# Steve Martin's Carrie Fisher RIP tweet: does it offend you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919 "2016-12-30T20:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/81 "2017-01-02T03:46:20Z")
Did anyone give Kevin Smith a hard time? He posted a very long and moving tribute in which he referred to how Carrie told him she was glad she “helped him find his light saber”. If she’s okay with Kevin Smith admitting to her in person that he had been jerking off to her for years I don’t think a compliment on her beauty would offend her at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/82 "2017-01-02T07:10:33Z")
We should make allowances for Martin’s behaviour. After all, he was born a poor black child. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/83 "2017-01-02T08:37:40Z")
I don’t find Steve Martin’s remarks offensive. I see them as a fond tribute to someone he knew, who passed away recently. Carrie Fisher is someone I would have liked to know. I would have liked to chat with her, over coffee, about anything and everything. Based on what I’ve read about her, I’m pretty sure she that she would have laughed–and agreed–with Mr. Martin’s remarks. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/84 "2017-01-02T08:40:05Z")
The people complaining remind me of that coworker I had, who was offended that there was a blondes-in-bikinis calendar on the wall of the maintenance shop, and that one of the maintenance guys (old enough to be our fathers’ eldest brother) had called us beautiful when we visited the shop. Some people need their brains checked. Some need to get them back from the cloakroom… ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/85 "2017-01-02T13:06:39Z")
Woman here, of ordinary looks, and not remotely offended. As said above, we see people first, and find out more about them as people later. Especially if you see someone first in a movie. Backlash against this kind of over-sensitivity may not have elected T\*\*\*\*, but it explains why so many people did not mind or even embraced his rude, crude rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/86 "2017-01-02T13:29:41Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > The only offensive thing to me is that he deleted it. Does the guy have no balls at all? This butthurt vindictiveness about Martin’s personal choices for handling his own Twitter interactions with his public is just as stupid and petty as any of the oversensitive grousing about Martin’s original tweet itself. The guy can say what he wants to say and retract what he wants to retract. Complaining about his lack of “balls” just because he didn’t choose to be a stand-in for your personal fantasy of chest-thumping anti-PC is not only nasty but hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/87 "2017-01-02T13:38:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The people complaining remind me of that coworker I had, who was offended that there was a blondes-in-bikinis calendar on the wall of the maintenance shop, and that one of the maintenance guys (old enough to be our fathers’ eldest brother) had called us beautiful when we visited the shop. 😕 How are the two things remotely alike? Martin’s tweet is just a nice personal reminiscence of how a young viewer’s initial adoration for a lovely actress turned into a meaningful personal friendship. Calling young female coworkers “beautiful” when they’re visiting your department on work-related business, on the other hand, is clearly not professional workplace behavior. (Although it’s probably not worth complaining about when the guy is a clueless elderly old fart in a machine shop who is so steeped in the casual sexism of his era and “machismo” environment that he doubtless wouldn’t even understand why anybody would object.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/88 "2017-01-02T13:54:56Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I do think there’s a small amount of age-related underlying misogyny there… Are you suggesting there’s a positive correlation between age and misogyny? :dubious: 😕 I assure you there isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/89 "2017-01-02T14:18:46Z")
I am more offended that he RE-made “The Out of Towners” , “Sergeant Bilko”, and “Pink Panther” three CLASSICS. What next? “Gone with the Wind” and “Citizen Caine”? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/90 "2017-01-02T14:32:00Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > I am more offended that he RE-made “The Out of Towners” , “Sergeant Bilko”, and “Pink Panther” three CLASSICS. > > What next? “Gone with the Wind” and “Citizen Caine”? There’d be a real mutiny if he remade that one. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/91 "2017-01-02T14:57:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What he should have said: “Well, excuuuuuuuse me.” Nicely done. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/92 "2017-01-02T15:44:49Z")
Sure, it is very offensive to be attracted to a celeberties beauty, even though you don’t know anything else about them. :rolleyes::dubious: [\sarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/93 "2017-01-02T16:11:54Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > There’d be a real mutiny if he remade that one. Well played, well played sir. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/94 "2017-01-02T19:32:06Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > We should make allowances for Martin’s behaviour. After all, he was born a poor black child. Hijack, but I started the thread, so - Re-watched his remake of FATHER OF THE BRIDE not too long ago and it was just as awful and syrupy and unnecessary as I remembered it. The first time I watched it I kept thinking the only thing that would savae it would be if it turned out his character was really Navin Johnson and he invited his big black sharecropper family to the wedding to reminds his spoiled bourgie daughter where she came from. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/95 "2017-01-02T19:43:06Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > We should make allowances for Martin’s behaviour. After all, he was born a poor black child. It’s okay–he probably isn’t going to stay that color. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/96 "2017-01-04T17:42:58Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > 😕 How are the two things remotely alike? Martin’s tweet is just a nice personal reminiscence of how a young viewer’s initial adoration for a lovely actress turned into a meaningful personal friendship. > > Calling young female coworkers “beautiful” when they’re visiting your department on work-related business, on the other hand, is clearly not professional workplace behavior. (Although it’s probably not worth complaining about when the guy is a clueless elderly old fart in a machine shop who is so steeped in the casual sexism of his era and “machismo” environment that he doubtless wouldn’t even understand why anybody would object.) Yeah, they’re not comparable at all. The blondes in bikinis calendar is pretty much a textbook way to (unintentionally) create a hostile workplace for women. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/97 "2017-01-04T17:57:29Z")
I’ll be sure to mention that to my mechanic’s mother-in-law, who handles his office work, the next time I go in to pay my bill. It may well have escaped her notice that her son-in-law is hostile toward her. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Delainey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@Delainey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delainey)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/98 "2017-01-04T21:12:21Z")
There is a perception that most men generally notice quickly whether a woman is good looking, I’m pretty sure it is true. All the man did was recount his reaction to the initial sight of her. What was it set off this ridiculous reaction? Calling her a “creature”? I wish he hadn’t taken down the comment. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/99 "2017-01-04T23:14:00Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’ll be sure to mention that to my mechanic’s mother-in-law, who handles his office work, the next time I go in to pay my bill. It may well have escaped her notice that her son-in-law is hostile toward her. :rolleyes: Why not respond to what I wrote rather than what you’re imagining? I said unintentionally create a hostile workplace. Not that anyone is actually hostile to anyone else. To me it’s not the sort of thing that would be a deal-breaker, but if you went in there to work, as a woman who is not related to the staff members, you wouldn’t exactly feel like they were predisposed to treat women the same way as men. TBH I’ve never really understood the girly calendar in the workplace thing. Do you really want to get turned on while you’re changing oil and filling out paperwork? With your colleagues around you? Bit odd really. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919/100 "2017-01-05T00:25:18Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > TBH I’ve never really understood the girly calendar in the workplace thing. Do you really want to get turned on while you’re changing oil and filling out paperwork? With your colleagues around you? Bit odd really. It’s more odd that anyone thinks they turned on the mechanics. Really? They were more like something pretty that brightened up what were usually pretty grim surroundings. The mechanics weren’t going to post flowers or motivational posters. Calendar girls? Definitely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martins-carrie-fisher-rip-tweet-does-it-offend-you/775919.md?page=6)