# Oh....you're \*that\* stupid; got it (John Mayer's Playboy interview) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558 "2010-02-11T16:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/61 "2010-02-12T03:05:03Z")
Sampiro: Have you actually _met_ any Maori women? I’ve met quite a few, they’re not _all_ built like rugby players, by any means. That’s why I said what I said above: There are physical types that don’t appeal to me, but I’ve met or seen women from _every_ ethnic type that I find attractive. Skin colour itself, and the other signs of race, has no particular effect on me. I like pale fair skinned nordic types right through to blue-black equatorial types. I would not exclude anyone based on ethnic origin. Now, what you’re saying about voice/accent is entirely different. Because that’s cultural and/or aesthetics. I once broke up with a woman in part because I couldn’t stand the sound of her voice. There were other reasons, but the voice thing _was_ a factor. I find certain ways of talking very unattractive, and I find certain vocabulary choices very unattractive. I like some accents better than others, but an accent I found un-musical wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me in itself. Interesting things said in an unattractive accent are still interesting, and stupid things sound stupid even if said with a beautiful accent. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/62 "2010-02-12T03:17:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > There have been several in the past. [Here’s one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=237944). (Pity the threads don’t have subject-keyword tags.) Thanks for that, the thread was pretty much what I’d have expected. To clarify, I think it’s sort of reasonable to say something like “black women generally don’t appeal to me much, but there are exceptions” but it’s _not_ reasonable to make sweeping statements like “black women don’t appeal to me”. I don’t see how anyone can make the second statement there and _not_ be racist. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/63 "2010-02-12T04:10:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > > [@Ludovic](#): > > > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > > > He and Kanye need to be lo > > > > John Mayer was the biggest douchebag OF ALL TIME! > > Aw, c’mon - I think you need to recalibrate your Douchebag-o-meter. He’s douche-y, sure, but of all time? A-Rod with paintings of himself as a centaur in his bedroom? Kanye merely existing (remember when he said “Bush doesn’t like black people” and you actually thought “go Kanye!” - who knew?!)… > > Mayer barely registers on the scale - but, like all outbreaks of douchebaggery, must be fully quarantined immediately… You’ve been slightly whooshed. **Ludovic** was making a reference to the Kanye West/Taylor Swift awards ceremony incident. Notice how he “interrupted” **Freudian Slit** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/64 "2010-02-12T12:51:25Z")
**Lord Mondegreen** - of course I was :smack::smack: oh well. \*\*Sampiro \*\*- I love your analysis and agree with the concept of Machiavellian self-promotion; here’s the only problem I have with it - he’s on an apology tour right now which started the day the news broke. Adam Lambert never really apologized, and if I know my Jayne, her apology was probably something along the lines of “I’m sorry; was that my boob in your face?” Mayer is attempting to show that he is dragging himself through the pits of humility by saying how arrogant he was to make the attempt he did. \*\*kidneyfailure \*\*- what, I wasn’t adequately offended in an equal-opportunity way enough for you? For whatever reason, yeah, that particular crossing of the line is what stood out. Once again, I agree with \*\*Sampiro \*\*in terms of his analysis of the movie - I did enjoy it overall but found that to be a stupid choice, and the device of the black wife a cheap attempt at a rationale. Maybe it was because it was Tarantino himself saying that particular word is what stood out to me; I dunno. fwiw, **Shakester** , I in no way think there’s anything wrong with having your own physical preferences - just keep it to yourself, and don’t try to show what a media-master pundit you are by using edgy references to David Duke while also claiming access to the n-word (just typing that out again makes me mutter the word “Tool!”) \*\*Shalmanese \*\*- okay, here goes: If Mayer had instead said “I was recently asked how I was so successful with the ladies; how I was a “swordsman.” I had to stop them and clarify that I couldn’t be a swordsman because I hadn’t gotten a nun to sleep with me” would you agree that it would be all kinds of wrong, even though he’s trying to spin it that he is humbler than his reputation? How is what he actually said about not really have a 'hood pass any different? Interesting thread - as always, I’da never guessed the directions it could go… ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/65 "2010-02-12T13:21:05Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Thanks for that, the thread was pretty much what I’d have expected. > > To clarify, I think it’s sort of reasonable to say something like “black women generally don’t appeal to me much, but there are exceptions” but it’s _not_ reasonable to make sweeping statements like “black women don’t appeal to me”. > > I don’t see how anyone can make the second statement there and _not_ be racist. ? I don’t see your point here. Why would it make me racist if I wasn’t attracted to black women? Though I wouldn’t say I’m not attracted to black women, because there are alot of beautiful, sexy black women, I can never reach total attraction to black women for a bizarre reason I will try to explain. I have a foot fetish. A strong one. And, for whatever reason black womens feet never turn me on only because they are (generally) flatter than white womens and the “light bottom dark top” of the foot turns me off. A lot. This doesn’t mean that I don’t see alot of black women that I’m attracted to and would easily (in my premarriage days) sleep with but I couldn’t be in a long term relationship with one only because my fetish could never be fulfilled. Does this make me racist? