Kirk Douglas. Dead at 103. And as it was for Kobe there is an outpouring of remembrance. Also as it was for Kobe? There is some bucking of the trend. Because as it was for Kobe, Kirk Douglas has some allegations to his name. Allegations. Not convictions.
But the allegations are horrifying. Natalie Wood accused Douglas of raping her in 1953. And I don't mean any "I didn't know what I was doing when I agreed to it" rape. Or any "He snuck up on me when I was asleep" rape. She says he "violently" raped her. Took her roughly. Impossible to misconstrue as consensual.
So, it's a little different from Kobe. Close, but still different. Douglas wasn't killed in a tragic accident, nor did he take anyone with him. He died peacefully at 103. 103 is old enough for people to forget that you're still alive anyway. Most of our celebrities are lucky to make it to 90. So that's gonna cost him sympathy points. That, and the depravity of his alleged, alleged crime. However, he is a beloved actor from the olden olden days of Hollywood, so we have his legacy to consider. Also, Natalie Wood has been herself dead these many decades. So there are no victims left alive to disrespect by missing Douglas. I suspect we'll just remember the movies and let that be that.
Meanwhile, in Kobe news...
Gayle King, emboldened by her interview with R. Kelly, talks to WNBA player Lisa Leslie about Kobe and asks, do the rape allegations complicate Kobe's legacy?
Maybe equally bold, Leslie says no. This is a new step. For the most part now we haven't been talking about the allegations. It's been about remembering Kobe in a good light and not really bringing up the bad. King brings up the bad, and Leslie addresses it and basically says it doesn't matter.
You know who's not dead? Al Franken. In fact, he seems to be enjoying new life. He was on Kimmel the other night.
Al Franken is one of the more staunchly defended takedowns of #MeToo. For he never laid a finger on anyone. He's even innocenter than Louis CK. What Al Franken did was make a pretend air grab at a woman's breasts. A woman who already had a framework of trust with him for making ribald jokey physical contact. They had just come off doing a set together filled with sex jokes. But Kirsten Gillibrand sought to destroy him anyway. And he was kicked out of Washington. Today, Gillibrand is the one on the outs and Franken's star is rising. Rising. Not wholly "risen" I wouldn't say. This isn't Colbert or Seth Meyers. This is Kimmel. Kimmel will take risks other late night hosts won't. After all, you can take the man off The Man Show, but you can't take The Man Show out of the man.
It has a been a day to mull over the guilt or innocence of many people today. Trump was acquitted, and like with the dudes above we are left only with "Yeah but he was never convicted." Not the happiest place for us to be as a people, I guess.
But the allegations are horrifying. Natalie Wood accused Douglas of raping her in 1953. And I don't mean any "I didn't know what I was doing when I agreed to it" rape. Or any "He snuck up on me when I was asleep" rape. She says he "violently" raped her. Took her roughly. Impossible to misconstrue as consensual.
So, it's a little different from Kobe. Close, but still different. Douglas wasn't killed in a tragic accident, nor did he take anyone with him. He died peacefully at 103. 103 is old enough for people to forget that you're still alive anyway. Most of our celebrities are lucky to make it to 90. So that's gonna cost him sympathy points. That, and the depravity of his alleged, alleged crime. However, he is a beloved actor from the olden olden days of Hollywood, so we have his legacy to consider. Also, Natalie Wood has been herself dead these many decades. So there are no victims left alive to disrespect by missing Douglas. I suspect we'll just remember the movies and let that be that.
Meanwhile, in Kobe news...
Gayle King, emboldened by her interview with R. Kelly, talks to WNBA player Lisa Leslie about Kobe and asks, do the rape allegations complicate Kobe's legacy?
Maybe equally bold, Leslie says no. This is a new step. For the most part now we haven't been talking about the allegations. It's been about remembering Kobe in a good light and not really bringing up the bad. King brings up the bad, and Leslie addresses it and basically says it doesn't matter.
You know who's not dead? Al Franken. In fact, he seems to be enjoying new life. He was on Kimmel the other night.
Al Franken is one of the more staunchly defended takedowns of #MeToo. For he never laid a finger on anyone. He's even innocenter than Louis CK. What Al Franken did was make a pretend air grab at a woman's breasts. A woman who already had a framework of trust with him for making ribald jokey physical contact. They had just come off doing a set together filled with sex jokes. But Kirsten Gillibrand sought to destroy him anyway. And he was kicked out of Washington. Today, Gillibrand is the one on the outs and Franken's star is rising. Rising. Not wholly "risen" I wouldn't say. This isn't Colbert or Seth Meyers. This is Kimmel. Kimmel will take risks other late night hosts won't. After all, you can take the man off The Man Show, but you can't take The Man Show out of the man.
It has a been a day to mull over the guilt or innocence of many people today. Trump was acquitted, and like with the dudes above we are left only with "Yeah but he was never convicted." Not the happiest place for us to be as a people, I guess.
