A lot of people hate Nik Richie.
Of course, some of you may be wondering, Who the hell is Nik Richie? especially if youre not a person who surfs the Internet on a regular basis.
Well, for the Nik-ignorant folks out there, Richie (whose real name is Hooman Karamian) is the creator/founder/ringleader of an ultra-popular Web site known as TheDirty.com.
OK, that said, now youre probably wondering, Whats TheDirty?
If you visit the site which started in Arizona but quickly grew to reportedly garner more than 3 million pageviews per month and host localized versions in dozens of cities across the country, including one here in Charlotte and scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen youll see this description: TheDirty.com, The world's first ever reality blogger is all about gossip and satire. The content that is published contains rumors, speculation, assumptions, opinions, and factual information.
From my perspective, however, TheDirty is an Internet destination dedicated to posting user-submitted photos of real people (usually women) so that Richie and his loyal audience (aka The Dirty Army) can ruthlessly criticize the people in the images.
A Dirty Army soldier, for example, recently posted a picture of a local woman along with the headline Mouth to Mouth and asked Richie the frequently opined question, Would you? (as in have sex) with her. In response, Richie wrote: no. Her head is wierd [sic], and she looks like a bug.
Another Dirty Army member submitted a Would you? request along with a photo and the caption: Im so glad somebody put this whore on this site because she totally deserves it! Shes [sic] a golddigging, stuck on herself b*tch. She thinks she is some kind of model when in reality she looks like a man. Nik would you? To which, Richie responded, No, her legs look like sausages and her face is even worse.
And heres one more: A woman apparently submitted a photo herself and asked, in reference to the prospect of getting breast implants, how big should i [sic] go? Richie fired back: I think you should get a head transplant and lose about 45 lbs first.
And that sort of brings me back to the first sentence of this article the one about a lot of people hating Richie; surveying his assessments of the photos on TheDirty, you can probably see why some people think hes an asshole, a jerk, a douchebag or whatever adjective you want to sling his way.
Media outlets like the Arizona-based AZCentral.com have written that Richie has jeopardized careers and humiliated people. And, obviously, if youre the butt of the mans trash talk, you may not be too enamored with him. He seemingly has an ongoing feud with Bar Charlotte and supporters of the local watering hole frequently go after Richie on the site. In fact, once it became common knowledge that Richie was coming to Charlotte on Sept. 17 for an appearance at Cans, some detractors dared him to trek on over to Bar Charlotte, writing: I really do wish you would show up, and youll see that none of us BAR GIRLS that youve featured would ever want to touch a pathetic, arrogant piece of sh*t like you Nik, youre a pure example of someones [sic] life who is miserable that you have nothing better to do than talk sh*t. Im sure when it comes down to it, those girls that go to your hotel room are the trashy bitches you run your mouth about every day. Get your head out of youre [sic] ass, seriously.
You see what I mean? Some folks hate his ass.
Me? I think hes funny as shit.
Offensive? Yes. But so are dozens of straight-up comedians out there. Sure, Richies no Richard Pryor, but when he calls the fat deposits under peoples arms fat vaj armpits, I just cant help but laugh. Now, if you dont like crass humor, the site and the man behind it are definitely not for you.So, as far as Im concerned, the guy is pretty entertaining and harmless on his own. The problem, however, is that Richie is not on his own. Hes not a lone ranger or lone gunman, if you will. The problem is that, in this day and age, everybody seems to be an asshole.
According to Merriam-Webster, an asshole is a stupid, incompetent, or detestable person; and a jerk is an annoyingly stupid or foolish person or an unlikable person one who is cruel, rude, or small-minded. Using those definitions as a guide, its easy to spot the deluge of jerks who seem to be invading contemporary American culture.
Now, if you wanted to turn your gaze to the distant past toward days gone waaayyy by, you can see some early incarnations of todays asshole. William Shakespeares work, for example, was peppered with them just look at plays like The Merchant of Venice (Shylock, anyone?) and Othello (featuring punk-ass Iago).
Moving forward to the 20th century, comedian Andy Kaufman played the role of 1970s ultimate asshole by wrestling women, taking to the airwaves on a regular basis to claim that no female could best him in the ring enraging people everywhere in the process. On top of that unbeknownst to most everyone at the time he was also known to go out in public disguised as the fake stand-up comedian Tony Clifton, a character who made a reputation for insulting audience members and leaving the stage before his act was finished.
Fast-forward to the 1980s and you see assholes like talk show host Morton Downey Jr. (see the video below), the rise of shock jocks like Howard Stern and basically all the characters in the acclaimed film Glengarry Glenn Ross.
In the early part of this century, we saw the rise of one of pop cultures ultimate assholes American Idols Simon Cowell.
But here in the present, were witnessing an asshole explosion. Weve got Kanye West stealing Taylor Swifts thunder at this years MTV Video Music Awards; health care opponents loudly disrupting town hall meetings across the country; Serena Williams threatening a line judge at a tennis match; Glenn Beck saying president Obama is anti-white; Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina calling Obama a liar during a presidential address; plus the popularity of TV shows like Tool Academy and Is She Really Going Out With Him? among many other ass-flavored moments.
