Hey, internet?

[author_by_night]

I know saying the meanest, edgiest thing you can think of is the thing online, that's why we have CollegeHumor and peopleofwalmart.com, but even if that is your thing... there is a time and a place to make jokes about things that actually aren't funny. A disaster that has killed thousands of people is not the right time. (Not to mention that even sites like CollegeHumor and peopleofwalmart.com wouldn't sink that low, although CH did make a Grease parody that involved someone being date raped.)

What happened in Japan was a tragedy. It wasn't a celebrity saying something stupid. It wasn't a butthurt idiot. It was a tragedy that has left thousands of people dead, missing, and otherwise displaced. Bringing up Pearl Harbor doesn't make you look witty or funny, it makes you look like an asshole.

And to the people who mean it: Ever notice that America's done horrible things too? Did you know many people hate us? How would you feel if someone told you we "deserved" a tragedy because of something those affected had nothing to do with?

Mostly though, I think the people saying that Japan deserved it are trolls. And while no, they don't mean it, it's still ignorant and wrong.

Screening comments because it's a public entry and all that jazz.

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Oh, I definitely agree that it's worse when people mean it. Yeah, joking about it is bad taste, but people actually believing it is ignorant and sickening. Trolls and borderline trolls, at least, are probably high on internet drama and may even realize in the morning that their "joke" was a bad idea.