CHUD.com Community › Forums › CULTURE, HUMOR, & FREE FORM › Humor › Race and Comedy Today
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Race and Comedy Today

post #1 of 18
11/28/06 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
So here's the thing that bugs me most about Michael Richards. Obviously, what he did was inexcusable, indefensible, etc.

But the week after his rant, I caught the last five minutes of a comedian named Ralphie May on the "Tonight Show," doing a bit about people who talk in movies. This would have been pretty unfunny to begin with, but May seemed to focus in on a particular group: namely, the sterotypical African American woman. May's act seemed to consist of him acting out this sterotype, and it seemed--to me--pretty racist.

Here's my question: Why is Richards villified and guys like May given slots on Jay Leno? Why aren't we all going after Larry the Cable Guy for his racist routines about Middle Easterners?

It's a double standard, like most things, but as a fan of stand-up, this bothers me quite a lot. I'm interested in hearing what people think about this.
Reply
post #2 of 18
11/28/06 at 11:21pm
It depends. Some comedians go after all groups (e.g. George Carlin). Some comedians go after their own group (e.g. Margaret Cho). In those areas, where there's a clear "everyone's game" or "I do it to/making fun of self" element, then it comes across as comedy to me. And, not knowing a comic's full repertoire, I would presume that they are in one of those groups if I saw a short gig (like a few minutes on Leno), as I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt.

If, on the other hand, they only focus on one group that is not their own, or if they devolve into vitriol, then it's not funny, it's just mean. Of course, comedy can quickly verge right over into hatefulness.

Another aspect would, of course, be if you knew the comic personally and knew they had some particular bias. For example, if a comic was an antisemite in real life, and I knew that, I wouldn't find Hebrew jokes delivered by him funny, even if they were written by Jerry Stiller.
Reply
post #3 of 18
11/28/06 at 11:22pm
is it funny? That's the only question.
Reply
post #4 of 18
11/29/06 at 12:04am
Thread Starter 
That bit, though, seemed to be the majority of Ralphie May's act. I've seen the guy do comedy before, and he is spectacularly unfunny.
Reply
post #5 of 18
11/29/06 at 12:22am
It's the difference between Borat and 2LiveCrew.
Reply
post #6 of 18
11/29/06 at 12:24am
I don't get people who are offended by humor. That's the one place you should be able to get away with anything.... if it's funny, like Devin points out.
Reply
post #7 of 18
11/29/06 at 12:26am
Ralphie May is terribly unfunny, but he's also so grotesquely, morbidly obese that he can't have more than a decade in him.
Reply
post #8 of 18
11/29/06 at 1:21am
Yeah, and the scary thing is, he's already lost an incredible amount of weight from gastrc bypass, but it only got him that far. Yeesh. I'm going to agree with Graynadian, Sacha Baron Cohen knows how to do racially motivated humor very well. Ralphie May could deliver Chris Rock's act, and it would be acceptable if it was delivered well, but that would never happen, because ray is a bit of a dolt.
Another interesting fallout of the whole Michael Richards thing is Paul Moonie is now refusing to ever again use "The N word". This from the same guy that called Pryor crazy for stopping using it in the late 70's.
Reply
post #9 of 18
11/29/06 at 9:22am
I have to echo everyone else and say that as long as it's funny anything should be fair game. From Jesus screwing Mary Magdalene to killing babies anything should go. If it manages to offend me it's even better in my view. By trying to make humor non offensive we'll end up with a bunch of Knock-Knock jokes and Leno monologues.
Reply
post #10 of 18
11/29/06 at 11:09am
See, that's the difference, though. One oversensitive asshat who disagrees, gets offended and has a "megaphone" ruins everything. This country has become so terrified of being un-PC that the simple "Is it funny?" test becomes useless- someone will always find it unfunny. We will never be back to the days of vintage Carlin, or Lenny Bruce, even back to the days of Bill Hicks, where you could say inflammatory things and still walk around outside without being hit in the face with a brick. Now everyone wants an excuse to get offended. Everything becomes personal.

