[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Sep 29 2003, 12:33 AM\']So you're saying that simply because she's dead I shouldn't make the same joke I would make if she were still alive?
That's not in line with my beliefs, but I'm sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities.[/quote]
At the risk of taking this whole thing deliriously off-topic, I guess I should clear things up a little. In the specific case of Nell Carter, she died because of complications related to her weight problem. To me, that makes jokes about her weight that much more in poor taste. But as I said, they would still be in poor taste even if she were still alive.
I especially took the joke about Nell to heart because in the early '80s, my whole family laughed along with her and her TV gang in \"Gimme a Break!\" every week. Whenever I saw Nell in anything else -- usually as herself -- I always felt that what you see is what you get with her, and what I saw was a very talented woman full of joy and love and who loved people.
The funny thing is, I think she probably would have laughed at Chris's joke -- which, despite its questionable taste, was clever. She never tried to shy away from the issue of her weight, and it almost became part of her personality. I just think that because her weight was responsible for the health problems which led to her death, jokes about her weight are in bad taste -- much in the same way that jokes about anorexia may already be in bad taste, but when making jokes about Karen Carpenter's weight, they're even more so.
In general, I agree with you, Chris. Just because someone dies, that doesn't mean that you have to treat their image with kid gloves. I thought all the beatification of Nixon when he died was the height of hypocrisy. But because Nell died because of her size, that joke hit my \"delicate sensibilities\" a little too close.
Brendan
