During this year’s Oscars, The Onion made an comment on its Twitter account about actress Quvenzhané Wallis, using an obscenity to refer to the 9-year-old girl. After fielding a ton of complaints, Greg Hughes, who issued the tweet, finally admitted that his remarks were “crude and offensive,” saying that no one “should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire.” Steve Hannah, The Onion’s CEO, stated, “we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible.” He then apologized directly to Miss Wallis.
The only reason Hughes and Hannah apologized to her was that liberal Hollywood criticized them for trashing a minority girl. Had they any real standards of civlity or decency, they surely would not have printed a vile piece about now-retired Pope Benedict XVI on December 13.
The article in question claimed that the pope gave permission to make a pornographic film on Vatican grounds. (Because this is a family publication, we don’t think it proper to quote the article directly). Clearly the article was geared purely for shock value. The alleged film it described was said to feature just about every type of sexual deviancy imaginable. If that weren’t enough, it mocked not only the sacrament of confession, but even the confessional itself. We’re also told that a crucifx was used for purposes that can only be described as blasphemous. In addition, both Mary and the Immaculate Conception are tastelessly mocked. Sacrilege doesn’t even begin to cover half of what this article contains.
It’s pretty clear that The Onion has no standards regarding “crude and offensive” work when it comes to Catholics or the beliefs they hold most dear. Nor does it discipline those making hideously vulgar remarks about the Catholic Church. But of course, as might be expected, it bows to the protected classes.
