2004-01-21 - 2:33 p.m.
i live to be embarrassed.
not by things i do myself, but by other people.
let me clarify. when watching something particularly embarrassing on tv (case in point: avg joe 1, contestant sings german boy choir music to try and woo the lady), i will scream out "turn it, turn it, i can't look!!!" but in truth, if the co-viewer "turned it" i would be pissed. i might be hiding my face behind a pillow or splayed fingers, but i am loving the queasy stomach feeling i get from watching said display.
i'd like to give a shout out to howard dean for providing me with one such moment. his apres iowa speech was nothing short of priceless when considered in this category. my embarrassment of dean has nothing to do with his political beliefs or anything of that ilk. i simply have reveled in watching him scream like a man possessed or better, a pro-wrestler, while flailing his arms wildly and ending with a war cry scream that belongs at one of those man retreats where they circle jerk and wear bearskins and stuff. rest assured that i have mimicked this speech COUNTLESS times over the past day or so, and will continue to do so, plugging in different words for the states dean was screaming, to great comic effect.
perhaps my love for watching people embarrass themselves started a young age, like on that thanksgiving when my drunken aunt climbed on my father's lap in front of us (i had never seen another woman on my father's lap) and growled in his face, "you little tiger, grrrrr grrrr grrrrr!!" my dad was probably thirtysomething at this time and my aunt sixty or so, and three sheets to the wind, bless her heart.
it's probably one of the reasons i love awards shows so much, because someone is bound to profoundly embarrass themselves every time (golden globes on sunday, are you ready???). i know every time they trot out liz taylor that she is going to make a complete mockery of herself, and i am going to love it.
i'll leave you with the grandaddy king poobah of embarrassing moments. this one is so incredibly ridiculous and racist and unbelievable, that anytime i catch a reference to it i am shocked and embarrassed all over again. i wonder how some peeps in the public eye actually think, "oh i should do that, what a good idea!" the ultimate case in point? ted "the danse" danson showing up in blackface to the whoopi goldberg friar's club roast. first of all, if you've ever seen a picture of him like this you almost can't believe what you are looking at. you think to yourself, "is that sam from cheers in blackface and a tuxedo?" and then you have to shake your head in disbelief and say, "yes, yes it is." this is quite possibly the most ill-conceived celebrity stunt (aside from britney's shotgun wedding...and madonna's sex book...and gigli...oh well, it's up there...top five definitely).
i'm always going to watch celebrities shaming themselves with some kind of reverential awe. no one of sound mind and body would ever do the things they do in public and by choice. the only thing i can say is: celebrities, why did you do that? thank you for doing that...
