Courtland is Back – Surprise, Bicycles Shouldn’t Be On Roads

[UnknownCyclist]

@mstone 104214 wrote:

well, it’s probably possible to find a tangentially relevant blackface skit also, but we typically try to avoid insensitive/cringeworthy stuff in general interest forums

But insensitivity and irrelevance are my raison d’etre.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 104211 wrote:

I think the skit is mocking the overload and abuse of sugar more than anything else.

Hypoglecemia is low blood sugar.

The character is not supposed to be mentally deficient.

That’s debatable. Whatever. Back to Courtland Milloy sucks.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 104217 wrote:

Why is this comparable to racial skits? The kid gets fed too much sugar and his parents are overprotective or lazy. The skit is mocking the parent’s practices. It has nothing to do with race, class, gender, disabilities or other genetic traits or conditions. He’s supposed to be a young character. That’s why he talks so simply. It’s normal for a preschooler to sound like that. I don’t mock adults, children or groups for things they don’t control. But I think it’s reasonable to mock the practices of capable adults who do foolish things because of laziness or inattentiveness. The parents don’t want to spend the time to supervise the child properly, so they use a harness and a helmet. Or they are overprotective. Or something, but it’s not related to race or disabilities.

Actually, that part is infuriating to me. It plays into the idea that parents are somehow responsible for disabilities. Hypoglycemia and hyperactivity are not caused by any parental action, including diet. Nor is it overprotective to take extra measures to protect a child with behavior problems. But it doesn’t really matter because the “hyper hypo” was just a joke that was turned into a skit by fitting all that into it, obviously. It’s not that bad. Now, really back to Courtland Milloy sucks.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@sjclaeys 104222 wrote:

As the initiator of this thread, I hereby invoke my initiator prerogative to request that discussion on this thread return to the issue for which this thread was created. Thank you.

Was it helmet laws? I can’t remember.

[PotomacCyclist]

@baiskeli 104246 wrote:

Hypoglecemia is low blood sugar.

That’s debatable. Whatever. Back to Courtland Milloy sucks.

I will debate that point, because it implies that I find pleasure in mocking a mentally handicapped person. I do not. Since high school, I’ve made a point of not engaging in such behavior. (I can’t vouch for myself in kindergarten and early grade school. I was probably as boisterous as the next kid, with not much idea of what I was always saying.)

His voice sounds a little funny, but it’s because Mike Myers is Canadian. I don’t say this to mock Canadians either. Most of his characters have that slight bent, because of the accent, like Wayne in Wayne’s World. It’s not that different from American speech, but it sounds slightly different. Then when you combine that with his attempt at portraying a kindergartner, it might sound even a little more off. Nothing that the character says would be unusual for a 5-yr-old. At worst, he sounds a little more naive than some kids, but nothing unusual. You would really consider a 5-yr-old saying those things to be mentally deficient? That’s kind of surprising to me. It’s slightly exaggerated for comedic effect, but I see it as more of naivete, because of his sheltered upbringing. It may also be part of Myers’ immigrant background. I’m familiar with this myself, also growing up in an immigrant family. Many people would think of my school outlook as more naive than others. I guess I could see some cynical people calling this mentally handicapped (because I’ve heard plenty of people say things like that), but to me, it only sounds naive, not handicapped.

You also have to consider who is playing this character. Mike Myers plays some oddball characters and even a couple questionable characters (like the big guy in the Austin Powers movies), but he isn’t known to be a vicious comic who savages vulnerable people in society. He’s not one of those “attack” comedians. That’s another reason why I don’t think he is trying to portray a mentally handicapped child. I think a lot of it is autobiographical. Some of his characters are heavily influenced by his own character and experiences. Even Austin Powers had a lot to do with his father’s background, as a British immigrant who liked James Bond movies, especially because Sean Connery is Scottish. And the big guy character in Austin Powers might be a send-up of his father, so it’s a father issue thing, more than a general attack on larger people. Other Myers characters were Scottish nationalists. It’s a recurring theme with him.) It would be different if Myers were known for mocking vulnerable children, but he’s never done that. It’s the exact opposite. He is trying to work through issues or criticize and embarrass his father. (He also caricatured his mother-in-law.) Even the Mini Me character was part of another father-son story.

