and his ability to inspire racists (among other things). Paladino is this week’s zero because of his disgusting remarks about the Obamas and because he makes no real apologies for his feelings.
I guess if you’re going to be a racist piece of shit, it’s best to do it with boldness. Paladino said recently about the First Lady of the United States,
“I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.”
Furthermore, his hope that President Obama succumbs to mad cow disease is equally disheartening. What this shows us is the kind of men who are in positions of power over the very people that they look down upon. The New York politician is just one of many who take this kind of stand about people of color. With folks like him in the government, it’s no wonder why “stop and frisk” was an acceptable way of policing in New York.
Paladino tried to clean up his horrible comments by releasing a statement in which he said,
“I did not mean to send those answers to Artvoice [a Buffalo weekly.] Not that it makes any difference because what I wrote was inappropriate under any circumstance. I filled out the survey to send to a couple of friends and forwarded it to them not realizing that I didn’t hit ‘forward’ I hit ‘reply.’ All men make mistakes.”
You bet what he wrote was inappropriate and full of bigotry but his acknowledging that doesn’t take away from the fact that what he said is what he believes. Why else would he say them? No matter how hard they try, racist people cannot mask their racism.
Thank goodness he made the “mistake” of sending his thoughts about the Obamas to the publication. Now we have another public official to monitor for his biased thinking, which no doubt affects how he votes on policies and how he conducts business. Carl Paladino is a big fat zero!
Additional Zero for the Week: Supernatural Wiki
We have gotten used to people calling us whatever they want, but on Christmas Day, the website Supernatural Wiki decided to label Movie TV Tech Geeks as one that is trying to ‘normalize racism.’
What was most disgusting about this was that they obviously did not read the article in full that was written but chose to go with a quick title and make a decision about our integrity and morals solely from that. In today’s world, people do love to do that (as all the Fake News articles have proven), but with a site that is part of the #SPNFamily, you expect much more. Whether it was done in ignorance or with malicious intent doesn’t matter; there’s no excuse for either.
Usually, I’ll let things roll off my back, but this really angered me as anyone who reads our site knows that we fight for everyone’s rights, no matter what side of the political spectrum they stand on. Social media seems to bring out these kinds of actions in some people, but they should realize that words are powerful and they do matter. The phrase, ‘That’s not what I meant,’ seems to be the go-to excuse for everyone (including Donald Trump), but if you can’t say what you really mean, why bother saying anything at all.
We stand up for freedom of speech and never take it for granted, but that same freedom allows us to rebut wrongful and hurtful accusations.
Racism in America is something we all knew was just under the surface, but this year has really allowed everyone to see it’s ugliness in so many forms. We’ve written countless articles on this topic and having a site cavalierly try to paint us with this very ugly label is something that is reprehensible to me.
The fact that this site is associated with the #SPNFamily or CW television show “Supernatural” family shocked myself and everyone here so much. This is a very tight-knit family that is open to everyone, and the idea of someone wrongfully using the racist label is something they don’t stand for.
we at #MovieTVTechGeeks are shocked that a member of the #SPNFamily would tag us racist as we fight for everyone #SPN @jarpad @jensenackles
— Movie TV Tech Geeks (@movietvtechgeek) December 25, 2016
“Supernatural” stands for equal rights for everyone (even some of those monsters) and racism is one thing it would never stand for. We contacted the CW and the producers of “Supernatural,” and they were just as shocked as us and quickly let us know that they are in no way or form associated with Supernatural Wiki.
I was thankful to know that the television show we cover very heavily doesn’t stand for those kinds of actions either. This is one of the reasons why racism will always be a problem in our country as one side wants it to stay while the other side is so busy pretending to be politically correct that they will use the racism word without having the full facts.
Words do matter and sadly many on social media don’t think before posting what they feel is something clever, and that can be very harmful. It is times like this when you realize that while freedom of speech is a right, it also comes with a big responsibility.