There is nothing egalitarian about the interweb. The people who most often and most ardently speak their minds on its various sites are not prone to fairness or restraint. As a race they seem impetuous and cavalier, not interested in reflection or proofreading. And that would explain the rampant disuse of grammar rules; the sheer number of comment posts that misspell every word including "and" and "the."One celebrity currently facing vicious and unintelligible attacks by net denizens is Katherine Heigl. The Grey's Anatomy actor has recently had the temerity to complain about something on a chat show. A seventeen-hour workday, to be precise. This caused Lucy on EW.com to angrily respond, "seriously there are ppl out of work that would love a 17 hour day of hard labor, let alone a cushy acting job."
This remark is representative of many others floating in the ether, and wow, is it ever stupid. Because it ignores the context of Ms. Heigl's comment--she was being flippant, not aggreived. Moreover, Ms. Heigl, while surely all-powerful, did not create our situation of vast unemployment. And, though I agree that many people would like to find a job, I don't know of anyone who would "love" an extremely long day of hard labor.
Piling on top of the public's newfound distaste for Ms. Heigl, two of her former co-workers, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, publicly unveiled their own contemptuous opinions this week. About a year or two ago, Ms. Heigl responded to a direct question asked by a Vanity Fair reporter. In her answer she admitted that Knocked Up (directed by Apatow, co-starring Rogen) was "a little sexist." Now, Mr. Apatow claims he is still miffed because her comment wasn't followed by an apologetic call to him.
If I were Mr. Apatow, I would call Ms. Heigl and apologize for expecting an apology. Not just because he's too smart not to realize that the actor was hedging her bets by not calling the film exorbitantly sexist (to women and men). But also because, in his three films so far, only she has come close to embodying a woman with a fulsome personality. In fact, he might want to use the phone call to inquire about her availability for his next picture.
Mr. Rogen was much less diplomatic. "I've got to say it's not like we're the only people she said some batsh-- crazy things about," he told Howard Stern. "That's kind of her bag now."
Putting aside the fact that I generally enjoy Apatow and Rogen's output, it amazes me that these two men are apparently so thin-skinned. Anyone who has worked in or around the Hollywood culture knows that this is a place where even so-called friendly colleagues will tender vile and unrepeatable opinions at point-blank range. I can only guess that Mr. Rogen's success has insulated him too well, because how else to explain his still nursing hurt feelings (over a mild, offhand remark) that he needs to share with a nation.
In any event, plenty of hostiles on various sites agree with him, choosing to affirm his venom and diagnosing his co-star as "insane" and "bipolar." I have no doubt that these commentors received their psychiatric degrees from fine institutions, but let's examine Ms. Heigl's craziness a bit.
Who has she attacked? Really, just Isaiah Washington. And that was in response to his making cruel and bigoted statements about her friend. Who has she offended? The writers at Grey's Anatomy (maybe). She said her storylines for a particular season were not deserving of an Emmy. As someone who watched that entire season, I would have to say she was very right.
So really, what crimes has Katherine Heigl committed? Well, she's answered questions honestly. She's stood up against gay-bashing. And she's been considerate enough to step aside so as to insure that another actor will deservedly reap a reward.
These things may not make her popular with the haters, but they sure do make her egalitarian.
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