Last month, Fox News contributor Katherine Timpf ripped on Star Wars fans. She said,
I have never had any interest in watching space nerds poke each other with their little space nerd sticks, and I’m not going to start now1
She says it was a joke. To me, it sounds like a heady mix of being mean and dismissive. And why? Who knows. She must be a few decades behind the times and still thinks not liking Star Wars is an indicator of one’s cool-cred.
I’m not exactly clear on the timeline events, but she tweeted something else a few days ago and the Internet apparently exploded. She started receiving death threats. And that is an entirely disproportionate response for simply being an ass. But the anger? I understand it. She goes out of her way to insult people and what they enjoy, and of course they’re not going to send her love notes and ask for more insults! Strike out at people, and some of them will <ahem> strike back.
Yesterday she wrote an article on why she wasn’t going to apologize. Basically, she said that her first amendment rights allow her to say anything she pleases. Of course she’s right, but has she not yet figured out that the first amendment says nothing about consequences? Those can sometimes be awkward. Poke the wasp’s nest and what do you expect?
In particular, this beauty was included in the article:
Yesterday I tweeted something, and all I said was that I wasn’t familiar with Star Wars because I’ve been too busy liking cool things and being attractive.3
If I may paraphrase Prudence Glynn, ‘Attractiveness is something other people have. The merest inkling that you yourself may be in possession of the commodity is enough to ensure that you are not.‘4 Simple physical beauty is easy to see. All-around attractiveness is another matter.
The most curious thing is that Timpf said she was astonished at the reaction. Remember she contributes to Fox News, for goodness sakes!
I certainly echo her thoughts about those who have gone too far in their reactions, but she’s otherwise being entirely disingenuous in her ham-fisted attempt to portray the victim.
- “Fox News contributor gets death threats for mocking Star Wars fans,” by Andrea Towers, posted on Entertainment Weekly, November 25 2015
- Photo by Barry Morgenstein, from katherinetimpf.com
- “I Will Not Apologize for Making a Joke About Star Wars,” by Katherine Timpf, posted on National Review, November 24, 2015
- “Style is something other people have. The merest inkling that you yourself may be in possession of the commodity is enough to ensure that you are not, for style, like the Victoria Cross, is an accolade which must be bestowed by the recognition of a third party” >Prudence Glynn (1980)(1935 – 1986)
Another fine example of todays journalists.