Pop goes the culture

I guess by now you've heard about the brouhaha about Lara Spencer, the "Good Morning America" host and morning doyenne of the odd subculture of current events known by those who care which Jonas Brother married whom as "pop news."

Last Friday, she was snarking her way through a story about a six-year-old, namely Prince George, the eldest child of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.  The kid is about to start school and has indicated an interest in ballet.

“Prince William says George ab-so-lutely loves ballet. I have news for you, Prince William: We’ll see how long that lasts,” she jeered.

The good thing is, Prince William does not take his news from "GMA."

The other good news is that sentient people took notice of her appalling insensitivity.

So over the weekend she wised up and bravely faced the world on Monday with these heartfelt words:

“I screwed up," she said, going on to add her comments were “insensitive and stupid, and I am deeply sorry.”

She brought out three male dancers who told tales of pursuing their dreams, only to have scorn and derision piled on them by thoughtless schoolmates and television presenters, and added, “I have learned about the bravery it takes for a young man to pursue a career in dance.”

“The lesson is that words hurt,” Spencer said, coming off the worst weekend of her life, “and it was not my intention but it was insensitive.”

Most people, while welcoming the apology, thought too much harm was already done.

Peter Stark, a former New York City Ballet dancer and associate director of the Boston Ballet II said, “I would like to believe that Lara Spencer didn’t mean to do harm, but she did great harm. She gave permission for individuals to laugh at boys doing ballet.” Stark pointed out that even his math teacher gave him a hard way to go for studying ballet.

Here I was, thinking that people were way past the point of judging like this. DO people really think that boys deserve to be shamed for wanting to be ballerinos? And more to the point, is a six-year-old not entitled to explore all facets of the world around him or her?

I understand that Spencer is a lightweight in her field. She is not the person ABC would want on the desk in case World War III breaks out, and has found her comfort level talking about banalities in an inane fashion.  (Yes, I know, she is well paid for doing so).

Very very serious apology face.

Spencer is the mother of two teenagers, a boy and a girl.  If this is the sort of attitude she espouses around the house, I can only hope that the kids learn better elsewhere.

And one more thing: Spencer tweeted this: “From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say GO FOR IT. I fully believe we should all be free to pursue our passions.”

There it is. The fully-realized modern apology, complete with a clarification so that we know that the hurtful things said the other day were not really what was in her heart. She doesn't know where that came from!  Look here, it says I fully believe she should all be free to blah blah blah.

Maybe someday I'll rob a bank and then offer this in mitigation: "I fully believe banks should not be robbed."