http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700056238/Yoko-Ono-goes-on-the-attack.html
By Scott D. Pierce
Aug. 12, 2010
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Yoko Ono isn't exactly the most popular of
celebrities. And, apparently, that's not just because she's blamed
for breaking up the Beatles.
(I'm not blaming her. But people do.)
Appearing before television critics to promote an upcoming
documentary about her late husband, John Lennon, Ono's behavior was
jaw-droppingly odd. Offensive, even.
She accused one writer of being both "sexist" and "racist" for asking
the most innocuous of questions. In a completely nonjudgmental,
nonconfrontational tone, the writer asked Ono why she still lives in
the apartment she shared with Lennon in the Dakota. Because he was
shot to death on the sidewalk outside the building.
Here's the exchange:
Writer: "Sometimes when events like this happen, people leave behind
the place it happened. Can you talk about why you didn't leave behind
New York and why it's still a part of your life?"
Ono: "I think people say, 'Why are you still living on Dakota?' You
know, I think it is a slightly racist remark, and maybe sexist, too.
Because I'm sure that many people are living in their own ... home,
that he or she shared with their spouses, even after the spouse has
passed away. Especially because they passed away. Because there's a
lot of memories, and also you built the place with the spouse. I'm
not going to leave that and go to some strange house. ... This is
something we built, and when you go inside, you see that each room is
something that we made."
Her reason for wanting to stay in the Dakota is absolutely valid. It
was a perfectly good answer to the question.
But to suggest that the question was "sexist" or "racist" was
bizarre. And it was Ono who refused to let go of it, returning to the
question even after another had been asked.
Ono: "Wait a second. I want to answer more fully about what he said,
because that's sexist and racist. The thing is ... when somebody like
me, who is probably not part of your culture, how you think, 'Why she
still living there? We wouldn't live there. Well, maybe because she
has a different tradition and she doesn't care about the fact that he
died there.' You know, something like that. A little bit more
barbaric or something.
"I think that you would want to live there, too, because ... you
cherish the memory of that person. That's one. ... The other thing
is, for you to be able to say something like that, 'How dare she's
living there?' is sexism, because I know that all guys wouldn't care.
They would just live in the house whatever happens. They may not even
care that they got a divorce or whatever happened. They would just
live in the house, and no one's going to comment. No one's going to
comment that you would go to maybe a whorehouse or something like
that right after your wife died. 'I'm so sorry. He must be so sad.'
"I was still sad, so I'm still living in that house. Do you mind?"
This was something new. Literally, my jaw dropped in shock.
I had to question Ono's mindset. Or maybe her sanity.
She went from an innocuous question to a whorehouse? Really?
The writer who asked the question apologized, although he had
absolutely nothing to apologize for. He was in no way confrontational
or rude. And the documentary in question, "LennoNYC" (scheduled to
air on PBS in November) is about, yes, Lennon's life in New York
City. So it was a perfectly legitimate question.
Ono went on the attack for no reason whatsoever.
It would be hard to argue that cultural differences led to her
misunderstanding. She's lived in the United States off and on since
she was an infant, and full time for decades.
Maybe it dawned on Ono that she'd gone over the line. Later, she said
she "was being a little bit facetious. I'm sorry." And, still later,
she said, "Well, I cracked a joke. Now I'm so sorry I did."
To be clear, there was neither the hint of a smile nor even the
tiniest spark of humor as she was speaking.
And let's assume that she was kidding. It's unconscionable to make
unfounded charges of sexism and racism even if it's a joke.
So the only possible excuse for her behavior means she did something
utterly indefensible.
Come to think of it, it really isn't particularly surprising that Ono
isn't exactly popular.
Another world: Ono does seem to live in her own little world. And
it's a strange place.
"It's so funny because when I go into Central Park on the weekend and
all these guys are seriously just sort of pushing the stroller, with
their babies. ... And they don't know that before John, no men did it
in the world," she said. "No men did it because they would be so
embarrassed, I suppose. But they don't even know that John is the one
who started it."
Yes, because Lennon was the first man on the face of the Earth who
ever pushed his child in a stroller.
Welcome to her world, where reality seldom intrudes.
--
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com
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