OMFG PAUL HENRY HAS RESIGNED

Forums › Off topic › OMFG PAUL HENRY HAS RESIGNED

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

BDFL - Memuneh
80658 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41071

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#390331 11-Oct-2010 08:48

pseudogeek2009: Could you elaborate why the comment "Not look like NZ'er" is not racist when the guy is an Indian fellow?

Everyone seems to slip on that. "The guy" is not Indian. He's a New Zealand-born person. His parents are Fijian Indian.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 138

#390342 11-Oct-2010 09:25

His resignation, to me, shows he has the integrity that is to often lacking in people who massage thier profiles in the media.

If he hadn't made that decision then he truly was no better than his actions made him appear.

But I enjoyed his sometimes irreverent behaviour because so often it was self effacing.

At the end of the day ' he was just a very naughty boy.'

gjm

810 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 122

#390349 11-Oct-2010 09:36

I'm not a particularly PC person and didn't really care about what he said. I do however think that he was an all round idiot in general and am glad that he's gone. I might actually watch breakfast every now and again as opposed to actively avoiding it when he was on. No great loss here as far as I can see.

Do surveys for Beer money (referral link) - Octopus Group

Link for buying beer (not affiliated, just like beer) - Good George

wmoore

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390393 11-Oct-2010 11:19

My question is, if Paul had been on a late night satire/current events type show and had said those things, I bet it wouldn't of even made the news. Even here in the UK someone on the TV program Mock the week said "Shelia diksh*t, Shelia diksh*t that's a
very unusual name for an Indian............Shelia.

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -
-- Abraham lincoln

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 138

#390418 11-Oct-2010 12:08

@wmoore. Two things here that were different here than your UK example. Firstly it wasn't late nite telly, which has a more adult audience (and one whose viewers are perhaps less coloured by the presenters own views). Secondly if you watch the clip you'll hear that PH didn't just laugh at the name he actually added a word into the name in a way he made derogatory to India in general.

almaznz

89 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#390420 11-Oct-2010 12:13

I think this whole thing is just a storm in a teacup...

While i agree it wasn't the best thing that he could of said. its been blown way out.

a) yes he should of taken 2 seconds to think about the wording of what he was saying.

b) we are all immigrants of this country from somwhere in our past.

BUT in saying this i believe what he was trying to achieve with what he said (my oppinion burn me if you wish), was that to the rest of the world. when they think of a New Zealander or a "kiwi" they predominatley think of someone of European ancestry or that of Polynesian / Maori ancestry. which i believe is the path he was trying to walk down. he ofcourse got way offtrack but in true Paul Henry style he just kept going without backtracking. (untill after the fact)

Am i wrong in thinking this? AND what is wrong with that statement if you don't agree.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

dman

956 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 33

#390439 11-Oct-2010 12:56

Kyanar: I don't understand how anyone can defend the man. Yes, he mucked up her name but then he was told how it's meant to be pronounced, and persists in pronouncing it incorrectly. I cannot see how you can not consider that offensive. The reality is, he intentionally offends people - an article just the other day compiled a timeline of offenses and there are -a lot-.

For a country that's only just gotten over segregation, this place is awfully racist.

I've read that the way Paul Henry pronounced it IS the correct way! And claiming that "other" way is the so called correct way is just politically correct B.S. stirring to create trouble.

Even though I do not for a second think Paul Henry is being racist, but even if he is.... we're missing a much much bigger point here:

Freedom of speech!

Even racist should be allowed to say what they wish. No matter how strongly I might disagree with a person's statements, I'll still stand up for their right to say it. As to put it simply, we shouldn't meddle with what other people should or shouldn't be allowed to do.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

muncher12

90 posts

Master Geek

#390475 11-Oct-2010 14:12

I dont know why everyone made such a big deal over a bit of spilt milk, sometimes we all need to be a little less PC and take things a little more lightly. its not like hes an advocate for race hating.

just my 2c

ajw

1968 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 369

#390477 11-Oct-2010 14:16

Another victory for the PC brigade.

khull

1245 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 133

#390487 11-Oct-2010 14:33

it is a sad day at many levels - many countries today still constrict people from voicing their minds out whereby it is a crime to speak against a the realms of expected behaviour towards a politician, representative, or any person with power.

