Kurt Vonnegut was Irrelevant
April 17, 2007 12:48 AM   Subscribe

Surprise! Fox News airs a patronizing obituary for the late Kurt Vonnegut.
posted by borkingchikapa (38 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Yeah, we heard about it in the KV thread. -- cortex



 
I didn't feel what was so wrong with Fox News before. Now I know. What disrespectful tripe.
posted by lostburner at 1:00 AM on April 17, 2007


expecting Fox "News" to say anything worthwile about a giant such as Vonnegut is like expecting a pig to give you a nice haircut, why bother?
posted by matteo at 1:02 AM on April 17, 2007


grrgrrrarARARARgrgrgRGarara
posted by PercussivePaul at 1:07 AM on April 17, 2007


That was pretty funny. There should be more obituaries like that. I've a feeling that Vonnegut would have approved.
posted by seanyboy at 1:11 AM on April 17, 2007


Shitting on someone's grave if I've ever seen it. FOX News is fucking disgusting.
posted by hafetysazard at 1:13 AM on April 17, 2007


*

Kurt Vonnegut would have you believe that this is not a star. Corrupter of youth, defamer of hydrogen reactions.
posted by stavrogin at 1:13 AM on April 17, 2007


This belongs in the existing Vonnegut thread.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:23 AM on April 17, 2007


Fox is indeed disgusting.. but I think KV would have laughed at this. I also believe he would feel glad to have got up the nose of such an unpleasant institution.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 1:30 AM on April 17, 2007


It veered into culture wars a bit toward the end, sure. Honestly, though, putting people on pedestals and insisting everyone be "respectful" of them and their memory is not much of a tribute to what The Guy tried to show the world is it?
posted by freebird at 1:30 AM on April 17, 2007


I hope this stays where it is, so more people see it.
It's offensive on so many levels.
posted by squidfartz at 1:45 AM on April 17, 2007


Vonnegut pissed off exactly the people he meant to, and this pissy, childish piece is the sign that he did a good job.
posted by Space Coyote at 1:50 AM on April 17, 2007 [2 favorites]


There's a transcript here and a link to another video discussing the Fox obituary.
posted by pracowity at 1:59 AM on April 17, 2007


Yay culture wars. "He failed at suicide. . ." was pretty choice. But the final comment takes the cake--taking a dig at how the man wished to be remembered by his children--unbelievable. Just plain cruel.

I had a few conversations with Vonnegut when he was teaching at Smith College in 2000-01. I will always remember him as one of the strongest, kindest men I've ever met. His soul was intact--and if mine still is, his example has played no small part.

[As an aside--I had to laugh when the reporter mentioned that he had friends in New York--wink wink nudge nudge. I live in New York and dearly wish it was half as politically/culturally radical as the Right makes it out to be.]

[And, yes, this probably belongs in the exisiting thread. . . I leave the inevitable Vonnegutian response as an exercise for the reader.]
posted by flotson at 2:04 AM on April 17, 2007


Jesus, that goes way past patronizing--they blatantly pissed on his grave. Fuck Fox News.
posted by zardoz at 2:05 AM on April 17, 2007


It would be a disgrace to the English language to call this smear piece an "obituary".

Much as it would be a disgrace to call an ultraconservative propaganda machine like the News Corporation a "news" outlet, or to call its owners and employees "decent" human beings.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:06 AM on April 17, 2007


"Rich and irrelevant, a sacred cow of the new york literary scene..." love it.
posted by mek at 2:08 AM on April 17, 2007


"Vonnegut, who failed at suicide 23 years ago, said 34 years ago that he hoped his children wouldn't say of him when he was gone "he made wonderful jokes, but he was such an unhappy man." So I'll say it for them."

What a way to finish an obit...
posted by davehat at 2:10 AM on April 17, 2007


Yet another wonderful piece of fair and balanced reporting.

News organizations frequently have obituary stories already in the can for prominent people for airing right after their deaths. I would love to see some of Fox News' obits for people like Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, et al if the death of Vonnegut brings this much ire.
posted by Mijo Bijo at 2:25 AM on April 17, 2007


What's the big deal? It was a bit retarded and crap (as you'd expect from fox) but it wasn't that bad.
posted by rhymer at 2:27 AM on April 17, 2007


That was total punk rock fantasticness. God some of you are dull.
posted by cillit bang at 2:30 AM on April 17, 2007


This belongs in the existing Vonnegut thread.

Indeed. So much so, that it was already there before this FPP was.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:34 AM on April 17, 2007


Rhymer:

"Rhymer's father, who failed at suicide 23 years ago, said 34 years ago that he hoped his children wouldn't say of him when he was gone, 'he made wonderful jokes, but he was such an unhappy man.' So I'll say it for them."

