"Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife. They raping everyone out here" and "He's climbing in yo' windows and snatching yo' people up," have already started to become known catchphrases and the butt of jokes, the same way statements like "hood rat things with my friends" did. But at what cost?
Huntsville, Ala., resident Kelly Dodson was attacked in the middle of the night when a man climbed through her window and attempted to rape her. Luckily her brother Antoine heard the commotion, came into her room and scared the attacker away. The local news station, WAFF, covered the story and unintentionally turned Dodson into an Internet star. But should they really be proud of what they have done?
Jezebel covered the whole shebang, discussing the social implications of memes and Internet celebrity, arguing in this case that the rape has been made secondary.
"The fact that an attempted rape was pushed aside by the internet in favor of "oh my God, this guy is so funny" doesn't necessarily surprise me," the Jezebel writer says. "But it's still frustrating when one considers that the viral video angle seems to be more of a focus for the channel following this story than the actual attempted rape itself."
We completely agree that the rape has been made secondary to the Antoine's so-called "performance." We're also pretty sure that none of Antonie's 22,000+ Facebook fans are there to help the Dodson family find the rapist. But we believe the people in these viral videos, like Latarian Milton, also known as the arbiter of all things "hoodrat," are sincere. People think they're funny because they say things people don't conventionally say on TV or use uneducated language, which when you think about it isn't really funny at all. Jezebel brings up the difference between laughing with and at because, well, the people in these videos aren't laughing.
On the one hand, things are sometimes taken too seriously. People often make jokes about the most offensive stuff, sometimes it's even how we humans deal with pain. But there are real underlying social issues here, including laughing at people that are less educated and have almost been raped.
I admire Antoine for speaking up for his sister, and I don't think he appeared uneducated at all. I know that it is important to learn the English language correctly, but how you speak doesn't always reflect on what you know. I recently moved from the South to the Northwest to go to college. When I am excited, I get very animated and 'country'. It used to bother me when my peers would look at me like I was uneducated. After they took the time to get to know me, they realized that I was very smart. I probably have the highest grades in my college English course! Now, when they have a question about something they come and ask me! My point is, don't judge people by how they talk. Even though he doesn't sound educated when he speaks, he had the courage to go onto the news, and put his sister's rapist on the spot! He also made some very good points! I'm sure the rapist was shaken after seeing that, and will think twice before he tries to do it to someone else. Oh, and I love that song that they made about it, it was so funny!
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.HE IS 24 YEARS OLD AND HAS GOTTEN EVERYONE'S ATTENTION.1.HE HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEAK AND BE HEARD.2.THEY ARE VICTIMS OF A CRIME OF ATTEMPTED RAPE AND BREAKING AND ENTERING.3.HE STOOD UP FOR HIS FAMILY AND HIS "HOOD".4.HE SPOKE OUT OF ANGER IN THE FIRST INTERVIEW.5.THE NEWS STATION DESERVES AN AWARD FOR A GREAT STORY. THE STORY IS "WE COVER ALL STORIES"! ! PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO THE RICH,CELEBS GOSSIP,STALKERS WHO STALK CELEBS STORIES,ETC.THESE STORIES INTEREST SOME . BUT ANTOINE REPRESENTS THE AVERAGE EVERYDAY PERSON,JUST LIVING.BUT WHEN A PERSON LIKE ANTOINE GETS TV TIME HE IS CALLED IGNORANT.THANKS TO THE NEWS OUTLET THAT COVERED THE STORY,YOUTUBE,FACEBOOK AND OTHER OUTLETS,WE UNDERSTAND WHY HE IS THE BIGGEST THING SINCE COLD WATER IN THE SUMMER TIME!THE SONG MADE HIM AND HIS WORDS BIGGER THAN THE CRIME,BUT ON HIS SITE,PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK TO THE CRIME ISSUE.HE DID MORE THAN ANYONE LIVING OR DEAD TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT RAPE.LIKE I SAID ON HIS SITE "STAY UPSET".IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE.A CRIME IS A CRIME ! ! !
It was still wrong though...
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