Famed film critic Roger Ebert set off quite a bit of backlash yesterday in the wake of Jackass stuntman Ryan Dunn’s death. Shortly after news of Dunn’s demise started hitting the web, Ebert sent out the message “Friends don’t let jackasses drink and drive” via Twitter. The snowballing began from there, Dunn’s friend & Jackass co-star Bam Margera took to his own Twitter to advise Ebert to “shut your fat f*cking mouth!” and Facebook “accidentally” removed Ebert’s account for some odd reason. Through it all, the critic didn’t backtrack on his original statements.
Too soon for Roger’s words? Yes.
Even a callous asshole like myself knows to tread lightly after a death and when engaging certain topics online. Even though the ‘Net makes us feel as if we live in a vacuum, we don’t. What may have felt right at the moment was piss poor timing because, as Bam said, millions were upset by Dunn’s death and some thoughts are better left unsaid or at least kept to self.
But is Ebert wrong? Absolutely not.
I don’t know the film critic personally but I do follow him on Twitter. He’s pretty honest and spot-on most times. Making his statement so soon is disrespectful to the deceased’s love ones and the mounds of fans in mourning. Yet, I believe in teachable moments being found in everything.
Several photos of Ryan’s boozing and partying prior to the accident, thanks again to Twitter. Also, news updates have mentioned the vehicle was propelled through “40 yards of trees” and speed may have been a factor. To respond to that alone, I defer to my brother Vince, who said “So speed may have been a factor in the car flying through 40 yards of forest before exploding into a fiery supernova, but let’s not jump to any conclusions before all the facts are in.”
Along similar lines, take a look at the arrest of former singer and Lil Wayne’s baby mother Nivea, who had her own traffic run-in around 1:30 AM on Sunday. To paraphrase TMZ’s report, Nivea got slightly shitfaced at a wedding reception and decided to drive home. We’ve all done that, right?
Yeah, but Nivea ended up running into a tree that had fallen in the road after an earlier storm. Going back to Driver’s Ed courses, we all know alcohol impairs your vision, reflexes and countless other abilities needed for driving. While her camp contends Nivea wasn’t drunk, police ultimately arrested her on suspicion of drunk driving and reckless driving.
The kicker? Her kid was in the backseat.
I’ve talked about my sobriety and the long, accident-filled road that led me to giving up alcohol. A strand which I may not have shared is the story of when I finally went to court approximately a year after I was charged. By then, I was sober and on the path towards getting my life in order, which is to say I’d moved on. When I had the accident that led to my final DUI, my car skidded into the path of another car and luckily no one was injured besides me.
On my final day in court, my lawyer had the DA almost ready to plead my case down because I had made such a drastic change. But there was one hangup. The car I hit had a kid in it and the boy’s father said he would not agree to seeing the charges decreased because his son still had nightmares.
I didn’t argue and told my lawyer I was okay with it. Charges accepted.
Two things and then I’m done.
1. Yes, we have freedom of speech but watch what you say. Have respect for both the living and the dead. This should apply for journalists, bloggers and commenters.
2. Drink. Have fun. But don’t drive. Call a cab. It may seem expensive at times but it can save you & a lot of people so much more.
Update: Ebert woke up feeling different this morning, offering condolences and realizing he was “too quick to tweet.” He also states that he only knew that Ryan had been drinking and that was what he was posting in response to that…before he knew Ryan was dead. How’d he know all of this in advance? Well, he just so happened to be checking Dunn’s Tumblr and saw photos.
Right.
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