Italians are in the mob, Puerto Ricans steal hubcaps, Asians are lousy drivers, African-Americans are lazy, Trump supporters are all Nazis, Mexicans are all landscapers and of course, Jews own the media, and the banks.
Stereotypes have been around for centuries and have often been the source of humor for generations of comedians.
Humor is subjective. We cover our eyes in mock shame when a comedian comes up to- and often crosses the line. Somehow, we justify our laughs but I have found that when people make jokes about themselves or their own cultures, they speak from experience, culture, memories, and generations of crazy relatives that only they can really lay claim to. Chris Rock, George Lopez, Jerry Seinfeld, Dean Obeidallah, Tig Notaro, Russell Peters, Kal Penn, and Margaret Cho are just a few from different cultures and communities. They talk about the stereotypes of their world but when we point out what we think we know or reinforce the labels, we cross into very uneasy territory. Especially in a woke society, we have become super sensitive, and sometimes, rightly so.
There’s a guy I know who says:” Hey. I have a great Jewish joke.” I told him: “Only Jews can tell jokes about Jews. Anyone else is promulgating bigotry.” They think it’s ok since it’s a ‘joke,’ but it’s not. They never ‘mean to offend me.’
Now, I was a George Carlin and Lenny Bruce fan and of those, I mentioned above. Do they cross the line? Often, they are also often making fun of themselves and we can always change the channel if we don’t like it.
But as we have become more woke, we also have become a society where free speech has literally become the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre. We’re just speaking our minds and we care less and less about who gets hurt or offended in the process.
Dave Chapelle hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend and while I often find him funny and insightful, his comments before the show and during can be considered ‘inciteful.’ We were treated to a mock stand-up show in the Borat movie and yes, I laughed; at the ignorant miscreants in my adopted home state of Arizona. To study the clip, one gets outraged and you should.
Chapelle’s monologue made fun of the heat he has gotten for his comments about Jews in Hollywood. And he insinuated that the Kyrie Irving punishment was being orchestrated by the NBA and owners of the team—Jews.
I believe in free-market capitalism and don’t like boycotts. People will stop buying from a cake maker who refuses to bake for an LGBTQ couple and if people are offended by Chapelle, it will reverberate through his career. We have seen careers end with hateful remarks and we have seen some people apologize. It begs the question: Are they remorseful for what they said or sad they got nailed?
Some people don’t know when to quit but they may never have to decide. Audiences may quit them.
Now, I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit I have told jokes that have pushed the limits. I have tried to be better. Every day I try. And I am succeeding. Kind of like AA, but hateful, under the guise of ‘art,’ is still hateful. Hypocrites have praised Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, the late Roman Polanski, separating their morality from their work. It doesn’t work like that. To say ‘some of my best friends are (fill in the blank)’ is a warped sense of liberalism or humanity and I have often said if you truly want to stamp out cancer, you can’t keep a few of its germs alive just for laughs.
Crossing the line in humor is not bad in and of itself. It’s just that the line keeps moving, further away from acceptance.
I will continue to laugh and bristle at some jokes but making fun of who we are is a whole lotta different from making fun of who ‘they’ are. ‘They’ is my father, and my mother, my sister, my brother, my husband, my wife, my partner, my friend. They are you. They are me. They are all of us.
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As usual very insightful ❤️I was dismayed at Chappelle’s attitude. I didn’t find him to be sincere. I’ve been a big fan of his comedic genius, but I won’t enjoy him as much as I did in the past after SNL.
Exactly
As usual very insightful ❤️I was dismayed at Chappelle’s attitude. I didn’t find him to be sincere. I’ve been a big fan of his comedic genius, but I won’t enjoy him as much as I did in the past after SNL.