More evidence that Phillip is a humorous but real critique of absurd or absentee parenting — another skit where Myers plays a young boy (British) who only sees the world from inside hotel rooms. Variations on a theme here: https://screen.yahoo.com/mike-myers-snl-skits/simon-little-english-boy-000000445.html And even more examples of this father-son conflict theme: Dr. Evil and Scott in Austin Powers, the Scottish father in So I Married an Axe Murderer, Austin Powers’ father in the 3rd Austin Powers movie. It really is one of the central themes of all of his comedic work.

I know what hypoglycemia is. That’s what makes the character’s situation more absurd, that his parents withhold sugar, but then when they wanted to move the car, they fed him sugar. (Or the child may have just made it up, as normal kids sometimes do. Young children are not exactly reliable witnesses.)

I didn’t want to continue on the off-topic subject, but I think I have to if the implication is that I enjoy mocking mentally handicapped characters. If anything, some on this forum accuse me of being “too sensitive,” in a thread a couple months ago.

****

As for Milloy, I don’t even know if I’ll say he sucks, at this point. I’m just tired of hearing about him, but he doesn’t surprise or shock me anymore. He is what he is, and obviously in this case, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Veronica Davis tried, by bringing him on that bike ride through DC a couple months ago. Maybe it helped a little, in that Milloy is not sympathizing with drivers who want to run over cyclists. (Those types of drivers are the same ones that also run over pedestrians in crosswalks. I know this because I walk in D.C. as much as I bike.) But I don’t think he’ll ever really get it. Maybe not until he relates to a case, such as a close relative. I don’t wish that on anyone, not even him. Hopefully he just gets back to ranting about the other stuff he rants about. (I don’t read his columns so I only have a vague idea about him. Something about gentrification and D.C. rights.) Well, maybe not. He ruffles feathers on those other topics too.

He’s an old-school guy who rants. I found this bio of him, from the City Paper in 2010. It gives you a better sense of what he’s all about, and what motivates him, for better or for worse. The paper calls him a “crotchety grandpa” and they quote some observers who say he is out of touch. The article won’t change anyone’s opinion of him, but at least you understand what he is. I guess it might make it a little easier to ignore him, knowing that he will be preaching to the choir, that he wants to stir things up, and that he’s unlikely to change his tune on multimodal transportation, even though many of his readers are probably pedestrian and bike commuters.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/40086/whats-tweeting-courtland-milloy/full/

What’s Tweeting Courtland Milloy?
The Washington Post columnist tweaks D.C.’s newcomers as “myopic little twits,” but is he the crotchety grandpa the city needs?
By Rend Smith • November 26, 2010

[Orestes Munn]

Can’t we give up “sucks” as a pejorative? It implies contempt for people who perform fellatio.

[Crickey7]

If we can’t mock Canadians, I’m outta here.

[mikoglaces]

I am sooooo over Courtland. Though he had some good ideas here. I think we should dedicate 1/2 of the roads in DC to cycling, and of course turn them into wooded areas, which will require razing some buildings along them. It would be quite nice really.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 104262 wrote:

I will debate that point, because it implies that I find pleasure in mocking a mentally handicapped person. I do not.

My comment wasn’t meant to imply that. I didn’t mean to accuse you of insensitivity at all. I laughed at the skit too; I’m just saying SNL was a bit lazy about designing the skit.

But Milloy still sucks.

[baiskeli]

@Orestes Munn 104275 wrote:

Can’t we give up “sucks” as a pejorative? It implies contempt for people who perform fellatio.

But it refers to fellatio performed on donkeys, which is different, unless you are a donkey.

[baiskeli]

@Crickey7 104280 wrote:

If we can’t mock Canadians, I’m outta here.

What are you talking aboot, eh?

[Orestes Munn]

@baiskeli 104311 wrote:

But it refers to fellatio performed on donkeys, which is different, unless you are a donkey.

I’ve heard object of the action specified as “dead bears” too, but that doesn’t make it OK.

[Orestes Munn]

I am definitely outta here for good. Nice meeting some of you.

[PotomacCyclist]

http://dcist.com/2015/01/courtland_milloy_dc_cyclists_need_t.php

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