See any problem with this now?
posted by flotson at 2:34 AM on April 17, 2007


What's the big deal? It was a bit retarded and crap (as you'd expect from fox) but it wasn't that bad.

Yes it is. rhymer, can you honestly say you've ever seen a more disrespectful and mean-spirited obituary? I haven't. Barely two sentences go by without some jab at a man who can't fight back (not that KV would have ever stooped to doing so). It's fucking despicable.

After more thought on this, I really think this is a new low for Fox, and that's saying a lot.
posted by zardoz at 2:53 AM on April 17, 2007


Some nameless talking meatsack just called Kurt Vonnegut "irrelevant"? If that isn't funny, I don't know what is.
posted by Optamystic at 2:57 AM on April 17, 2007 [3 favorites]


I watched it. It was mean. Then I read seanyboy's comment and started to laugh. I don't know enough of Vonnegut to guess as to whether he would find it funny, but in the context of the work I do know, the joke is on Fox.

Anyone who can read should read his work, and anyone who has read his work should realize how absurd (and in so, fitting) Fox's obituary is.
posted by wehriam at 3:05 AM on April 17, 2007


For what it's worth, here's the e-mail I sent to Fox:

Dear Fox News,

James Rosen's recent obituary on Kurt Vonnegut ends as follows:

ROSEN: Vonnegut, who failed at suicide 23 years ago, said 34 years ago that he hoped his children wouldn't say of him when he was gone "he made wonderful jokes, but he was such an unhappy man." So I'll say it for them.

In addition to being irrelevant and out of context to a bizarre degree, this comment is nothing short of cruel to Vonnegut's children and other surviving family.

To be clear, I see nothing wrong in including in an obituary comments that are critical of an individual's words and deeds, when those criticisms are relevant to his role as a public figure and to the public discourse around the issues with which the departed had been engaged. However, I cannot even call Mr. Rosen's comments "critical," as that word implies principles of argumentation that are lacking here. Apparently Mr. Rosen wished to present the position that Kurt Vonnegut is not a significant literary artist or public figure. However, not only has Mr. Rosen failed to make an argument to support his point of view, he has shown an exceptional lack of kindness. If there is in fact an argument here that I have missed, please clarify.

Finally, as I come from a family with a history of mental illness and suicide (as did Vonnegut) I find Mr. Rosen's remarks offensive on a personal level. This is shameful journalism, and deserving of apology.
posted by flotson at 3:32 AM on April 17, 2007


Nixon, mean. Vonnegut got them to say it!
posted by DenOfSizer at 3:50 AM on April 17, 2007


can you honestly say you've ever seen a more disrespectful and mean-spirited obituary?

But that's what's good about. It's mean-spiritness as art. If they wanted to make a wingnut propaganda piece, they could have, but this is something else entirely. It's obviously lovingly crafted, and by someone talented enough to make it brutal without being hateful. If anything Fox is taking the piss out of itself.

Flotson: that letter needs more disingenuous outrage. Maybe work your sick grandmother into it?
posted by cillit bang at 3:59 AM on April 17, 2007


Well you know, some liberals may have liked him, but he was no Tom Clancy.
posted by kowalski at 4:15 AM on April 17, 2007


Wow, just wow.
posted by furtive at 4:32 AM on April 17, 2007


can you honestly say you've ever seen a more disrespectful and mean-spirited obituary?

hunter s thompson's obit of nixon was miles beyond this ... fox news could only dream of being this disrespectful
posted by pyramid termite at 4:33 AM on April 17, 2007 [1 favorite]


I read the transcript, and didn't think it was so bad. Yes, yes, I'm the one who started the firestorm in the original KV obit thread, but really -- this wasn't the hatchet piece that so many people think it is. They acknowledged KV's successes, his service during WWII, and his admittedly quirky nature, and also noted that his tendencies towards "progressive" politics. Seemed reasonably fair and balanced to me.
posted by davidmsc at 4:34 AM on April 17, 2007


But that's what's good about. It's mean-spiritness as art.

Yeah, that's what I said while I was skinning the student nurses. Some people just don't appreciate good art when they see it.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:35 AM on April 17, 2007 [1 favorite]


Seemed reasonably fair and balanced to me.
posted by davidmsc at 12:34 PM on April 17 [+]
[!]

That pretty much says it all, right there.
posted by Optamystic at 4:49 AM on April 17, 2007


Dear Fox News,

James Rosen's...



Um...who the hell is that?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:52 AM on April 17, 2007


How completely vicious, completely unnecessary, and completely unsurprising.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:05 AM on April 17, 2007


And can you believe those awful things he said about Reagan!?
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:10 AM on April 17, 2007


Um, who's irrelevant here? Kurt or James? Yup.
posted by unSane at 5:21 AM on April 17, 2007


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