"I Just Want To Make People Laugh"
How one photo turned Kathy Griffith into a national pariah...and it shouldn't have
I can still remember when this photo first came out. It was hard to hear over the righteous outrage it generated among Trump supporters. I’m still on the fence regarding my feelings about it. On the one hand, it feels like performance art, something intended to shock the viewer, generate a response, and force them to confront their prejudices.
On the other hand, it feels like…well, too much, as in, “Is that REALLY necessary?” Sure, those of us who detest Donald Trump despise him with a burning passion that defies mere words, but is holding a mock-up of his bloodied and severed head necessary to make that point? Does it do anything except stir up anger and vitriol?
How would we feel if Kimberly Guilfoyle did the same thing with a mock-up of the severed, bloodied head of Joe Biden? In fairness, the outrage would almost certainly be equal. And equally as pointless.
So the more I think about it, the more conflicted I become. Was the photo in poor taste? Absolutely. Did Kathy Griffin leave herself wide open for Right-wing trolls and the Conservative (not so) intelligentsia to savage her? Youbetcha. Was she exercising her free speech rights under the 1st Amendment?
Yep, she most certainly was. But free speech doesn’t necessarily mean speech free of accountability, does it? Nor should it. And in her case, there was a significant price to be paid for exercising that freedom.
Since that infamous photo shoot, Kathy Griffin has suffered tremendously on both a personal and professional level. At first, her tour was canceled, endorsements were pulled, and most of her friends turned their back and walked away. She was told to leave the country for five years, that she’d shamed the comedy industry.
All because of one photograph.
OK, so perhaps posing for a photo holding a mask that sort of looks like Donald Trump covered in ketchup wasn’t the best career move, and I think Griffin understands that. Still, there’s no reason she should’ve had to endure the things she did. The Trump Administration and powerful Conservative voices played a big part in canceling Kathy Griffin. She went from having an entire comedy tour lined up to having nothing instantaneously because no one had the courage to buck the prevailing fear-based political climate.
Fortunately, Griffin was resourceful enough to put together her own very successful overseas tour. She performed in 18 countries, starting in Auckland, New Zealand, and ending in Reykjavik, Iceland. When she returned to the US, she learned how to market and promote shows and played to full houses at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall, even though no promoters would touch her.
Kathy Griffin has always rubbed thin-skinned people the wrong way. When Donald Trump had the upper hand, he gloated like no one’s business, because no one gloats like Orange Jesus.
But, with the entire Conservative infrastructure terrified of suffering Trump’s wrath, when he decided that Griffin was persona non grata, she quickly became precisely that. Before long, a good chunk of the American public thought she was affiliated with ISIS. As she says, because ISIS was actively recruiting 58-year-old redheads at that time, it made perfect sense. WTF??
Jesus, Americans can be sheep at times.
So Kathy Griffin became persona non grata in her homeland. She lost work, most of her friends turned their backs on her, and she was left to her own devices. The one thing they all did was underestimate her.
Still, there was those who were quite happy to play off her reputation as a lightning rod.
And there’s the elephant in the room….
More than anything, Griffin’s plight is indicative of the hatred and misogyny that’s too often still directed at women who dare to step out of line and speak their minds. We can debate the appropriateness (or lack thereof) of the photo featuring Griffin holding a mock-up of Trump’s severed head. Was it humor? Performance art? Thoroughly and utterly distasteful? Inciting violence against the President? All of the above? Some of the above?
Yes. Maybe. Possibly. Sorta. Kinda. The answer depends on where you fall on the ideological spectrum…and/or how you feel about outspoken women.
The fact that what she did was free speech protected by the 1st Amendment has been totally lost in the Sturm und Drang. What hasn’t been acknowledged was that Griffin, a woman, dared to step outside the bounds of what might be considered “acceptable” speech.
That wasn’t very ladylike, was it?
There’s nothing “criminal” about what she did. If Rep. Marjorie Trailer Greene (R-GA) can give a speech detailing how, if she and Steve Bannon had been in charge of January 6th, they would’ve won, Kathy Griffin can certainly do what she did.
The problem, of course, is that Griffin is a Liberal, and therefore (according to the Conservative (not so) intelligentsia) not entitled to the same free speech rights as Conservative stalwarts like MTG. Free speech is a relative value dependent on one’s ideological orientation.
The sad thing about the blowback that hit Griffin wasn’t the Right-wing outrage; she expected that. It was the Liberals would didn’t have the cojones to stand up for her and her free-speech rights. As soon as they received push-back from the Far-Right, Liberals in Hollywood crumpled like cheap suits. Almost immediately, the very people she felt would protect her- because that’s what she would’ve done for them- abandoned her to the wolves. It was easier to leave her dangling in the political wind than to face the possibly ugly consequences of being associated with her.
And, as if dealing with the blowback and the betrayals and all the other drama wasn’t nearly enough, she also had to deal with a lung cancer diagnosis- despite never having smoked.
Griffin has lost the use of one vocal cord and is facing surgery in hopes of regaining some use of that vocal cord. While some have rejoiced at her diagnosis as “karma,” others have applauded her strength and courage in the face of challenges that few have to face, much less one piled on another as Griffin has.
Comedy has often, among other things, served to force society to look at some uncomfortable and inconvenient issues. Kathy Griffin has always excelled at making audiences uncomfortable…just before she makes them laugh. But there’s some value in that. If you can laugh at something, you can understand that it need not have power over you.
One of the things that have happened as American society has become more splintered and divided is that we’ve lost the ability to appreciate context and nuance. Instead, the default has become an almost instantaneous knee-jerk emotional response. That leaves no room for reflection, consideration, context, or nuance. When one reacts before thinking, there’s no opportunity to consider what a joke, a work of art, a piece of music, or a play might represent.
When the initial reaction is BOOM!- GOOD!! or BOOM!- BAD!!, where’s the opportunity for intellectual processing, for thoughtful consideration? This happens almost as much on the Left as it does on the Right.
As I said earlier, I still don’t know how I feel about the photo of Kathy Griffin holding the ketchup-stained mask resembling Donald Trump. I can see both sides of the argument, but guess what? Art is often intended to shock and/or offend. It’s often designed to provoke discussion or debate. Good art is often subversive and “politically incorrect.”
More than anything, Kathy Griffin is a victim of the time we’re living in. Donald Trump had his Conservative base programmed to be afraid of anything that could be deemed anti-Trump (and therefore anti-American). They were conditioned to react viscerally and emotionally to anything that could be interpreted as questioning Trump’s authority. Griffin never had a chance.
Not only that, she was a victim of the intense hatred and misogyny felt by many Trumpers, and Griffin provided a convenient and easy target. It’s why the photographer who talked her into doing the shot- Tyler Shields- is almost never discussed, much less vilified for the photo. Shields is destined to someday be the answer to a trivia question, but even though he was responsible for taking the photo, his name is rarely mentioned.
No, it was always easier to take down Kathy Griffin- a woman who was easy for the Conservative (not so) intelligentsia to hate.
If there’s one thing the Conservative (not so) intelligentsia does exceedingly well, it’s misogyny and hatred. (OK, that’s two things, but I was a History major, so cut me some slack, eh?)
