The hypocrisy of the DIS and the folks who run it really shined through in this week's podcast. This is especially sad considering that this was one of the
memorial podcasts for the recently deceased Mr. Bob Varley.
Approximately one hour into the "Roundtable - 05/20/08 - Best of Bob Show," I got a glimpse of the podcast team's true colors -- and it wasn't pretty. They spent approximately 11 minutes ridiculing the United States' newest citizens (as of July 2007). The sad thing about this is that the podcast team thought they were being witty. As a human being - and a US citizen -- I didn't find them to be witty at all. They were the acting just like the folks for whom the term "Ugly American" had been coined. I was embarrassed for them. Falling into the "Ugly American" category is nothing that anyone should ever strive for.
As I listened to the podcast team making fun of the United States' newest citizens, I kept flashing back to last summer when I saw some of the official photographs of the Naturalization Ceremony that was held in Walt Disney World.
I remembered sharing the photos with my son. I told him that it must have been a very proud day for those 1,000 people, and that I had felt proud for them, too. After all, it hadn't been too long since my grandparents and my husband's mother had been amongst our country's newest citizens.
As the two of us viewed the photographs, it had become a special moment between us. But it made me feel sick to my stomach when I realized how the podcast team had dishonored such an important rite of passage for our nation's citizens.
Here are some of Disney's official press releases for the ceremony that the DIS' podcast team had been making fun of. To this day, I feel nothing but pride when I view them:
Press Release # 1
Press Release # 2
Press Release # 3
Press Release # 4
Press Release # 5
Press Release # 6
I don't have to tell anyone here that our fine nation was built upon the backs of immigrants. If it weren't for those folks, our nation wouldn't be what it is today. Heck, most folks reading this post have ancestors/relatives who immigrated to America. There is no shame when someone says, "I am an immigrant" or "My mother was a first-generation American." They should be proud to say those words -- and we should be proud to hear them. It's a shame, however, that the DIS' podcasters didn't feel that way.
Here is a link to the DIS' podcast page:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/
I have transcribed the portion of the show that was especially upsetting to me. It began around the 1 hour & 3 minute mark. I tried to be as accurate as I could with my transcription.
- - - - - - -
Pete Werner:
"Now in the two years we have been doing the show, I can really only speak for myself, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the team feels the same way, the funniest moment that we ever had doing this was our July 10th, 2007, show when Bob discussed the Naturalization Ceremony at the Magic Kingdom. We received a lot of feedback on that show; many of you have told us that it was your favorite as well. And the segment did have some darker humor to it, and I had edited the show after we had received some complaints about it. But even the original version that we put up on the site was heavily edited. Now, after a number of requests to put the unedited version into this show, I've decided to do just that. So, here is the version of that segment none of you ever heard. This is the unedited version of the 'Naturalization Ceremony at the Magic Kingdom.'"
Note: The show began with some banter between the podcast members. Then Mr. Bob Varley pulled out the "Fourth of July" Mickey Mouse Ears; they were a prop that he had wanted to share. The team laughed and made fun of the mouse ears. What follows is a part of their conversation.
Julie Martin - "Those are so retarded looking."
Note: The banter continued.
Pete Werner - "He looks like he's 'special'… wearin' that hat."
Note: The teasing about the mouse ears continued. Then Bob Varley attempted to describe the Naturalization Ceremony that he had attended on July 4th at the Magic Kingdom.
Bob Varley - "I actually went there because they were swearing in 1,000 immigrants to be US citizens. And they really did…"
Pete Werner - "Were you screaming racial slurs?"
Bob Varley - "No. I thought this was really good."
Pete Werner - "'Go back to Guatemala'?"
Note: The ethnic insults continued.
Bob Varley - "Just let me know when I can talk again. I'm gonna take a drink."
Kevin Klose - "Holiday Inn was at the Front Gate, catching 'em on the way out. 'You wanna be a maid?'"
Bob Varley - "Okay, I think I choked."
Kevin Klose - "We have Housekeeping positions available."
John Magi - "They went right from the indoctrination ceremony…"
Kevin Klose - "They were handed Housekeeping uniforms."
