Taken Out of Context!

The recent uproar over comments posted on twitter by The Age columnist Catherine Deveny has made for interesting reading. For those not up to date on this saga, Ms Deveny made a series of remarks on her Twitter page about different celebrities in attendance at this week's TV Logies awards ceremony. As a result of her comments, Ms Deveny has since been dropped as a columnist by The Age. The remark that resulted in her losing her job referred to eleven year old Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Crocodile Hunter. Ms Deveny tweeted, "I do so hope Bindi Irwin gets laid".

Ms Deveny's defence was that the remark was meant as a joke. She said, "[in the old days] it was just passing notes in class, but suddenly these notes are being projected into the sky and taken out of context".

There are two things I love about this statement:

1. The passive use of "being projected" makes it sound like someone is taking Ms Deveny's comments and putting them on the internet against her will, when in actual fact Ms Deveny actively posted the remarks herself. It was her that took out her phone, typed the remarks, and then pressed the big green button that said, "please post this remark to the entire internet despite its inherent poor taste".

2. The use of "taken out of context". This is such a little gem of a phrase. Taking something out of context implies that there is a correct context that this comment should have been taken in. Take a moment to think about this question: In what context would these comments have been appropriate? I am trying to imagine Deveny speaking to a person sitting at her table at the awards ceremony...

DEVENY: I hope that eleven year old girl isn't too lonely at this award ceremony.
PERSON: No, it looks like she's here with her mother. She'll be alright.
DEVENY: Oh... no... when I said "lonely", I meant, that I hope someone has sex with her tonight.
PERSON: Um... C'mon dude, that's pretty uncalled for. I mean, she's eleven!
DEVENY. Oh! You've taken me out of context!

This is not the first time the old "out of context" excuse has been used.

A young member of the Australian Liberal Party in Queensland recently found himself in hot water after tweeting about an interview involving Australian journalist Kerry O'Brien and Barrack Obama which aired on Australian current affairs program, The 730 Report. During the interview, the young liberal party member tweeted, "I'm not sure why they paid Kerry [O'brien] to fly to America, if they wanted an interview with a monkey surely a Ferry to Taronga [Zoo] would have sufficed". As if his point wasn't quite clear, he later added, "If I wanted to see a monkey on TV I'd watch [Australian wildlife TV program] Wildlife Rescue".

Of course, when the Australian media reported about the remarks in national newspapers, the young liberal member asserted that the remarks had been meant as a joke and that they had been "taken out of context".

Ding! ding! ding! There it was again. The old "out of context" excuse. "I was referring to the fact that Obama is black. Why? What did you think I meant?"

So, please feel free to go ahead and offend, abuse, ostracise, be racist, sexist or bigoted towards anyone and everyone. As long as whatever you do or say is "taken out of context" you'll be right as reign.

Here's a sample conversation to get you started:

YOU: Hey, [insert name of person]?
PERSON: Yeah?
YOU: You are a f*cking self-righteous c*ckhead. I hate you and I hope you die alone from lung cancer.
PERSON (hopefully crying at this point): Oh... god... that's an awful thing to say to me...
YOU: Why?
PERSON: Well, you just abused me and wished I was dead.
YOU: No! You've taken what I said out of context!
PERSON: Well, why would you say that to me? Do you really think I'm a self-righteous c*ckhead?
YOU: No. You've taken me out of context.
PERSON: Well... what context was I meant to take that in?
YOU: Are you offended?
PERSON: Yes. Yes I am. Extremely.
YOU: Yeah, you've definitely taken me out of context then. I didn't mean to offend you at all.
PERSON: But what you said is very offensive. What context did you expect me to take it in?
YOU: Well, whatever context you took it in, take it in another context from that. Take it in the opposite context.

Now, if you don't like this post, please go get f*cked!*



*If you have now taken offense at me telling you to get f*cked, just know that you've taken me out of context. So, good day to you. You c*cksucker. Again. Out of context.