This made me ponder how racism, sexism and all other kind of offensive 'isms' were once considered OK in the not-so distant past (and probably still are in Australia). Take this Pitney Bowes ad from 1953 for example...
But, however much it might piss some folks off, I still say there are no limits on humor. If it's funny, it's funny no matter who it offends. But white guys blacking up to do a musical number? Jeez, Australia, that officially ceased to be considered funny by anyone in the early part of the 19th century.
Posts
This kind of stuff is still all over Europe. When in Spain, I saw (and ate) popular candies called Conguitos...
ReplyDeletehttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3204880848_facb57b462.jpg
As a kid, every Christmas my Dutch grandma would have pictures, ornaments, etc of Sinterklass and his helper Zwarte Piet...
http://www.jongendynamisch.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/sinterklaas.jpg
Christmas time in Holland you can see these black face fools everywhere. Here's another hilarious yet disturbing pic of "Black Pete"...
http://propertalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/zwarte_piet_pedro_groot.jpg
I always thought St Nick's black 'slaves' were a weird idea to persist in the world's most progressive country. It's even weirder to imagine when you're sat eating space cakes in a cafe in Amsterdam full of white Rastafarians bobbing their heads to Bob Marley. Maybe it's super ironic? Spain is different because Spanish rednecks hate African immigrants like American rednecks hate Mexican immigrants. Just substitute the Mediterranean for the Rio Grande.
ReplyDeleteFunny to whom though?
ReplyDeleteProblem is the gap between the way some people see other communties can be so vast, that often it's only funny to the truly ignorant as themselves.
I once saw a 'comedy show' featuring Brett Bulter, that seemed so self hating, it actually angered me, not just on behalf of white folks from the south, but the fact that she assumed others would find this kind of crude playing up to stereotypes; funny. Pity, because at the time I really liked her show, Grace Under Fire.
Wriggles,
ReplyDeleteI was watching Wanda Sykes on TV. She had a joke about Mexican guys with leafblowers and how they're the only people in America who can go wherever they want whenever they want. I thought it was funny but, of course, it contains a racial stereotype that is offensive. But because the joke doesn't use the stereotype as its punch line and kinda spins it ironically, I thought it transcended offense.
I still say if it's funny, it's funny. But if the intent is hateful, then it can't be funny.
As a white guy, I get no offense from Dave Chapelle for example. But I have occasionally been offended by other black comics whose white stereotyping is unimaginative and, like I say, relies solely on the stereotype for the punchline.