03/19/2007
Garrison Keillor Apologizes for the Misunderstanding
Garrison Keillor issued an apology for the "misunderstanding" he created in a column last week, an apparently "tongue in cheek" look at parenting and the good old days. For many, including myself, the tongue was not far enough into the cheek. Here's a portion of the apology:
"I live in a small world—the world of entertainment, musicians, writers—in which gayness is as common as having brown eyes. Ever since I was in college, gay men and women have been friends, associates, heroes, adversaries, and in that small world, we talk openly and we kid each other and think nothing of it. But in the larger world, gayness is controversial. In almost every state, gay marriage would be voted down if put on a ballot. Gay men and women have been targeted by the right wing as a hot-button issue. And so gay people out in the larger world feel besieged to some degree. In the small world I live in, they feel accepted and cherished as individuals, but in the larger world they may feel like Types. My column spoke as we would speak in my small world and it was read by people in the larger world and thus the misunderstanding. And for that, I am sorry. Gay people who set out to be parents can be just as good parents as anybody else, and they know that, and so do I."
Dan Savage has a thoughtful analysis of exactly why Keillor just didn't get it. I do accept Keillor's apology, but somehow I doubt he's naive enough to believe his column isn't being read by more than a handful of folks in Small Town, Minnesota.
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Posted 3:45 PM EST by Andy Towle in Garrison Keillor, Gay Parents, News | Permalink
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I read about this brouhaha here at Towleroad, right after ignoring the Keillor article at Salon (my first stop in the morning). I rushed back and read the Keillor article, and immediately understood that this was his typical non-humorous humor. So, yeah, Andy and Dan and others have overreacted. But if THEY didn't get it, I'm sure lots and lots didn't get it either.
It goes without saying that I didn't find Keillor's article funny - I never do. He's simply not my cup of tea. The ad for his movie made me cringe - despite the all the obvious talent on and off screen - every time I heard him burble, "Be bop a roo bop and a rhubarb pie..." YECH!
Finally, to end on a truly humorous note, I LOVE the Simpsons' brief take on Keillor. Their TV gets stuck on a Keillor monologue on PBS (the audience is screaming with laughter while the Simpsons stare at the TV uncomprehendingly), and Homer ends up hitting the TV and demanding it be funnier.
Posted by: TonyG | Mar 19, 2007 5:41:19 PM
I assumed that anyone who was familiar with GK's work would know that he is a true dyed in the wool liberal who honestly believes in equal rights and equal opportunities for all, and who also believes that people are basically good and deserving of love and respect. I thought everyone would quickly recognize the sarcasm and this little storm would blow over. I thought the article was humorous, but I started reading it expecting it to be sarcastic. I guess it's unrealistic to think that we would allow heterosexual friends to joke with us using the same biting sarcasm we use with each other but it would be a better world.
Posted by: rayray | Mar 19, 2007 5:59:59 PM
This has been posited before but does everybody who thinks what GK said was accceptable satire think they'd be equally okay with it if, instead, he'd said:
"This country has come to accept stereotypical black people -- "ho's" and thugs who don't speak the King's English and choose to live in ghetto squalor with pit bulls while routinely robbing convenience stores and worshipping crime-ridden rap music. If they want to be accepted as mommies and daddies, however, that behavior may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear doo-rags and tank tops. That's for the kids. It's their show."
Do you think that would have flown as "satire"? Do you think there wouldn't have been any outrage over comments like those? And, if not, then what are you smoking?
It seems as though it's only when the target is the gay community that we're all just supposed to "get over it." Well his comments were thoughtless at best and inflammatory at worst and that "apology" was no apology. It was merely an explanation; one that put all the blame on his readership when clearly, based on the response alone, it was his own shoddy construction that was a fault here.
Posted by: JJNYC | Mar 19, 2007 6:23:03 PM
I've been waiting for Keillor to clear this up, finally he did so. When I first read his piece on parenting I thought it was funny. Then I looked at the reactions and people had a totally different take on it. He is sincere in his apology. I accept it.
KIT, you are wrong. Gay people are made fun of all-the-time, it's not an exaggeration.
Posted by: Jack! | Mar 19, 2007 6:33:44 PM
knock knock
who's there?
a gay guy
a gay guy who?
....i don't want to say in case i'm misunderstood
Posted by: par3182 | Mar 19, 2007 6:42:32 PM
being surprised by GK's letter led me to wonder about the longstanding radio show as well as his work with various artists that would make this a wry, tongue-in-cheek commentary, yet, reading through it several times -- that play in humor or satire wasn't coming through in this piece. it came as pandering flammable and stereotypical statements for those existing in that in-between state of acceptance to tolerance through hatred. as an oversight for those who haven't necessarily been living in locations where it's a stretch of a walk or taxi ride to hit the cycle of embracing bars to restaurants or cafes and theaters skipping numerous showcases as well as circle of friends when you're not necessarily concerned about being hit in the back of the head with a metal pipe for exclaiming that you're a "man-lover"...er, gay. then again, wasn't a couple attacked recently outside of the abbey, as people stood nearby and no discernible information was available in relation to the perpetrators. maybe, some of those people have commented here. i know that i've met them recently, as they were only concerned about hitting the bars and skipping a joint in the darkroom.
the humor missed me in GK's piece. and, my familiarity with him to a certain degree just missed the humor. perhaps, over the holidays, in san francisco, i was reminded of how some urban ghettos have lost the memories of a generation to remind them. we now resume the position. no thank you!! a cursory glance from starboard bow doesn't amuse me.
Posted by: ricardo | Mar 19, 2007 6:52:44 PM
Jack: Sure, gay people are made fun of all the time..so are lots of other people..That doesnt mean that everytime a gay person is mentioned in a humorous piece, that its homophobic..You even said yourself that you thought the piece was funny until you read other peoples reactions and then you expected an apology. Try thinking for yourself.
