said, I can carry on. Don't think about that for too long...it hurts my head too.Ned happens to think that he's hysterical and can "say everything that everyone's thinking." The bad part about this is...it's NOT what everyone is thinking and therefore, it SHOULDN'T be said. Representation of race in the media is slaughtered from this guy. His stage name is more racially offensive than most of his terrible jokes. Granted, as a woman who wants to be a stand-up comedian, I give him a round of applause for having the nerve to stand up, but to say these things while doing so is completely crazy. This man goes off on why Asians are as smart as they are. OK, good start. Then he goes into telling jokes about the way Asians drive. OK...funny. The TOPICS are not the problem when it comes to comedy. The topics are what make the funny, funny because they're true. Everyone thinks about these things and they're more or less taboo to speak of because they're offensive when used in the wrong context. Here's the deal: If you're going to start talking bad about other races and you want to make people laugh...BE FUNNY WHILE DOING IT! That's Ned's problem. He tries so hard to get the taboo topics out on the table and when they're finally there, he goes all Gallagher on them and slaughters the jokes to no end. Seriously. Dead.
"Carlos," I know you're a "comedian." However when you write your jokes, or read them off of a cue card...think about them first and if you can't make them funny (and no, I'm not judging "funny" by the mixed-race chick in the front row who can't stop laughing at ALL of your shows) DON'T SAY THEM! Use your common sense. You have a smart-sounding name, Ned.
By the way, the "dee, dee, dee..." do you really think that doesn't get old?
2 comments:
I want you to sit down and think about what you mean when you say, "It's funny because it's true," which you say a lot. Because, to me, it sounds like you're saying that it's "true" that all Asian people are smart and that they're bad drivers. What?!
One of the points of media criticism is to interrogate taken-for-granted notions of "truth." If all a comic is doing is reiterating the same old racist, classist, sexist claptrap but doing it in an "entertaining" way, how is this different from minstrel shows and other forms of so-called humor that work primarily to bolster the status quo of racial power in our society?
There is no way that you can say for any one race that every individual is the same. Obviously not. That, however, is one of the perks of comedy. There's an open door to making fun of everyone...stereotypes are what a lot to comedy is derived from. I'm not saying that it's GOOD that that's the way it is, however, I am saying that when the majority of a race is like something and comedian makes a joke about it...it's funny because it's majorly true. Just like with Dane Cook. He made the joke about Karen and how every group of friends has a Karen. Not that Karen is the entire Asian race, but the fact that the majority of groups of girlfriends have THAT [type] of girl in their group and Dane Cook brought it up, it's funny because it's true. Not ALL Asians are bad drivers, but MANY are. That was all that I was trying to get at. It's funny because it's true is attributed to a majority because when a comedian makes a joke about a stereotype that is dominant in a culture, it is brought to the surface for everyone to laugh at and move on. There's another reason as to why comedy is so good- making the awkward type of obvious...funny. Simply by stating it.
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