Roger Ebert's tweets on "Jackass" set Internet on fire
Roger Ebert and Ryan Dunn
/ CBS/Getty(CBS) Maybe this is what happens when friends let film critics tweet. In the hours after news broke of "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn's death by fiery car accident, film critic and prolific Twitter user Roger Ebert tweeted, "'Jackass' star Ryan Dunn, RIP. His Porsche flew through 40 yards of trees."
About 40 minutes later, Ebert tweeted, "Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive."
And then the Internet exploded.
Perez Hilton writes on his site, "We certainly agree that driving after drinking is wrong, we think there's no reason - especially RIGHT NOW - that anyone should be pointing fingers or poking fun at a truly tragic situation."
Wow. When Perez Hilton is admonishing you, you may actually be wrong.
"Jackass" star and friend of Dunn, Bam Margera, was less kind than Hilton, tweeting, "I just lost my best friend, I have been crying hysterical for a full day and piece of s**t roger ebert has the gall to put in his 2 cents"[.]
He continues, "About a jackass drunk driving and [Dunn's] is one, f**k you! Millions of people are crying right now, shut your fat f**king mouth!"
Since Ebert's "drink and drive" tweet, he's followed up with a note defending it, pointing out that most of Hilton's readers agree with him. That appears to be true, but I'd posit that on the Internet you're going to find more people talking tough under the cloak of anonymity than people expressing warm and fuzzy remembrances of the recently deceased. (Take a look at the comments on our story if you don't believe me.)
This is not Ebert's first time weighing in on alcohol and alcohol abuse. He's written about his own struggles and in some of his film reviews has written about alcohol and alcoholism.
And the story continues. Moments ago, Ebert tweeted that Facebook removed his page, writing, "Facebook has removed my page in response, apparently, to malicious complaints from one or two jerks."
Whether the Facebook page was removed over complaints about Ebert's view on Dunn's death isn't clear. (But let's be honest: It's likely. More to come, probably.)
Behold the power of the Internet, readers. What once may have taken months to be fought over by film critics, friends, fans and detractors of the late "Jackass" star is now happening in a 24-hour news cycle.
Remember when Twitter didn't exist and there was no one to hear every Tom, Dick and Harry's opinion? Those days are never coming back. So here's this: Assuming Dunn was drunk, Ebert's correct. So are Margera and Hilton.
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What set people off was not what Ebert had said - in terms of content - so much as how he said it. "Friends, don't let jackasses drink and drive" was a nasty little comment, a clever little wordplay baring more spite than caution or compassion. It goes without saying that it's fatally stupid to drink and drive, let alone drink as much as Dunn did and drive as fast. Yet, Dunn's got away with nothing. His sins and crimes were answered by the laws of physics. Whatever finger Ebert thought to wag, or aim, at Dunn was already obscured by blunt force and flames.
If Ebert wants to be funny or clever or poignant, he has a forum - even if he's relegated to tweets, e-mails, Facebook postings, unspoken reviews and the occasional personal appearance involving his Speak & Spell. Until now, however, he has been reviewing film, an activity that is essentially harmless. Who cares if Ebert spoiled the ending to Memento - within the first paragraphs of his review? Who cares if Ebert trashed Gladiator, before it won the Oscar for Best Picture? Who cares if he trashed Julia Roberts' portrayal of Erin Brockavich, right before she won Best Actress? Who cares if Ebert pulls his punches, when the films in question are made by industry players he wants to court - or doesn't want to anger?
What upsets people is when a film critic decides to review somebody's life, or their mistakes, for laughs. If Ebert had intended to write a PSA, he could have done so more respectfully. His post-backlash spin, claiming he didn't mean anything when he referred to Dunn as a "jackass," doesn't ring true. To be sure, Dunn was a member of the Jackass troupe, which made a career out of pulling frat-boy stuns on TV and in film. But a wordsmith like Ebert has a tough time claiming he didn't mean - or see - a double entendre in writing, "Friends, don't let jackasses drink and drive."
Ebert's post-tweet predicament was not between a writer and a bunch of trolls. It's not an electronic lynching, though some of the blowback got pretty nasty. It's really a case of a celebrity (Ebert is arguably the most famous reviewer in America, due to his early use of television) saying despicable things. Nobody dismissed the reaction to Mel Gibson or Michael Richards or Tracy Morgan as the reaction of "trolls." With celebrity comes responsibility. When you have a highly-visible forum from which your every silly syllable can be recorded, distributed and commented on, it goes without saying that you should watch what you say. You should also watch what you e-mail, watch what you blog and watch what you tweet.
Souped-up Porsches are not the only objects that move with lightning speed, wreaking havoc when they lose their way. The words of celebrities can also do damage. Ebert's half-apology (the other half attempting a defense) only show an ego unable to find the brakes as he drives his vehicle straight into the trees. The resulting plume is that of a movie reviewer squandering the public's goodwill on a moment of mistaken cleverness.
For most normal people if a family member dies in a car wreck that is caused by that member drinking, their first impulse is not to run out there and shout it to the world. Their feelings are of grief, anger and shame. That is the normal response. They would not be seeking out what other people were saying about the accident, in fact they would be doing exactly the opposite, trying to hide it, because they know it is wrong and they are ashamed.
In this case, Dunn seemed to make his life into a spectacle, and his family seems to have a need to make his death into a spectacle also. To me that says more about the family and friends of Dunn than it says about Dunn or about Ebert or anyone who comments on this. And what it says is they have no shame at all that Dunn was out DUI. In other words they are cut from the same cloth that people like Sarah Palin is when she trots out Bristol and her baby. No shame at all when one of their family members makes an avoidable mistake. If anything, pride.
I didn't know Dunn personally and I don't know if his DUI was a once-in-a-lifetime-mistake or he regularly did this sort of thing. So I can't form an opinion of him. But his friends and family need to be grieving privately, not encouraging the controversy and attracting attention.
The 'piece of s**t' is Ryan Dunn for dangerous driving. I really don't care what Dunn does to himself, but he did put other people's lives in jeopardy.
My aunt died at the age of 19, along with her 1 year old son, due to a jackass like this. Unfortunately in that case, the drunk driver lived. The innocent died. Her husband (not in the car) lived, never able to forget that day or the previous family he had or the life that was ripped away from him. My family was never the same again after that moment caused by a drunk driver.
So Bam Margera -- you need to grow up. You lost a dear friend, and for that I feel for you. But it was due to his own life choices. Now just imagine what it feels like to lose a spouse, a parent, a child... all because of SOMEONE ELSE'S poor life choices.