Fair Game
Some gag on recipe gag, but Faith is forgiven
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may have the best quips of the Republican presidential candidates this year, but there was less laughter when a public radio show tried to have fun with his religiosity and obesity problems.
The comic segment on Fair Game with Faith Salie not only backfired on the nightly Public Radio International show but also focused angry attention onKCPW in Salt Lake City, though the station is only one of 41 that carry the weeknightly series.
The segment broadcast on Fair Game Jan. 7 [2008] purported to describe the Huckabee family recipe for “Deep-Fried Body of Christ,” prompting a complaint from an offended KCPW listener. Bryan Schott, KCPW p.d., and Fair Game host Faith Salie apologized directly to the listener, but that didn’t stop a plague of indignant messages from descending on the station the next day.
The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a watchdog for anti-Catholic bias, had denounced the joke as “blasphemous and bigoted,” prompting the flood of angry e-mails and phone calls.
The segment attempted to satirize tactics that political candidates use to undermine one another, PRI explained in its statement.
Some listeners gagged on the recipe gag, however.
“Tired of bland, unsatisfying Eucharists?,” intoned a male voice, “Try this Huckabee family favorite. Deep-Fried Body of Christ — boring holy wafers no more. Take one Eucharist. Preferably post-transubstantiation. Deep-fry in fat—not vegetable oil, ladies — until crispy. Serve piping hot. Mike likes to top his Christ with whipped cream and sprinkles. But his wife Janet and the boys like theirs with heavy gravy and cream puffs. It goes great with red wine.”
By week’s end, Schott had received some 700 e-mails, mostly from people outside of Utah, objecting to the joke.
“I am sick and tired of people asking me why I hate Jesus,” Schott said. “We received messages that said, ‘Have a nice trip to Hell’ and warned our g.m. to ‘Watch your ass when you cross the street.’”
PRI and Fair Game pulled the skit from its website Jan. 10 and apologized on the air and in a statement. “It was certainly not our intention to belittle anyone’s faith, and we regret any offense this may have caused,” the statement said. The Catholic League said it had been satisfied by the outcome.
The ordeal hasn’t changed Schott’s mind about carrying Fair Game. “It’s good; Faith is great,” he said. “She is so smart and just insanely talented.”
Schott, who blogs on the KCPW website, hoped to interview Salie about the controversy last week while she was in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival.
Web page posted May 27, 2008
Copyright 2008 by Current LLC
