Fresh from declaring her support of Oberlin students in claiming the serving of sushi is cultural appropriation, actress Lena Dunham (creator of HBO’s “Girls,” is supporting producer Tami Sagher’s effort to get people to deface the posters for the Jason Bourne movie. The objection is to the inclusion of a gun. So Dunham and Sagher are calling for the work of other artists to be defaced because they disagree with the content. They are doing so without a hint of recognized hypocrisy. Despite the attack on free speech, the response has been muted from HBO and Hollywood figures to an actress and a producer calling for the vandalization of the work of other artists.
There has been a long complaint that advocates on the left appear to discard free speech values when they disagree with the content of speech, as we have seen on college campuses in recent years. That growing concern is evident in the call of producer Tami Sagher who posted a photo of the gun image ripped out of the Jason Bourne New York subway ad with the caption, “Hey New Yorkers, what if we do some peeling & get rid of the guns in the Jason Bourne subway ads. So tired of guns.”
Ok, you are tired of guns, but what you are really saying is that you reserve the right to prevent others from seeing images if you are “tired” of seeing them. To make matters worse, you want others to tear apart the images of other film artists because you are tired of them. Nevertheless, Dunham loved the idea of vandalizing images that she does not want to see. She reposted Sagher’s juvenile message and added “Good idea @tulipbone! Let’s go!”
It would be interesting to know how Dunham would respond to those people “tired” of seeing her work and proceeded to use the same privilege to tear down her posters or deface her images. How about HBO? Would HBO support the tearing down or defacing of its posters? Presumably, these advocates would draw a distinction on the merits of good and bad speech, a distinction that they reserved the right to draw according to their own values and transient mood. Some speech is tiring while other speech is valued. Not only do they reserve the right to make that distinction with regard to the work of other artists, but to deny others the right to make their own choice. Imagine how far this approach could go with other forms of art like sculptures or paintings. Soon we would release millions of micro-censors to remove “tired” images in the name of “truth.”
Bettykath- FYI, Lena Dunham is not black, but she is a ( NO sushi for you) Oberlin grad.
Wise words from a British author, “If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justifications,” Rowling said in her speech.”, J.K. Rowling
One of the signs of an intellectually honest person is when they admit problems within their own political leanings. JT is liberal, but he is forthright in pointing out the growing fascism in the leftist movement.
Gee, do you think this fat, ugly, untalented performer[she’s not an actress] is having all these hissy fits because her show was CANCELLED??
bettykath is a Lena Dunham fan. Perfect!
Looked up Lena Dunham, saw photos, understand why she might be somewhat frustrated.
Looking for a cause, oh lord, just looking for a cause, because…….
I am amazed at how people from the motion picture industry assume credibility and authority because they are popular due to the entertainment nature of their work. Big leap there. Take Clooney. He is always trying to educate us. While I think he is a talented actor and has appeared in some of my favorite films, the stories he has helped produce have a very simplistic, childlike understanding of historical events. Add in social media, and now everyone is an authority on everything. They live in their comfortable and materially complete world and assume they know the answers to all of societies ills. And they expect us to listen to them. Interesting.
slohrss29 – you will be happy to know that the Italians have just built a refugee compound next to Clooney’s compound near Lake Como. Be interesting to see how he reacts to this.
Paul Fisher is right. Who the hell is she!
Who the frig is this Dunham and where does one see posters of movies? There are not any in my town. Maybe in the movie theatre. I have not been inside a movie theatre in 30 years. Why go there and listen to other people yak, cough, gag, and why have to pay a lot of money for friggin popcorn or a soft drink?
My movie multiplex gives away posters of upcoming movies, although they are the small ones. Still frameable.
Guess a Black female talent goes under the radar of the commenters here. Should have expected it.
bettykath – if it make you feel any better I know who Dunham is, I just don’t care about here. She molested her sister and I have not forgiven her for that yet.
btw, Dunham is a very talented writer and creator of TV shows.
If those people-who-cannot-die (corporations) can object to speech, why not real people? The model for objecting to speech are the riot police brought in to control the speech of those trying to express their grievances with the government. So Dunham is just following their example.
“There has been a long complaint that advocates on the left appear to discard free speech values when they disagree with the content of speech, as we have seen on college campuses in recent years.”
The above is an inaccurate statement. Truthfully, it’s “advocates on the left discard free speech values when they disagree with the content of speech, as we have seen on college campuses in recent years.”
There you go. Have some balls and say it.
My understanding is that Hillary and the DNC are all about gun control.
@Paul Fisher
Okay, it’s not just me. I don’t know who Lena Dunham is either. I know who Jay Leno is. Oh, well.
So this is the second post by Professor Turley about Lena Dunham – I am not into contemporary pop culture but the name sounded familiar – where had I heard of her before? Then I realized she is one of the Hollywood folk endorsing Hillary Clinton. That made me laugh – this insipid person raging about guns on movie posters supports the most militant war candidate. Perfect!
The whole celebrity cult is pure diversion from the real issues.
Hmmm. The Communist Party encourages commie-collectivist-group think, and then complains when the Red Guard takes it seriously. Oops! Sorry! Wrong country. Sooo, let me try again. The Nazi Party creates the Hitler Youth and gripes that the yutes are running wild—No! Dadgum it! @##@#@^%# Still the wrong country! Curse this Parrot Bay Rum and Dr. Pepper drink! I swear it messes with your mind!
OK, sooo the Democratic Party devolves into name-calling as its main debate tactic and then it complains that its supporters lose all sense of reason and rationality! No wait, that’s not right, either. The Democratic Party isn’t complaining at all. In fact, the Liberal and Democrats are encouraging this type of nonsense along with the Black Lives Matter silliness. Even Hillary today was calling Trump a Nazi and accusing him of racism and fascism.
Sooo, I guess I have nothing to say at all – at this time. Never mind. Where’s that other bottle???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Who the heck is Lena Dunham? Never heard of her, nor do I need to hear from her again!
It didn’t take long for Ms. Dunham to decide that her “success” has given her the right to tell other people, what to say, what to think, what to eat and what to see. I always thought she was a bit off and now I know she is!