In the recently published book The Quotable Douchebag (which includes classic lines like this one by Sean Hannity: Ill tell you who should be tortured and killed at Guantanamo: every filthy Democrat in the U.S. Congress), author Margaret McGuire writes: All Fox News anchors are douchebags and John Mayer is a douchebag.
And of course, thats just scratching the surface when it comes to assholes of the present and recent past I could go on and on. The fact is, as writer Alex Wagner wrote in an article published Sept. 15 on the news Web site PoliticsDaily.com, these are jackassy times.
So, enjoying TheDirty as a pure, unadulterated guilty pleasure in front of a computer in the privacy of your own home is not such a bad thing. But when so many folks have decided to conduct themselves in such uncivil ways, we find ourselves living in the wild West. Does that mean that Richie should close up shop and go back to banking (his first career)? Well, Id much prefer if Glenn Beck disappeared from basic cable first.
In a recent telephone interview with Creative Loafing, Richie explained the origins of TheDirty like this: I kind of stumbled upon this. It wasnt something I was serious about. I was just doing it as a joke between a couple buddies of mine. Then I really thought to myself, You know, maybe I do have a business model. Because reality TV is so successful, no one [had] really started reality Internet.
Hes even created his own language of sorts to use on the site; his Dirty Dictionary is filled with shart-inducing words like Himstitute (a tranny prostitute) and Bissues (a bitch with issues).
And, not surprisingly, Richie doesnt think of himself as a bad guy.
I just say what I think. You can take it however you want to take it, but Im just gonna be true to myself and say what I think, he says. People find the humor in it and sometimes I am a little bit sarcastic, but this is what I really think. And I know I have a warped sense of reality, but I think thats why the site is so successful people take what I say and take it to heart.
The majority of the people that look at the site just come to look at the pictures, read the comments, kill time at work and, he says, have a laugh.
The big question is if the contention about Richie being harmless is to be believed how do we come to make distinctions between the assholes living among us? For me, its all a question of competence.
Think back to Simon Cowell. The guy is a self-styled ass, but he became a star in the eyes of America because he was actually right about the talent on American Idol. No, he didnt sugarcoat his quips and sometimes he was mean but he usually said what most of us were saying at home.
On the other hand, look at a guy like Glenn Beck.; his statements about Obama being anti-white cost him dozens of advertisers because no one bought what he was saying. His pronouncement, to the general public, did not seem based in reality. Same thing with Don Imus when, years ago, he said his statement about nappy-headed hoes it just wasnt funny.
Marinate on that idea and consider that, at the end of the day, when Richie rails on photos, most of the time, it is pretty much what we in maybe the most adolescent corners of our mind were thinking anyway.
So whats next for the asshole? I couldnt say where that special breed of Homo sapien is going next weve already seen a few douches in the White House but Richie is busy plotting his next move.
Theres a whole bunch of things we have in the works. Were looking to create a social network for The Dirty Army. Were doing these events (ala his appearance at Cans tonight) our clothing line, we want to get into stores across the United States. The brand itself is going to take off.
Whatever happens, Ill be watching. And so, probably, will you. One things for sure: I better not ever see my damn picture on TheDirty! Im just saying
And that sort of brings me back to the first sentence of this article the one about a lot of people hating Richie; surveying his assessments of the photos on TheDirty, you can probably see why some people think hes an asshole, a jerk, a douchebag or whatever adjective you want to sling his way.
Media outlets like the Arizona-based AZCentral.com have written that Richie has jeopardized careers and humiliated people. And, obviously, if youre the butt of the mans trash talk, you may not be too enamored with him. He seemingly has an ongoing feud with Bar Charlotte and supporters of the local watering hole frequently go after Richie on the site. In fact, once it became common knowledge that Richie was coming to Charlotte on Sept. 17 for an appearance at Cans, some detractors dared him to trek on over to Bar Charlotte, writing: I really do wish you would show up, and youll see that none of us BAR GIRLS that youve featured would ever want to touch a pathetic, arrogant piece of sh*t like you Nik, youre a pure example of someones [sic] life who is miserable that you have nothing better to do than talk sh*t. Im sure when it comes down to it, those girls that go to your hotel room are the trashy bitches you run your mouth about every day. Get your head out of youre [sic] ass, seriously.
You see what I mean? Some folks hate his ass.
Me? I think hes funny as shit.
Offensive? Yes. But so are dozens of straight-up comedians out there. Sure, Richies no Richard Pryor, but when he calls the fat deposits under peoples arms fat vaj armpits, I just cant help but laugh. Now, if you dont like crass humor, the site and the man behind it are definitely not for you.So, as far as Im concerned, the guy is pretty entertaining and harmless on his own. The problem, however, is that Richie is not on his own. Hes not a lone ranger or lone gunman, if you will. The problem is that, in this day and age, everybody seems to be an asshole.