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/66 "2010-02-12T13:27:32Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Does this make me racist? I don’t think so. …but you’re a Footist! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/67 "2010-02-12T14:43:50Z")
On the Pulp Fiction hijack- I wonder if Tarantino had always planned to play the role of Jimmy. Imagine the same role played by a black actor and it would make a lot more sense. For one thing- what are the chances of Jules and Jimmy being friends? Obviously I’m not talking about it being odd that a black guy and white guy would be friends (Jules and Vincent work as friends) but of Jules and Jimmy being friends: a middle aged enforcer for a crime boss being friends with a much younger whiny nerd who _clearly_ has no point of relevance for dealing with hardcore criminal enterprises _yet who knows Jules well enough to help dispose of a dead body_- hard to imagine what their past might be because even if they were raised as brothers this is a MAJOR favor. However, if it was a black guy he could be two inches away from Carlton in _Fresh Prince of BelAir_ and yet be a cousin or childhood friend whatever which would make the friendship and Jimmy’s willingness to help more understandable, but more importantly it would make it a lot more realistic that Jules- who Jimmy knows to be a killer and who has had to say the least a stressful morning and who has just blown away a group of 20-something white boys and thus clearly has no problem blowing away 20-something white boys- would be so understanding and accepting of Jimmy saying “dead nigger storage” (i.e. if he’s black himself he’s allowed; with a white guy saying it- even if he has a black wife and even if you’re asking a major favor- I just can’t imagine Jules just grinning through that one, it’d be more likely a “say dead nigger storage again motherfucker and I’ll integrate the dead body storage in your house!” I read or heard somewhere (how’s that for a cite?) that Winston Wolfe was supposed to be played by (executive producer) Danny DeVito but that he had a scheduling conflict. So my theory is Jimmy was a similar thing: Tarantino wrote the role for a black actor and for some reason ended up playing it himself. Imagine the same scene with Chris Rock (or Alfonso “Carlton” Ribeiro or Jimmie JJ Walker- any black actor will work really so long as they can play “holy fuck a guy I barely know is wanting me to get rid of a headless body!” understandably histrionic [yet calm]) and it goes completely differently. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/68 "2010-02-12T15:05:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > On the Pulp Fiction hijack- I wonder if Tarantino had always planned to play the role of Jimmy. Imagine the same role played by a black actor and it would make a lot more sense. I agree with your anaylsis - a worthy hijack. You articulate some stuff I hadn’t fully worked out as to why it seemed so tone-deaf to me… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/69 "2010-02-12T15:12:09Z")
Also I couldn’t help thinking that Tarantino in that role seemed to be doing everything but jumping up and down screaming, “Look at me! I’m a white guy saying the n-word! I’m so fucking awesome.” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/70 "2010-02-12T15:15:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Also I couldn’t help thinking that Tarantino in that role seemed to be doing everything but jumping up and down screaming, “Look at me! I’m a white guy saying the n-word! I’m so fucking awesome.” EXACTLY. And that’s what Mayer was doing, too. Tool. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/71 "2010-02-12T15:41:39Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > ? I don’t see your point here. Why would it make me racist if I wasn’t attracted to black women? > > Though I wouldn’t say I’m not attracted to black women, because there are alot of beautiful, sexy black women, I can never reach total attraction to black women for a bizarre reason I will try to explain. > > I have a foot fetish. A strong one. And, for whatever reason black womens feet never turn me on only because they are (generally) flatter than white womens and the “light bottom dark top” of the foot turns me off. A lot. > > This doesn’t mean that I don’t see alot of black women that I’m attracted to and would easily (in my premarriage days) sleep with but I couldn’t be in a long term relationship with one only because my fetish could never be fulfilled. > > Does this make me racist? I don’t think so. Now if John Mayer had given _that_ as his excuse, I’d be impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/72 "2010-02-12T15:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Imagine the same scene with Chris Rock (or Alfonso “Carlton” Ribeiro or Jimmie JJ Walker- [/QUOTE] In case anybody wondered- I know that Walker’s not exactly A-list anymore (or whatever he was when _Good Times_ was on), but I mentioned him because of Tarantino’s “reviving '70s pop culture icons” history. (Last time I saw Walker he was fat- really weird considering he weighed about 18 pounds on GT- I think he’s also a disc jockey now. Trivia: both David Letterman and Jay Leno began as writers for him.) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/73 "2010-02-13T16:30:27Z")
