Originally published at: Remembering Olivia Munn's tone-deaf jokes | Boing Boing
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Really, we worrying about things obviously written in jest in an 11 year old book? Ok.
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Body shaming Hollywood actors? Nice career move…
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Is this how you guys think? Someone announces their pregnancy and you think, “Screw it, let’s dredge up some shit about this person.” You’re disappointing.
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Slow news day? All we got for our moment of self-righteous rage is an old, forgotten lame joke from a B-list celebrity. I mean, sure, it’s not as good as some rando having a bad day on twitter, but we gotta feed the beast somehow.
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If this is the worst thing in the book, agreed.
I honestly am not familiar with any of her work, being an age where movies and TV no longer appeal to me, but a quick perusal of her wiki page suggests many reasons why she might not be conventionally socialized. Maybe an “Aww dude…” is in order but that’s about it.
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The pregnancy (a condition that makes folks gain weight) of someone who shamed larger folks in print.
ETA: I’m also kind of reeling that it’s John Mulaney’s baby…
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Meh, another nothingburger. Consider my appetite unsatisfied.
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Not sure what this is supposed to mean?
Anyway, she became popular among the gamer and geek crowd when she was “the hot one” on Attack of the Show, and later demonstrated she actually had pretty good acting chops when she was on The Newsroom.
I haven’t read this book so I’m not sure if this quote was meant to be an honest take or some form of satire – and given her acerbic sense of humor I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. Whether it’s a legitimate shitty take or humor that misses the mark, this is from a book that came out some 11 years ago written when she was still in her 20s.
Given the many positive things she’s done with her fame (such as sharing her experiences as an abuse survivor, speaking out against anti-Asian hate, and animal rights), if this is the worst thing someone can dredge up about her, then I’m not particularly bothered by it.
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I own the book. It was a “funny because it’s true” kind of joke. Not satire, not criticising fatphobia. Just mocking fat people to get a laugh.
I have mixed feelings about her. One the one hand, everything you said was true. She’s done a lot of positive things, fought battles that benefit many people despite the risk to herself. And I often find she’s a stand-out performer in anything she does (e.g., her bit-part character was the one enjoyable part of that obnoxious “Buddy Games” movie). She’s also clearly smart, and extremely business savvy.
On the other hand, she has always had a reputation for being someone who treats people poorly if they can’t do anything to advance her life or career. Guy Branum’s spoken about it a few times, having very negative experiences with her when he was a staff writer for Attack of the Show. I think the nicest thing he ever had to say about her was “Olivia Munn smells like expensive hair products and the Nietzschean Will to Power.” She fostered a fan community with conventions and meetups that she ended the second she got regular work. She seems to go all-in on nasty humour if it’s what the crowd that’s in front of her wants, then switches when it’s not. Sometimes she seems to be a living answer to the question “What if… The Kardashians were actually smart?”
After watching her career, reading her own words, reading the words of people who knew her, seeing her Insta feed… I find it hard to deny that both Olivias are real. She is the good performer who does good works, and is also goal oriented in a way that leads her to shit on innocent people sometimes to get where she needs to be.
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Pregnant women are not fat. They are pregnant.
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It’s wrong on many levels.
But, you know, an extra person inside you does kind of change one’s appearance, which misogynists tend to harp on. 
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It was a “funny because it’s true” kind of joke. Not satire, not criticising fatphobia. Just mocking fat people to get a laugh.
Thanks for the extra context. I have a hard time getting too bent out of shape out of a shitty take that was put into an autobiographical work written over a decade ago. It’s a shitty take, and that’s unfortunate.
It’s also kind of a shitty and sexist take to publish a blog posting saying, “Olivia Munn is pregnant! Let’s dredge up some crappy things she wrote over a decade ago!” I’m not sure what good it really does for anybody.
She is the good performer who does good works, and is also goal oriented in a way that leads her to shit on innocent people sometimes to get where she needs to be.
Seems pretty typical Hollywood go-getter to me if I’m being honest. I have a strong feeling if she were a man her aggressive approach would largely be applauded.
Anyway, thanks again for the extra perspective.
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I’ve never heard of this Munn. Whatevs.
Olivia Munn and Wall-E
Fat Shamers
Hang the tag around their thin necks!
The Wiki states for instance that she spent formative years on an American military base in Japan, and that her step father was " “verbally abusive” and demeaning" . Not wishing to attribute any attitudes or conditions to these and other experiences, it just seems a little “cutting of breaks” might be in order. I know nothing about her other than what’s reported in this BB post and comment stream and the Wiki so I should probably fade tho… 
Who???
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Now that you bring it up, it is weird to dredge up a long forgotten vine of an adult calling a kid stupid (which is, at the very least, mean) and not condemning it - and then dredge up 10 year old comments that were also mean and condemning it - but, like out of the blue? Like, how is one ok, and the other not?
To be clear, Munn’s jokes weren’t funny or nice, but I don’t quite understand why bringing it up now?
Yeah that threw me for a loop too.
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