The 411 Dumpster Fire of the Week: Megyn Kelly

The 411mania Dumpster Fire of the Week

Hello, everyone, and welcome to The 411 Dumpster Fire of the Week. I’m Bryan Kristopowitz.

I don’t really have a proper introduction for this week’s Dumpster Fire of the Week, so I’m just going to ask three questions about All Elite Wrestling that I’ve been wondering about for a few weeks now.

First, am I the only one suspicious of Arn Anderson’s position as Cody’s manager/coach? I mean, the Horsemen back in the day had endless issues with Cody’s father, Dusty Rhodes, and wouldn’t it make sense for AA to turn on the son of one of his greatest enemies? I think it would. And it wouldn’t surprise me if AA did it at the big hooha PV match between Cody and MJF next month. And then, maybe, MJF can team up with Shawn Spears so Anderson and Tully Blanchard can be together again and AEW can have yet another faction. The new Horsemen or some bullshit like that.

Second, am I the only one annoyed by AEW crowd shots during matches? They always seem to be a step off and they ruin the flow of the show. I get why AEW wants them because, if something big happens, it’s always cool to see the crowd react to it beyond booing or cheering. But until the production team figures out how to make them seamless with the rest of the show AEW should stop doing them or do them much less.

And third, what’s the point of the backstage interviews “looking” different than everything else on the show? Has that been explained by someone?

And now onto this week’s Dumpster Fire of the Week.

This week, the 411 Dumpster Fire of the Week goes to former TV journalist Megyn Kelly, for her claim that she’s the victim of a Hollywood double standard because Robert Downey, Jr. wasn’t “cancelled” for wearing blackface in the movie Tropic Thunder. Kelly, who was fired by NBC and NBC News after making racially insensitive remarks regarding white people wearing blackface, complained on Twitter that she’s the victim of a double standard after Robert Downey, Jr. went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and said he had no regrets about appearing in blackface in Tropic Thunder. Specifically, Kelly condemned Universal Pictures, the owner of NBC, for being involved in the movie (Universal Pictures released the movie theatrically, according to imdb, in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia, but the movie was produced by Dreamworks and released by Paramount Pictures in the United States). Why was Kelly cancelled and Downey, Jr. praised (he was nominated for multiple awards, including an Oscar, for his performance in Tropic Thunder)? Kelly didn’t wear blackface. How is this not a double standard?

Because Kelly wondering why it’s not okay for white people to wear blackface at Halloween and apparently not actually knowing why is completely different than Downey, Jr. playing a character in a comedy movie that’s a satire on how self-important, tone deaf, and fucking stupid actors and artists can sometimes be (Downey, Jr.’s character, Kirk Lazarus, thought he was making some sort of point by having his skin surgically darkened for a movie, and, I believe, Lazarus thought he would also win awards for doing so). Kelly might have a point if Downey, Jr. was spotted wearing blackface at a big hooha Hollywood Halloween party or if he was actually advocating for white people wearing blackface in the here and now, in real life, but since Downey, Jr. hasn’t done any of those things, Kelly is just wrong here. There is no double standard at work.

But wasn’t Kelly engaging in a “devil’s advocate” type deal when she wondered, on her former NBC show, The Megyn Kelly Show (which was actually the third hour of The Today Show), why it’s wrong for white people to wear blackface at Halloween and at pretty much any and all occasions? No, she wasn’t. She wanted to know why it was wrong because, as she said, when she was a kid “you could wear blackface at Halloween if you were dressing up as a character.” She couldn’t fathom why appearing in blackface was racist at all. So, no, this wasn’t a “devil’s advocate” type situation. She was expressing what she truly thought.

But should Kelly have been fired by NBC and NBC News for what she said? I was actually surprised that NBC fired her considering the amount of money the company spent on her contract (it was like $30 million over three years). I figured they would make her go away for a little bit and then bring her back into the fold in some other capacity, sort of what NBC News did with Brian Williams. But then her remarks obviously harmed her standing at the network and amongst her NBC News colleagues so, to NBC, it made sense to get rid of Kelly to avoid a mutiny. And Kelly did get paid the balance of her contract so it’s not like she was thrown out on the street completely destitute.

But isn’t this just another example of the scourge of PC “cancel” culture? Should people’s reputations be ruined for mistakes? Why shouldn’t Kelly get a second chance? Yes, Kelly should get a second chance as soon as she figures out that she’s just wrong. That clearly hasn’t happened yet. She still thinks she did nothing objectionable. That’s the problem here.

**

And now for this week’s honorable mentions…

–Mike Pompeo, current U.S. Secretary of State, for his apparent meltdown after an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly. Just go ahead and read the story at the link and ask yourself if that’s how a Secretary of State should conduct himself with a reporter or, really, anyone. And does anyone really believe Pompeo’s claim that Kelly thought Bangladesh was Ukraine? The only unhinged person in this whole story is the Secretary.

-Former First Lady of the United States, former U.S. Senator from New York, former U.S. Secretary of State, and failed Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for her recent attacks on 2020 Democratic party presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders. I know that Secretary Clinton is still pissed that she lost the 2016 presidential contest to Donald Trump and an argument could be made that Sanders didn’t urge his 2016 supporters enough to get behind Clinton in the 2016 general election, but all of that shit is old news and has nothing to do with 2020. It also makes Clinton look bitter and out for revenge, and what good does that do for anyone? I think it would be best for Secretary Clinton to just stay out of the race and support the Democratic nominee, whomever that ends up being.

This is why the Democrats continue to lose again and again. They just fail to get organized and stay organized.

-Actor Tom Sizemore, for getting arrested once again for DUI and drug possession. And, according to TMZ, this latest arrest could send Sizemore to jail as he may have violated the terms of a plea agreement he made about a year ago for essentially the same thing. It’s clear that Sizemore needs help and will, hopefully, get it soon, either on his own or in prison. Again, the man needs help. Serious help.

–The men’s basketball teams for Kansas and Kansas State, for their recent bench clearing brawl after a game. It doesn’t matter who did what or why, this kind of thing should never happen. Ever. It always looks bad.

**

Thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Sign up with disqus and comment. You know you want to, so just go do it.

Please “like” The Gratuitous B-Movie Column on Facebook!

Oh, and B-movies rule. Always remember that.