"You can take an African out of Africa, but you can't take Africa out of the African" Afro-Americana/Afro-Caribbana/Afro-Latino unite. We are ALL Black!
12. "your intellectual didn't need quotes" In response to Reply # 6
it was intellectual and in a public space and all parties involved did a great job of speaking their pieces not only on that but all the other things that made up 90% of the show that wasn't K & P
The quote by Marx that Edward Said uses to begin "Orientalism"
“They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.”
is applicable in every respect to the enduring problems Blacks, Latinos, Asians etc face with their portrayal in the public scope.
Reading a book now called "The Sympathizer" that deals with Hollywood and its place in softening public perception towards various groups abroad. It's historical fiction but there's some real shit Viet Thanh Nguyen lays down about how its a form of aggression.
20. "nah they went deep enough" In response to Reply # 17
if you're uncomfortable with how they deconstructed shit, that's on you.
and nah it ain't as simple as if it's funny or not. which was brought up with the part about K & P slave joke in relation to the Patrice white girl rape joke. there are levels and a lot of us laugh at a lot of fucked up shit some times and wack hack shit some times
18. "While I appreciate the masterful side step, I wish Desus woulda" In response to Reply # 0 Sun May-31-15 08:24 AM by imcvspl
stood up for that Patrice bit.
And I say masterful side step because somehow only 5% of that segment was about Patrice and thus kept us from putting us on blast.
Because that was one of the oldest black jokes in the book, presented by a legend in community. It would have been much better addressed not as a rape joke but as a race joke in which black men have a contextual history in this country of getting lynched for messing with white women. Where white women have a cultural history of fetishizing thier relationships with black men. And where blaming black men is readily accepted to this day when said blame comes from a white woman.
Shoulda went there, but because it got framed as a rape joke it made the handling that happened understandable.
Also ol' girl coulda put the whole crowd on blast because again it wasn't necessarily the rape but, but the white woman at the butt of the joke, versus the black male objectification of the slave auction.
█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃ Big PEMFin H & z's "I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles
"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."
19. "Truth be told, if Patrice is alive, he clowns the shit out of everybody...." In response to Reply # 18
on the panel for trying to break down comedy and determining what and who can say what about who and when. Because it's all rather lame imo and takes away the fun of comedy.
36. "nothing you say is being offensive" In response to Reply # 24 Sun May-31-15 06:15 PM by astralblak
It just seems like you enjoy very surface understanding and appreciation of art and entertainment. Calling this convo corny, or that they were looking for ways to be offended by comedy, or if they're serious, is loaded with dismissiveness and insecurity that you yourself havent actively engaged these ideas around racial and sexual representation and who is being spoke to and silencdd in narratives be it comedy, fiction, film, politics and the work space
But if you think it's corny to consider this questions, then right on
38. "**sigh** You have missed the point of comedy & art completely. " In response to Reply # 36
And you do not look at it for the art form it is. Each bit someone does is a form of their expression and perspective. By no means does it need to be inclusive of every group in the world. And by no means does it have to be accepted by every group in the world.
A comedians job is to be funny. That's it.
Some comedians make you think as well. If they can do both. Perfect.
If you pay to go see a comedian or watch them on tv, that is your choice. And you are opening up to their art and perspective.
That is your choice.
They do not and should not have to cater anything to everyone and YOU specifically, because you feel so.
YOU ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT.
If something resonates with you in a negative fashion do not patronize it. It is that simple.
I do not like every comedian, but freedom of speech and their own artistic freedom means they do have the right to exist and say what they want.
If I do not like Amy Schumer. I will not watch. It's not for me. Simple.
If you do not like offensive jokes about stereotypes. Do not watch a Comedy Roast. Simple.
If something Anthony Jeselnik says is offensive, and I do not like it. I do not watch. It's not for me. Simple.
I do not like Larry the Cable Guy, but he deserves to exist. He has an audience. An audience that is very fond of his work.
Same goes for the Mexican-American comedy circuit, Asian-comedy circuit, or wherever.
Not everybody has to talk to me specifically or represent me, because I have an actualized self-awareness.
If you wanted to, you can take most comedians and break down all of their bits, and find someone, some group could be offended by a bit.
Why?
Because it is comedy and someone or something is being made fun of.