People are looking into litigation because of something someone SAID that was in poor taste. I'm not saying what he said was funny, but from a complete car-wreck mentality, it was. They should've laughed at Richards simply due to the fact that he melted down on stage. I'm betting that there's people out there who think Ralphie May is hilarious.
Reply
post #11 of 18
11/29/06 at 11:48am
I think the main difference in this case, is that Richards meant to actually offend the person that was talking during his show personally, in a fit of rage, and just lost his cool (and his audience). Basically, he was like a hissy kid that just got his toy broken and he didn't know how else to retaliate, making a total fool of himself and letting other people label him as a racist. The main point is probably that when comics do ethnic stereotyping as little jabs at the groups in question, but in a good spirited way, it's acceptable to the public. But a hate filled rant is just not.
Reply
post #12 of 18
11/29/06 at 12:09pm
The thing about Richards is that it wasn't part of his act. It wasn't funny by any standard, it wasn't a botched joke. He was pissed at some people and threw a hateful hissy fit. I view it as completely unrelated to comics with racially motivated material. They can both perhaps be stuck under the umbrella of "racism," but the intent and effect are completely different. Even if you're offended by both, there's a difference between insensitivity and outright hate.
Reply
post #13 of 18
11/29/06 at 4:01pm
I'm not sure the "is it funny?" argument goes so well with me. I've heard a shitload of outwardly racist Black, Gay, Female, Jewish, Whatever, jokes in my time, and I laughed at a lot of them, against my better judgement. Does that make it OK to tell those sort of jokes?
Reply
post #14 of 18
11/29/06 at 4:12pm
If it's funny and not done in a mean spirited way then SOME people won't give a damn. Lisa Lampanelli does alot of racially based humor yet don't see anybody protesting her. Because for the most part her shit is funny.
Reply
post #15 of 18
11/29/06 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quarant
Does that make it OK to tell those sort of jokes?
I think that is the difference between May (or anyone else) and Richards. Everyone else is trying to do an act, is trying to tell jokes. Whether you think they are funny or not, they are obviously meant to get laughter from people. Richards, as said above, was a hissy fit and mental meltdown. It wasn't presented as comedic material.
Reply
post #16 of 18
11/29/06 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wee-Bey
If it's funny and not done in a mean spirited way then SOME people won't give a damn. Lisa Lampanelli does alot of racially based humor yet don't see anybody protesting her. Because for the most part her shit is funny.
Also, she has no real air of superiority. She talks down more about herself than any race. I think that helps.
Reply
post #17 of 18
11/29/06 at 5:39pm
Don Rickles has been bashing people of all races, genders, and sexual orientations for longer than most of us have been alive. No one calls him out because it's all a part of his act.

The thing that bothers people about Michael Richards is, what he did wasn't (or didn't seem to be) part of the act--it just looked and sounded like that was how he truly felt. He got pissed off, lashed out, and it was captured on tape.
Reply
post #18 of 18
11/29/06 at 6:10pm
Is it racist to point out the stereotype of black women yelling at a movie screen or to point out how unhip white dudes trying to dance are? It's not observational humor?

Racial humor may be un-PC, but I would think that the term "racism" denotes some sort of hatred (as in Kramer's offense-intent outburst). Course, I'm not a minority and have no idea what racial, observational humor may in fact do to poison the minds of the populace, turning everyone into "a little bit racist" as depicted in the Oscar winning Crash.

So the rules are:
1. not racist, if it's equal opportunity (Simpsons, Dave Chappelle)
2. not racist, if the comedian is self-depracating as well (Lisa C)
3. not racist, if it's all in good fun (and not mean-spirited)

What are the rules for blonde and dead baby jokes? Can I joke about dead babies as long as I have one? And if it's blonde, a double-zinger!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Humor
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CULTURE, HUMOR, & FREE FORM › Humor › Race and Comedy Today