We can now add NZ to that list.

Paul, you should write and produce your own talk show.

ZollyMonsta

3009 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 379

ID Verified

Trusted

#390531 11-Oct-2010 15:35

We apologise for the inconvenience and are currently undergoing maintenance work to fix these problems

WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER HEAVY LOAD AND CANNOT PROCESS YOUR REQUEST, PLEASE TRY AGAIN SOON

If you have any queries about this error, please email us.

Document:

Remote host:

Server time:

Seems like the tvnz site is down at present... perhaps many many people filling in forms of complaint.

Or, read something else into it.. maybe a fan doing an attack of some sort?

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

amz87

25 posts

Geek

#390539 11-Oct-2010 16:05

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I do think this was all taken seriously out of proportion. At least now that he has resigned, hopefully everything will get back to normal.

Kyanar

4089 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1684

ID Verified

Trusted

#390581 11-Oct-2010 18:07

dman:
Kyanar: I don't understand how anyone can defend the man. Yes, he mucked up her name but then he was told how it's meant to be pronounced, and persists in pronouncing it incorrectly. I cannot see how you can not consider that offensive. The reality is, he intentionally offends people - an article just the other day compiled a timeline of offenses and there are -a lot-.

For a country that's only just gotten over segregation, this place is awfully racist.

I've read that the way Paul Henry pronounced it IS the correct way! And claiming that "other" way is the so called correct way is just politically correct B.S. stirring to create trouble.

Even though I do not for a second think Paul Henry is being racist, but even if he is.... we're missing a much much bigger point here:

Freedom of speech!

Even racist should be allowed to say what they wish. No matter how strongly I might disagree with a person's statements, I'll still stand up for their right to say it. As to put it simply, we shouldn't meddle with what other people should or shouldn't be allowed to do.

Slight problem with what you're saying there - Freedom of speech does not apply in private quarters. TVNZ is not the government. Paul Henry exercised his right of Freedom of Speech to make those remarks. The people of New Zealand and India exercised their right of Freedom of Speech to say they didn't find it acceptable. TVNZ exercised their right of Freedom of Association to say they also don't find it acceptable. So long as the government took no hand in that then no rights were infringed, and by extension we are missing no point because there is no point to miss.

And no, I think you'll find that claiming the correct way to pronounce it is the correct way to pronounce it (as my Indian colleague did) is stirring to create trouble is actually stirring to create trouble.

ajw

1968 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 369

#390582 11-Oct-2010 18:11

We will all have to take lessons on how to protect ourselves, from ourselves.

thebender

24 posts

Geek

#390643 11-Oct-2010 20:53

Gadgetcity:
thebender:
to be honest, I've been struggling with the concept that what he said was racist. I got that it was offensive, but racist ?

He laughs at the lady's name. This is rude, in fact the way he laughed could be considered offensive. He then said "...and it's so appropriate 'cause she's Indian". How you can not find this racist is beyond me.

I agree that it's been blown out of proportion by sections of the media though.

I wasn't talking about that incident, mine was purely in relation to the comments about the GG.

pseudogeek2009: Could you elaborate why the comment "Not look like NZ'er" is not racist when the guy is an Indian fellow? ......

Ooops "Indian" - that's been corrected already, but a very interesting observation of the GG.

I'm not saying it's not racist, I'm asking that in my middle age/addled brain it wasn't my first reaction. Offensive ! for sure.

Possibly you've got to want it, but for me you have to insert an item of information about his intent and/or add his history of comments made before and after this episode that build a picture of what he thinks to get to the "he is a racist" conclusion.

And once you decide you know his intent and/or how he thinks, well - how can that be ?

But, back to why I'm struggling - it's because I don't know what PH thinks a NZ'er looks like. And without that I'm back to second guessing what I think PH thinks.

Don't get me wrong - by the end of my post, I commented that I could see racist overtones in what he said. But I was looking for help on what made it a definite racist comment.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6