Comedy & Racism
Racist Comedy
Ever notice how most of the stand up comedy you watch is mostly based on race and heritage? Some comedians are scrutinized for their jokes while others are accepted because they are funny. Where is that line drawn and who made it up?
I've recently watch a stand up comedy show on Netflix streaming from my Xbox360. The comic was Sarah Silverman and the airing was called " Jesus is Magic ". I had admired Sarah for stints she had done across network TV but when I saw her special I was disgusted by her personality. Once again a comedian was thriving off of racial jokes and no one seemed to care. Racist remarks have been a stronghold in comedy for so many comedians that I have heard it all. If you watch Sarah Silverman's " Jesus is Magic " you'll come to notice that she doesn't like black people. She uses the N word and admits on her show that she only uses it mostly when there are no African Americans around.Throughout her stand up comedy hour she would sporadically say something degrading about black people and other minorities.
Why is it that comedians feel a need to bring up racist jokes to make people laugh? Is degrading another race really a necessity for the sakes of laughter? What is the limit to these racial dissing?
On November 17, 2006 AT the LA Laugh factory an enraged Michael Richards started calling members of the audience the N word. Here's part of his quote "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a n*****! He's a n*****! He's a n******! A n*****, look, there's a n*****!" Richards (formerly known as Kramer from Seinfield) went on publicly to announce that it was anger and not racism that fueled his remarks. So Richards took the approach of the angry comedian but I don't buy it. If you even have it in you to rant about other races in a demeaning way then you are prejudice.
Where to draw the line? Well it seems that if you are funny then it's alright. Now white comedians are not the only prejudice funny people. Every type of race seems to have some dialogue in which they compare their traditions and race to others but to what extent is it demeaning? Why do most comedians even feel a need to involve race comparison jokes? Is it really that entertaining? While some comedians who joke about other races are not prejudice, some are and spread their prejudices through their stand up comedy.
Recently we have seen a trend of corporate sponsors relieving their sponsored comedians for their racist (suppose to be funny) remarks. In March 2011, Aflac Insurance fired Gilbert Gottfried for remarks he made about Japanese people on his Twitter page. Gilbert Gottfried was the voice for the Aflac duck.
Now if you ask white people then they would name a bunch of blacks or Jews they thought were racist and vice versa. I mean a joke is a joke, but an angry comedian might be something else. An angry prejudice comedian has the right to be just that. Our freedom of speech allows you to say anything to you wish to make people laugh but where do you draw a line? Please answer my poll to get a feel for how you feel about comedy and racism.
