So I went to the Onion AV Club and it said that Jay Reatard died and I was sort of glad. I don't know anything about him except that he called himself that, but hell, I'm just so fucking sick of people thinking that the word retarded is okay and acting like it's ridiculous for anyone to have a problem with it.
It's really rare for me to criticize anyone for saying it, especially in real life. But when I do, don't worry, the other person always acts prissy as hell. The AV Club bit linked to an interview with him they did a few years ago, which is here, where he says, "who cares? Your average 6-year-old uses it as an adjective...It's a name...When I was a child, my grandmother raised retarded people for a living. I spent my youth, when I was 4 or 5 years old, playing with [them]...I don't want people to just laugh at them. It just stems from how I do really dumb shit sometimes."
I'm not quoting the whole answer, because he said something about the people he played with that I find kind of gross. It's just fucking boring. At FWD they say you shouldn't use "stupid" as an insult, and I don't know if I agree, but I do find that there are a lot of words I prefer, like boring and cowardly. That's what my irritation and anger is usually about; I am totally, completely bored of hearing people using the words "retard" and "retarded" in an insulting manner, or making fun of people with intellectual disabilities. And I'm bored of hearing their dumb descriptions of why it's okay. Because everyone uses it! And I forgot that retarded people are actually real! I guess that being insincere and not caring about stuff is maybe supposed to be good if you're punk or whatever genre Jay Reatard was, but okay, I will just state that if your music genre thinks the word retard is okay, then your music genre is boring.
Anyway, I am sorry he's dead; he was only 29 and I'm sure he was a good person, and even if he wasn't, it's sad for anyone to die. But sometimes I am a shit and feel little flashes of triumph when I shouldn't. I just hate that word. And I hate the excuses and I hate how people think insulting disabled people is cool and smart.
When I was in twelfth grade, my calculus teacher would sometimes bring his baby to class. Many of us were infatuated with the baby and would ask to hold her and play with her. She had Down Syndrome. One time he brought her to an extra help session and was making faces at her to make her laugh. One of the girls said, "Make that retarded face at her."
My teacher said (in a completely friendly, non-confrontational way), "Don't say retarded, she's retarded."
The girl said, "What? No, she's not!"
"Yes, she is."
"That's a horrible thing to say!"
"You're the one making fun of retarded people!" My teacher laughed, throwing up his hands in disbelief. He was so simple and cool. I wish I could react to things that way.
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