Posted by: Kit | Mar 19, 2007 6:59:24 PM
i am (perhaps naively) willing to take GK at his word. however, like savage, the bottom line is it just wasn't funny nor particularly "satirical" enough to warrent being read as such. misjudgement on GK's part but we all fail in some endevours. he should have taken into account the large numbers or readers and the various demographics. in an arena like Prairie Home Companion, yes we get it. in a pseudo-liberal website like Salon...eehh, not so much. it was a writer's failure, not a dictum on anything. even if your read as some kind of conservative creed it still failed.
better luck next time.
Posted by: hughman | Mar 19, 2007 8:17:53 PM
Garrison Keiller's shtick is so outdated and unfunny, given our ongoing struggle for civil rights. I can't believe he still has an audience, but I guess people are living longer nowadays.
I think Dan Savage's analysis was on point and necessary. With friends like him who needs enemies.
Maybe GK will think twice before he sets out to entertain us again.
Posted by: John | Mar 19, 2007 8:21:21 PM
Hey, how about PLEASE including some email addresses and/or mailing addresses and/or phone numbers with these "misunderstandings" so that I and everyone else I know can harass these a**holes and let them, their producers/editors & concubines hear what so many of us in this small world think of them and their hypocrisies?
Posted by: Todd M. | Mar 19, 2007 8:22:22 PM
Keillor isn't anti-gay.
He's sardonic.
Ghetto-gays needs to focus on the real problem at hand: the rise of neo-Christian-Fascism.
Plz put down the crystal and F O C U S.
And recognize who is with us, and who is truly against us.
Party/Consumerist-Gays are our community's *real* problem.
Posted by: rob adams | Mar 19, 2007 8:41:52 PM
What I find interesting about this "discussion" -- and lord, some of the comments here are so depressingly anti-intellectual, as usual -- is the need to absolutely silence the conversation by people who are pro-GK. What is it about this conversation that you find so threatening?
And btw, Rob, I won't be picking up crystal anytime soon. Sorry to distract your focus from "neo-Christian-Fascism," "Party/Consumerist-Gays," and fascinating thoughts on hyphenation.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 19, 2007 10:56:50 PM
Yup, we all have extremely thin skins. And there is good reason for that in our community, but there is an old saying about knowing one's enemy. Keillor ain't him. Not by any standard. This is a case of hyper-sensitivity if I have ever encountered one. When I watch programs like the Brit-com "Little Britain" I see very humorous and insane portrayals of gays. I recognize what the intent is there. It is to show the absurdity of human behavior. Keillor is brilliant in highlighting the same flaws and foibles in a humorous manner. I get his intent, too. No doubt because I listen to his program on NPR and know what the tone of his humor is. Ann Coulter would have never apologized over being misunderstood, offensive or insulting. Back off on GK. Go after the damned enemy--Coulter and her ilk.
Posted by: Greg | Mar 19, 2007 11:09:12 PM
What is "American Scandinavian humour"? Does he wear Prada? Or is he more a "Topman" kinda guy?
Posted by: just sayin' | Mar 20, 2007 12:31:57 AM
Where's Leland with the final word?
Posted by: anon | Mar 20, 2007 2:11:27 AM
Garrison Keillor is offensively boring. Although, after seeing his picture, I feel kind of bad for talking sh•t about him now that I see he has MS.
Posted by: John T | Mar 20, 2007 9:54:06 AM
I don't think anyone who was offended by Keillor's collumn was over-reacting at all. I've read and enjoyed his column for years and was very upset at this one. It felt to me like a sucker punch. I guess I just didn't get the humor either. I agree with Dan Savage 100%. I wish, if he was being "funny", he would have actually been funny.
Posted by: TroyTooner | Mar 20, 2007 11:51:43 AM
honestly, anyone familiar with keillor's work knows that he's a satirist. as much as i hate to say it, i feel like the gay press (blogs included) completely overreacted. for me, reacting only to the surface of statements is no better than when conservative middle americans react to buzzwords like "the war on terror."
instead of so much as giving keillor the benefit of the doubt, we all jumped to the conclusion that he was nothing more than another old homophobic white man.
Posted by: robert | Mar 20, 2007 12:36:22 PM
I read the original commentary and didn't see the "satire", I just saw his fundementalist Plymouth Brethern-upbringing poking through his limousine-Liberal facade.
"Small community"?...or just small-minded?
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Mar 20, 2007 1:27:20 PM
"Although, after seeing his picture, I feel kind of bad for talking sh•t about him now that I see he has MS."
Hahahahaha! So wrong, but yet so funny! Personally, I thought Seuss's Grinch and Michael Moore had a love child when I saw that picture.
Posted by: RP | Mar 20, 2007 8:32:21 PM
Apollogy accepted and left at the altar.
Posted by: juan | Mar 24, 2007 3:47:25 PM
You've GOT to be kidding me. I have one word for you: I-r-o-n-y. Clearly, as with the infamous Budweiser commercial (not the site), GK is making fun of people that actually think that way. If you've ever hear his radio show, while it may be about a small town, he has never espoused small town prejudices and has always had a good heart. I guess I can see why some people would be simple minded enough not to get it... I just didn't know so many of them would be GLBT. Get a sense of humor.
Posted by: kaccompany | Mar 24, 2007 8:13:36 PM
Garrison Keillor is a true liberal. He mocks everything. I do not doubt his support for gay rights. But tongue-in-cheek humor is always risky. I don't believe he meant to be offensive to gay people.
Posted by: Ray Maher | Mar 25, 2007 8:35:21 PM