Bob Varley - "Well, we know this section's not gonna make it."
Kevin Klose - "Housekeeping or Gardner, take your pick."
Bob Varley -- "Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete…"
Kevin Klose -- "You know there were no Doctors in the ceremony, okay."
Corey Martin - "How are we gonna come back from this one?"
Bob Varley -- "I'm just gonna keep talking."
John Magi -- "We're never gonna be elected the best podcast ever."
Kevin Klose -- "Actually, if we put this in, we would."
Pete Werner -- "Yeah, really. Oh, I will try and salvage what I can, but very little'll survive."
Julie Martin -- "It's almost like he's talking about a shipwreck."
Kevin Klose -- "There were no survivors."
Bob Varley - "As soon as I said 1,000 immigrants, it went downhill."
The podcast continued on for a few more minutes but I'll end it here. I think you can grasp the gist of the conversation and it wasn't a very flattering one. And from what I can gather, it sounds like this was the third version of this particular podcast segment. Pete Werner had mentioned that the first version had received complaints, so it sounds like he pulled it and replaced it with an even more heavily edited version (version two). If that is true, what made him think that he could share the entire unedited version (version three) and have it not insult the listeners?
Remember, folks, that on April 19, 2008, the DIS began purging all the "bad" members from their website. Here are a few of the infamous words from their so-called "explanation":
"One group in particular has proven to be vindictive, petty and mean spirited on levels that belie the fact that many of them are adults who raise children. These are people who have chosen to spend their free time targeting…visitors in an effort to hold them up to public humiliation and ridicule. Their hateful tirades are especially heinous when the target is someone who is sick, or dealing with a disability. Not even children have escaped their unmitigated viciousness... These are not isolated incidents - this goes on daily and has for years."
To think that Pete Werner (and the DIS Podcast Team) thought nothing of ridiculing 1,000 of the United States' newest citizens -- and in three different versions of a podcast segment, no less. Plus, in an audio form that allowed folks to personally hear the ridicule from not only his own mouth but also the mouths of the rest of his team as well. It simply boggles the mind.
"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone…"
*insert Shurgging Shoulders' smilie here*
Approximately one hour into the "Roundtable - 05/20/08 - Best of Bob Show," I got a glimpse of the podcast team's true colors -- and it wasn't pretty. They spent approximately 11 minutes ridiculing the United States' newest citizens (as of July 2007). The sad thing about this is that the podcast team thought they were being witty. As a human being - and a US citizen -- I didn't find them to be witty at all. They were the acting just like the folks for whom the term "Ugly American" had been coined. I was embarrassed for them. Falling into the "Ugly American" category is nothing that anyone should ever strive for.
As I listened to the podcast team making fun of the United States' newest citizens, I kept flashing back to last summer when I saw some of the official photographs of the Naturalization Ceremony that was held in Walt Disney World.
I remembered sharing the photos with my son. I told him that it must have been a very proud day for those 1,000 people, and that I had felt proud for them, too. After all, it hadn't been too long since my grandparents and my husband's mother had been amongst our country's newest citizens.
As the two of us viewed the photographs, it had become a special moment between us. But it made me feel sick to my stomach when I realized how the podcast team had dishonored such an important rite of passage for our nation's citizens.
Here are some of Disney's official press releases for the ceremony that the DIS' podcast team had been making fun of. To this day, I feel nothing but pride when I view them:
Press Release # 1
Press Release # 2
Press Release # 3
Press Release # 4
Press Release # 5
Press Release # 6
I don't have to tell anyone here that our fine nation was built upon the backs of immigrants. If it weren't for those folks, our nation wouldn't be what it is today. Heck, most folks reading this post have ancestors/relatives who immigrated to America. There is no shame when someone says, "I am an immigrant" or "My mother was a first-generation American." They should be proud to say those words -- and we should be proud to hear them. It's a shame, however, that the DIS' podcasters didn't feel that way.
Here is a link to the DIS' podcast page:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/
I have transcribed the portion of the show that was especially upsetting to me. It began around the 1 hour & 3 minute mark. I tried to be as accurate as I could with my transcription.
