Being Civil

I didn’t see it when it happened, but I’ve seen it since. What was Kanye West thinking? In case you don’t know, he interrupted teenager Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMA awards to point out that Beyonce had one of the best videos ever.

 

They cut to Beyonce who is shocked. You don’t have to be too good of a lip reader to see that this is not a compliment she is comfortable with.

 

She was very gracious by inviting Taylor Swift back on stage to give her acceptance speech when Beyonce won an award later. Not that there’s any lesson one learns that tells you how to act in such a situation, but good grief, Taylor Swift is a teenager. She’s navigating some difficult waters as it is. Apparently Kanye West thought he’d just try to make things awkward for her, Beyonce and everyone else in the auditorium – and who is seeing it later.

 

I realize there are far bigger issues in the world, but this is a microcosm of one thing that’s very wrong in our world – we have forgotten how to be civil. I’m not saying we all have to be 100% appropriate in every circumstance – that’s just not going to happen – we all make mistakes.

 

And it’s a matter of how big a microphone we have. Unfortunately, Kayne West had a big microphone. Of course, he stole it from Taylor Swift.

 

This comes right after Joe Wilson’s outburst of “you lie” during the president’s speech. I do not believe that the president deserves respect just because he’s the president. I believe respect has to be earned. But that sort of action is inappropriate in that circumstance. I would have felt the same if someone had yelled “you lie” at President Bush when he was speaking. It’s not the right environment or method to express your feelings. Wilson was out of line, as was evidenced by the reaction of others at that gathering who were horrified.

 

It was the same reaction at the Video Music Awards and at the President’s Speech. People understand when things go too far. But some people, namely Wilson and West in these cases, didn’t get it beforehand. Have we lost the ability to predict that uncomfortable situation?