What you aim to do is extract any fragment of art that might be deemed even the slightest bit controversial or subversive completely because somebody can take it the wrong way. And that paves the way for people to actually be silenced, because there will be no perspectives being heard. Just lame vanilla jokes about "What is the deal with airport security?
And no, I cannot believe a nigga like you is being serious.
22. "it was masterful, but nah on your point" In response to Reply # 18
even though it has merit. From hearing Patrice in his interviews I doubt he himself looked at that joke with those levels, even though it emerges from those tense sex and race experiences.
Patrice said HELLA odd problematic shit, that us, yes you and me, as Black/othered MEN defend, 'cause you know, patriarchy. THIS is what I actually enjoy about comedy though the real odd ugly shit that makes us laugh and why
28. "I wish they had honed in on the fact that he was talking about" In response to Reply # 22
WHITE women. They made this a joke about rape in general, when it was really a joke about the nature of white women.
I've seen jokes that cut to the core of every demographic and make them look terrible....never really with white women. The worst they get is that they're shallow or airheaded...or feminist.
Patrice was really the only comic I've ever seen do a joke about the knitting NPR set.
30. "I think there's also a level of nuance being missed here in that" In response to Reply # 28
Patrice went to jail as a teenager for being, at least in his view, falsely accused of raping a white women.
Which, because we know the historic connotation (ie black men making "advances toward" white women being the impetus of 95% of lynchings), is believable and less of a "general" rape joke.
--
"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
39. "Hence me saying, they would not have cared anyway. Lol...good grief." In response to Reply # 34
Russell Peters can be wack all he wants. I've seen a lot of his specials out of curiosity. He has an audience. A large audience. And it is mainly Asian people. Therefore, I am not going to get upset on the behalf of the Asian audience that is openly accepting of his comedy.
I do not find that funny. But there is definitely a place for his brand of humor.
42. "Nah Desus coulda pulled it off" In response to Reply # 34
He literally said I'm a nigga from the bronx that hates white people in the middle of that shit. Cracked me the fuck up.
But he had to field the ball that Crissie rushed to play. She put the whole "i tuned out after he said rape" in there and it basically shut down anything that Desus could say. The whole time my dude was breaking down what he could and could not say tightroping a joke which kept them comfortable but actively meant he knew how he had to play it.
█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃ Big PEMFin H & z's "I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles
"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."
37. "I thought Crissle was gunna go there when she" In response to Reply # 28
Brought up how that crowd felt hella comfortable laughing at K&P, but not at a joke at a white woman's expense. But then she just sad rape nah and everyone kinda shut down
27. "Yo I'm not really feeling this "Key and Peele" aren't really black shit" In response to Reply # 0
Like... if that's the case. A lot of motherfuckas ain't Black no more.
I was with them when it seemed they were going to a like "they were raised middle class lives with their white mothers, devoid of blackness" Because if Key & Peele were only raised by white families and not around their black families then there may be a conversation to be had about making jokes about a history that you see separately than your own. But though Crissel seemed to be opening the door for that kinda nuance, by saying "everybody whos down ain't down," Desus slammed that door by going to this "I have no choice but to be black" stance... as if Key and Peele aren't in the same boat as mixed Black men.
--
"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
40. "i am. which is exactly why I posted and agreed with Mat Johnson's" In response to Reply # 27
Mulatto essay. Not the way he constructed it or the term, but the core of what he's saying.
You and I (yes I know you a mixed Black like me), and Mat Johnson, and K & P DON'T experience Black/ness like Desus and Crissle. It's the truth, and ain't a damn thing wrong with that.
Do white folk still assume, mumble and project Blackness onto us, even utter nigger, in regard to those like us? Absolutely. But they also can assume other, safer, and intepret us as different. And "we" can also embrace or "escape" into our other ethnicities and cultures which Black people cannot.
We all afriad to have this convo cause both sides are assuming it's an are you Black enough discussion, or you really down discussion, a divide and conquer house nigga - field nigga discussion, when yeah, that's a small part of it, but really its about situated knowledge(s) and experiences and how we speak truth to power and being careful of what and how we speak when we claiming to speak for a particular community we may not really be a part of.
That last part is really what Desus and Crissle were getting at. Though it had a hint of they act like white boys to it.
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