- - - - - - -
Pete Werner:
"Now in the two years we have been doing the show, I can really only speak for myself, but I'm pretty sure the rest of the team feels the same way, the funniest moment that we ever had doing this was our July 10th, 2007, show when Bob discussed the Naturalization Ceremony at the Magic Kingdom. We received a lot of feedback on that show; many of you have told us that it was your favorite as well. And the segment did have some darker humor to it, and I had edited the show after we had received some complaints about it. But even the original version that we put up on the site was heavily edited. Now, after a number of requests to put the unedited version into this show, I've decided to do just that. So, here is the version of that segment none of you ever heard. This is the unedited version of the 'Naturalization Ceremony at the Magic Kingdom.'"
Note: The show began with some banter between the podcast members. Then Mr. Bob Varley pulled out the "Fourth of July" Mickey Mouse Ears; they were a prop that he had wanted to share. The team laughed and made fun of the mouse ears. What follows is a part of their conversation.
Julie Martin - "Those are so retarded looking."
Note: The banter continued.
Pete Werner - "He looks like he's 'special'… wearin' that hat."
Note: The teasing about the mouse ears continued. Then Bob Varley attempted to describe the Naturalization Ceremony that he had attended on July 4th at the Magic Kingdom.
Bob Varley - "I actually went there because they were swearing in 1,000 immigrants to be US citizens. And they really did…"
Pete Werner - "Were you screaming racial slurs?"
Bob Varley - "No. I thought this was really good."
Pete Werner - "'Go back to Guatemala'?"
Note: The ethnic insults continued.
Bob Varley - "Just let me know when I can talk again. I'm gonna take a drink."
Kevin Klose - "Holiday Inn was at the Front Gate, catching 'em on the way out. 'You wanna be a maid?'"
Bob Varley - "Okay, I think I choked."
Kevin Klose - "We have Housekeeping positions available."
John Magi - "They went right from the indoctrination ceremony…"
Kevin Klose - "They were handed Housekeeping uniforms."
Bob Varley - "Well, we know this section's not gonna make it."
Kevin Klose - "Housekeeping or Gardner, take your pick."
Bob Varley -- "Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete…"
Kevin Klose -- "You know there were no Doctors in the ceremony, okay."
Corey Martin - "How are we gonna come back from this one?"
Bob Varley -- "I'm just gonna keep talking."
John Magi -- "We're never gonna be elected the best podcast ever."
Kevin Klose -- "Actually, if we put this in, we would."
Pete Werner -- "Yeah, really. Oh, I will try and salvage what I can, but very little'll survive."
Julie Martin -- "It's almost like he's talking about a shipwreck."
Kevin Klose -- "There were no survivors."
Bob Varley - "As soon as I said 1,000 immigrants, it went downhill."
The podcast continued on for a few more minutes but I'll end it here. I think you can grasp the gist of the conversation and it wasn't a very flattering one. And from what I can gather, it sounds like this was the third version of this particular podcast segment. Pete Werner had mentioned that the first version had received complaints, so it sounds like he pulled it and replaced it with an even more heavily edited version (version two). If that is true, what made him think that he could share the entire unedited version (version three) and have it not insult the listeners?
Remember, folks, that on April 19, 2008, the DIS began purging all the "bad" members from their website. Here are a few of the infamous words from their so-called "explanation":
"One group in particular has proven to be vindictive, petty and mean spirited on levels that belie the fact that many of them are adults who raise children. These are people who have chosen to spend their free time targeting…visitors in an effort to hold them up to public humiliation and ridicule. Their hateful tirades are especially heinous when the target is someone who is sick, or dealing with a disability. Not even children have escaped their unmitigated viciousness... These are not isolated incidents - this goes on daily and has for years."
To think that Pete Werner (and the DIS Podcast Team) thought nothing of ridiculing 1,000 of the United States' newest citizens -- and in three different versions of a podcast segment, no less. Plus, in an audio form that allowed folks to personally hear the ridicule from not only his own mouth but also the mouths of the rest of his team as well. It simply boggles the mind.
"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone…"
*insert Shurgging Shoulders' smilie here*
