Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 11/18/22

Some news items that caught my attention over this past week or so.

Quote of the Week: “Now more than ever, we’re short of workers, we have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to. The only way we’re gonna have a great future in America is if we and embrace immigrants, the DREAMERers and – all of them – because our ultimate goal is to help the DREAMers (and) get a path to citizenship for all 11 million, or however many undocumented immigrants.” – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
IMHO: Not against legal immigration here, but it seems to me “our ultimate goal” should be to create a country where people can afford to have children and raise families. Who exactly is this guy representing? American families or corporations in search of cheap labor?

From Axios: The Daily Wire, a conservative media and entertainment company, says it now has more than 1 million paid subscribers to its streaming service DailyWire+. Why it matters: The company has been positioning DailyWire+ as a conservative alternative to mainstream entertainment companies, particularly Disney.
IMHO: The corporate media has been reporting on Disney’s faltering stock price, mostly without mentioning the elephant in the room (which, BTW, isn’t Dumbo). Disney’s stock has tumbled on Wall Street because it’s stock has plummeted with its natural audience: parents with families. It turns out they don’t like having their traditional values disdainfully assaulted by arrogant executives. Build it and they will come. Tear it down from the inside and, guess what?, they’ll stop coming.

From The New York Post: A white sign-language interpreter says he was booted from “The Lion King” on Broadway because of his skin color. Keith Wann, 53, was one of at least two people forced off the production by the non-profit Theatre Development Fund – which staffs Broadway shows with American Sign Language interpreters – after the group decided it was “no longer appropriate to have white interpreters represent black characters for ASL Broadway shows.”
IMHO: So, let me get this straight. A show with an all-black cast (dressed up in animal costumes) has an issue with employing two white sign language interpreters. Yay, diversity! How will this affect Hamilton?  Man, these issues are getting more and more tricky – and stupid.

From NPR (re: Dave Chappelle’s controversial SNL monologue): No one walks a rhetorical tightrope as deftly as Dave Chappelle…”Early in my career, I learned there are two words you should never say together,” Chappelle noted during his opening monologue. “Those words are…’the’ and ‘Jews.’ Never heard someone do good after they said that.”
IMHO: You can kinda extrapolate that to include comments about any group (blacks, gays, whites, whoever). Invoke any demographic, throw in some edgy comment involving a negative stereotype, add hot water and stir. You know what? It’s not gonna go well – though, to be honest, some groups are better at playing the game than others. It seems to me that too often we are really into the supposedly tell-it-like-it-is dig aimed at the other folks but become filled with Hulk-like rage if the commentary is aimed at our team. How about if we all just chill a bit. When we’re dishing it out, let’s try to avoid being nasty for the sake of it. When we’re on the receiving end, let’s exercise a little discernment (every joke is not an attack) and try to have a little more of a sense of humor about ourselves.

Speaking of comedians…

IMHO: That’s great news! Jay Leno‘s a class act who reportedly has been walking around the hospital passing out cookies to children in the burn unit.
It’s great that Leno has been receiving well wishes from fellow comedians like Tim Allen, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon, David Spade and Adam Sandler. I’m a little surprised that at least I haven’t come across any similar sentiments from his late light brethren like Jimmy Kimmel, Steven Colbert, Conan O’Brien, David Letterman and even current Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. I have looked. Hopefully, I either missed them or some of them of them reached out to Jay privately. I know those battles pitting Jay against David and later Conan got kind of brutal in the press with Jimmy Kimmel, particularly, taking sides against Jay. Incidents like this though can be an opportunity for healing – and for burying the late night hatchets.

From CNN: Paris-born actor and singer Robert Clary, who survived 31 months in Nazi concentration camps but later co-starred in “Hogan’s Heroes,” the US sitcom set in a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp, has died at the age of 96.
IMHO: Nothing could have been more traumatizing than Clary’s experience surviving the Nazi era – yet he starred in a sitcom about it. Maybe laughter actually is the best medicine.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.