I don’t like John Mayer’s music. If I were Jennifer Aniston, I’d be mortified being associated with him. I especially like his comment that he has to be allowed to be 32, as if their 8 year age difference makes her ancient, and if normal 32 year old people spend their day Tweeting all day. Even Ashton Kutcher finally decided he was too mature for that. Poor Jessica Simpson. His comments are so complimentary, yet so…smarmy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/74 "2010-02-13T19:25:47Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Does this make me racist? I don’t think so. > [@WordMan](#): > > …but you’re a Footist! 😃 Ya mean he’s a footrace-ist? ---
**Author:** ![ZPhobiaZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9de0a6/32.png) [@ZPhobiaZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPhobiaZ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/75 "2010-02-13T20:12:59Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It means that your blacks friends have told you you are cool and can hang with them, i.e., “you have a pass to hang in the 'hood”… > > …which of course would immediately be revoked if you tried to talk about it that way, since you have just used them to somehow attempt to declare how cool you are. > > Tool. > > :rolleyes: You know how other peoples friends would react, do you? Many people, colored and white, at one time or another have claimed to be a spokesman for all black people. I wonder why I should take your claim any more seriously than theirs? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/76 "2010-02-13T22:49:21Z")
> [@ZPhobiaZ](#): > > You know how other peoples friends would react, do you? > > Many people, colored and white, at one time or another have claimed to be a spokesman for all black people. I wonder why I should take your claim any more seriously than theirs? …um, whatever. You _do_ realize that I am not commenting on race - I am commenting on the inappropriateness of using something Mayer claims a friend said he had. It’s a friend thing, not a race thing… ---
**Author:** ![ZPhobiaZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9de0a6/32.png) [@ZPhobiaZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPhobiaZ)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/77 "2010-02-13T23:12:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > …um, whatever. You _do_ realize that I am not commenting on race - I am commenting on the inappropriateness of using something Mayer claims a friend said he had. It’s a friend thing, not a race thing… You specified black friends(bringing up race) and claimed to know how someone else’s friends, whom you have never met, would react. Apparently based on the fact that they are black and that is how all black people would/should react. Sure sounds to me like you’re claiming spokesmanship. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/78 "2010-02-13T23:21:18Z")
Hood pass, huh? I think I will start a campaign that it is only okay for women to use the c-word since we are the only ones who have them. We should probably get control of douche as well. Guys can have dick. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/79 "2010-02-14T00:46:08Z")
> [@ZPhobiaZ](#): > > You specified black friends(bringing up race) and claimed to know how someone else’s friends, whom you have never met, would react. Apparently based on the fact that they are black and that is how all black people would/should react. > > Sure sounds to me like you’re claiming spokesmanship. Okay, then I am also the spokesman for Jewish people, because I think if someone publicized that they had a “shtetl pass,” then your average Jewish person would find it offensive if they found out that a non-Jewish friend of theirs was trotting out that statement to illustrate that they were so fucking awesome. It’s not about the race - but yeah, I am claiming that your average person in a group would be offended of someone NOT of their group claimed allegiance to that group in a Tool-ish way. If that makes me a “spokesman” - I don’t see it, but whatever - then so be it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/80 "2010-02-14T06:41:17Z")
While I understand why so many people are angry at Mayer (I think his main problem is a HUGELY overinflated ego of the “I can sell shit and get thanks” variety) and their anger is justified, it’s also to the point of the ridiculous with some of the pundits and talking heads on- ahem- news networks. Frankly I don’t think it even _needs_ talking heads- what’s to analyze beyond “Celebrity makes stupid statements and they backfire- next up, new study finds batteries lose their power after being used for a few months”. Here’s a statement from somebody who posted to Holly Robinson Peete’s twitter account that keeps getting read aloud that particularly makes me go :rolleyes:: > [@](#): > > Even though John Mayer did much damage to our people, believe me, so have you. Uh… eh… well… yeah… okay. Nothing _John Mayer_ said does _damage_ to any _people_; for one thing what he said wasn’t exactly conducive to “strip their rights and liberties and burn their houses”- and secondly- he’s _John Mayer_. He’s a singer (a very [fuckable singer](http://www.pantylinepress.com/plpblog/plpblogimages/john-mayer-borat.jpg), but a singer). You can extend this to other celebrities and other [quite justifiably] offended groups: Mel Gibson’s comments about Jews did no _damage_, Isaiah Washington’s comments about [what’s his name] being a faggot did no damage- they aggravated and offended perhaps but that’s quite different. These people aren’t policy makers, their words don’t carry any type of legal weight or power, and anybody whose views they influence enough to make them racist/anti semitic/homophobic/lactose intolerant/whatever are people whose views will likely change again when they watch a _Golden Girls_ marathon or very special _Jersey Shore_ reunion special- i.e. not intellectual heavyweights. Any group that is “damaged” by the words of a self consumed celebrity really needs some serious buttressing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558.md?page=5)