As an Internet writer for the last decade, I’ve managed to say a lot of dumb sh** that I wish I hadn’t have said, and I’ve been called terrible, terrible things for it (many times on this very site!) But if my lovely wife had ever thought anything other than, “Don’t say stupid sh**. Serves you right, a$$hole” and had decided instead to take to the Internet to defend me, my first thought would be, “Aw, how sweet, she does love me,” but before I could even finish thought that, my second thought would be, “Oh, God. Please don’t do that. JESUS. That can ONLY make it worse. Now people are going to think that my wife fights all my battles for me. I am so dead.”
I have to think that, as well intentioned, and as awesome as Dan Harmon’s girlfriend, Erin McGathy, is, that somewhere Harmon must be thinking the same thing. McGathy truly is awesome, and if you’ve ever heard her podcast, This Feels Terrible, you’d know that she is just as funny as Harmon, without any of the bitterness or surliness. I adore her. She also does a really good job of trying to defend Harmon’s comments on his podcast about the terribleness of season four, but I can’t help but think she’s only making it worse, especially in light of the fact that Harmon did a pretty bang-up job himself in apologizing.
Here is a taste:
This “rape joke controversy” is misguided, unfair and I believe started with an entertainment reporter who wanted more traffic on her magizine’s website. She used the word “Rape” in a headline so she could get more sweet, sweet clicks. THAT’S vile.
Dan didn’t say the word “rape” because he thinks rape is funny.
Months ago, when Daniel Tosh made a rape joke it was undeniably wrong because he joked about his audience raping a female heckler to teach her a lesson. That’s different than using an analogy to express the extremity of one’s feelings. OBVIOUSLY, Dan could have made a better analogy that didn’t include this painful buzz word, but as someone who was actually at the show, spends the most of her time with Dan and as a woman who has actually experienced the horror of non-consensual sex firsthand, I assure you: Dan was not making light of rape. Kids are abused and murdered everyday and if he had said “It was like watching my kids being abused and/or murdered” no one would think that Dan was making light of abuse or murdering kids, they would think “wow, his feelings are really strong and maybe he’s being a little dramatic”. I mean, really. Come on. If we are going to change the tide of this “rape culture”, we need to be smarter. To the tumblr “Dan is a rape-joke making monster coalition”: I get that it’s fun to hate someone and to have such an identifiable reason to hate him, but your hatred is monstrous and HEART BREAKING.
I hope that for the sake of creativity and love, you… the internet and fans of Community will see how much Dan loves Community and understand that he is a human being. I know he is excited and thankful that he was asked back for Season 5. I watched him cry today at the thought that he hurt fans of the show and that was without him seeing any tumblr hatred. He just wants to do his show and make people happy.
See, this sounds less like an apology, and more like a defense, and if there is one thing I have learned as an Internet writer, YOU WILL NEVER WIN IN AN ARGUMENT WITH THE INTERNET. In fact, I know what the Internet is already thinking, and that is — if he’s with a woman who has suffered the horror of non-consensual sex firsthand — then HE SHOULD KNOW MORE THAN ANYONE not to use that word.
People who are on Harmon’s side, and who accepted his apology, and let bygones be bygones, they won’t think anything of McGathy’s post, other than, “That was nice of her. Neat!” But the people who are against Dan Harmon, who are hellbent on tearing him down no matter what (i.e., 60 percent of The Internet), they’re only going to have more fuel to throw on that fire now. No matter how well intentioned, the cynical among the Internet will find ways to twist the words, the meaning, and the objective.
Love or hate Harmon, you really should listen to McGathy’s podcast.
(Source: This Feels Terrible)