According to Merriam-Webster, an asshole is a stupid, incompetent, or detestable person; and a jerk is an annoyingly stupid or foolish person or an unlikable person one who is cruel, rude, or small-minded. Using those definitions as a guide, its easy to spot the deluge of jerks who seem to be invading contemporary American culture.
Now, if you wanted to turn your gaze to the distant past toward days gone waaayyy by, you can see some early incarnations of todays asshole. William Shakespeares work, for example, was peppered with them just look at plays like The Merchant of Venice (Shylock, anyone?) and Othello (featuring punk-ass Iago).
Moving forward to the 20th century, comedian Andy Kaufman played the role of 1970s ultimate asshole by wrestling women, taking to the airwaves on a regular basis to claim that no female could best him in the ring enraging people everywhere in the process. On top of that unbeknownst to most everyone at the time he was also known to go out in public disguised as the fake stand-up comedian Tony Clifton, a character who made a reputation for insulting audience members and leaving the stage before his act was finished.
Fast-forward to the 1980s and you see assholes like talk show host Morton Downey Jr. (see the video below), the rise of shock jocks like Howard Stern and basically all the characters in the acclaimed film Glengarry Glenn Ross.
In the early part of this century, we saw the rise of one of pop cultures ultimate assholes American Idols Simon Cowell.
But here in the present, were witnessing an asshole explosion. Weve got Kanye West stealing Taylor Swifts thunder at this years MTV Video Music Awards; health care opponents loudly disrupting town hall meetings across the country; Serena Williams threatening a line judge at a tennis match; Glenn Beck saying president Obama is anti-white; Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina calling Obama a liar during a presidential address; plus the popularity of TV shows like Tool Academy and Is She Really Going Out With Him? among many other ass-flavored moments.
In the recently published book The Quotable Douchebag (which includes classic lines like this one by Sean Hannity: Ill tell you who should be tortured and killed at Guantanamo: every filthy Democrat in the U.S. Congress), author Margaret McGuire writes: All Fox News anchors are douchebags and John Mayer is a douchebag.
And of course, thats just scratching the surface when it comes to assholes of the present and recent past I could go on and on. The fact is, as writer Alex Wagner wrote in an article published Sept. 15 on the news Web site PoliticsDaily.com, these are jackassy times.
So, enjoying TheDirty as a pure, unadulterated guilty pleasure in front of a computer in the privacy of your own home is not such a bad thing. But when so many folks have decided to conduct themselves in such uncivil ways, we find ourselves living in the wild West. Does that mean that Richie should close up shop and go back to banking (his first career)? Well, Id much prefer if Glenn Beck disappeared from basic cable first.
In a recent telephone interview with Creative Loafing, Richie explained the origins of TheDirty like this: I kind of stumbled upon this. It wasnt something I was serious about. I was just doing it as a joke between a couple buddies of mine. Then I really thought to myself, You know, maybe I do have a business model. Because reality TV is so successful, no one [had] really started reality Internet.
Hes even created his own language of sorts to use on the site; his Dirty Dictionary is filled with shart-inducing words like Himstitute (a tranny prostitute) and Bissues (a bitch with issues).
And, not surprisingly, Richie doesnt think of himself as a bad guy.
I just say what I think. You can take it however you want to take it, but Im just gonna be true to myself and say what I think, he says. People find the humor in it and sometimes I am a little bit sarcastic, but this is what I really think. And I know I have a warped sense of reality, but I think thats why the site is so successful people take what I say and take it to heart.
The majority of the people that look at the site just come to look at the pictures, read the comments, kill time at work and, he says, have a laugh.
The big question is if the contention about Richie being harmless is to be believed how do we come to make distinctions between the assholes living among us? For me, its all a question of competence.
Think back to Simon Cowell. The guy is a self-styled ass, but he became a star in the eyes of America because he was actually right about the talent on American Idol. No, he didnt sugarcoat his quips and sometimes he was mean but he usually said what most of us were saying at home.
On the other hand, look at a guy like Glenn Beck.; his statements about Obama being anti-white cost him dozens of advertisers because no one bought what he was saying. His pronouncement, to the general public, did not seem based in reality. Same thing with Don Imus when, years ago, he said his statement about nappy-headed hoes it just wasnt funny.
Marinate on that idea and consider that, at the end of the day, when Richie rails on photos, most of the time, it is pretty much what we in maybe the most adolescent corners of our mind were thinking anyway.
So whats next for the asshole? I couldnt say where that special breed of Homo sapien is going next weve already seen a few douches in the White House but Richie is busy plotting his next move.
Theres a whole bunch of things we have in the works. Were looking to create a social network for The Dirty Army. Were doing these events (ala his appearance at Cans tonight) our clothing line, we want to get into stores across the United States. The brand itself is going to take off.
Whatever happens, Ill be watching. And so, probably, will you. One things for sure: I better not ever see my damn picture on TheDirty! Im just saying
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