Posted on 11/23/2006 1:40:47 PM PST by neverdem
When "Seinfeld" comedian Michael Richards lost his cool and began a racist rant at some noisy customers in a Hollywood comedy club, it seemed to surprise a number of people. It shouldn't. What is actually surprising is that it has taken this long for some airhead made famous by a very popular but insipid television series to flip out within the context of today's minstrel entertainments.
Naturally, a lawyer representing the affronted audience members did not feel that it was enough for Richards to apologize on television; he still needs to pay them some money for what they had to suffer at his hands.
The question, however, is what exactly did the patrons suffer?
What they actually suffered, if anything, was an unintended caricature of a redneck in heated rage, expressing conventional disdain for black people. Richards said that 50 years ago, the black members of the noisy group of comedy club customers would have been hanged, and stabbed in the backside with a pitchfork. Before leaving the stage, Richards reminded the assembled that when it was all over, he would still be wealthy and the black people would still be, well, N-words.
The painfully unfunny comedian Paul Rodriguez performed on the same stage that evening and told the press that if one uses the N-word and is not African-American, a lot of explaining will have to be made.
In the interest of equality, no black comedian should get a pass when using insulting and denigrating words in the middle of an act. It all seems very simple to me. We do not need to accept the conventions of insult and denigration that have been established by black comedians and rappers.
And I do not feel that there should be a freedom of speech issue raised either. Nor do I feel that any laws need to be passed.
This was another moment to question what the ongoing vulgarization of our popular culture has actually come to mean. Two groups - women and black people - are disdainfully addressed and demeaned constantly. Only one has made any protest against being the constant butt of overstated vulgarity. White women have stood up against the misogyny in popular entertainment, but black people have not had much to say about the denigration.
Rap producers and others in the business of selling anything that gives a little spice to the minstrel content of our popular culture have been known to claim that the N-word has become a common means of expression and has taken on a universal understanding through rap. We can now be treated to young people of all ethnic groups referring to each other when using the word.
Does that prove anything? I think not. When Richard Pryor first made liberal use of the N-word, he could not have imagined what emerged in the wake of his performances. But when Pryor himself took a position against minstrel updates, no one listened to him. He had passed out the right of irresponsibility and could not take it back.
So what remains before us is the issue of coming to terms with a popular culture in which the N-word, bitches and hos have become no more than condiments in a particularly unappetizing meal. We need not ban their use, but we do need to face the fact that we have been hustled far more often than not.
Wow, I looked it up and you're right!
susie
Yes, because he was stupid and took it too far. That doesn't mean there wasn't an attempt to create a controversy to draw attention to the DVD release.
Michael Richards was a has been before he uttered the N word and after this 15 minutes of infamy he will be forgotten. What passes as entertainment is the more significant question, and for African American culture an entertainment that elevates and glamorizes the "thug" life is absolutely toxic to that culture. Crouch makes a point that I can agree with, probably the only time I could ever agree with him.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
I sincerely doubt that Richard's explosion was "an attempt to create a controversy to draw attention to the DVD release." That is sheer foolishness.
Jerry Seinfeld is probably so pissed of at Michael now that he wants to cut his balls off.
...or git'er done.
The difference being, a segment of the black community has adopted a perjorative. This is not unusual, since some in the rural community have done the same with the term "redneck." The term sounds different in Jeff Foxworthy's mouth than it does in Al Sharpton's.
nah.. that your post was pulled for using the 'sacred' N word is part of the problem. Will this post get pulled if I call you a Honkey?
How would you know.. do you know the users true intended meaning?
How would you know.. do you know the users true intended meaning?
I know the context from which each word arises.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Nah. Jerry's planned appearance on Letterman Monday night was for no reason whatsoever. < /sarc>
Instead, talk shows everywhere were talking about this incident and, oh by the way, Seinfeld has a DVD coming out.
What exactly can you do in Hollywood nowadays to shock people? Come out as gay? Yawn. Come out for the terrorists? Yawn. Have sex with children? Michael Jackson has already beat them to it.
How about the tried-and-true N-bomb? Yeah, that's it!
Go get a gig at a comedy club and have somebody record you using the n-bomb. We'll sneak it onto the internet and then everybody we'll be talking about us. That's it!
But then Richards took the stunt too far and they have to seriously backpedal.
As the Democrats love to say, "The timing is suspicious."
I was more offended by the moveon.org fundraiser in New York with Whoopie Goldberg on stage. The Democrats laughed as she grabbed her crotch and made ref. to the president and his name. The entire matter was covered over. No film ever showed. I understand she was a pig and acted like she was a pathetic garbage spewing dirtbag. She and others trying to be comedians are not worth much. Upset about Richards? Let Goldberg apologize to everyone offended and maybe I will bother to be upset with other no talent nitwits.
check out chris rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q8LxO4wnCQ
South Park pulled it off without causing offended Negros to riot like offended muslimes.
Biggie Smalls and Butters calling each other nigger.
Once again it's not what you say, it's how it's said. In an informative setting, it's not offensive. In a truly comedic setting, it's not offensive. However in a derogatory hatefull setting it is. Ya gotta put things in context.
Has nobody asked where are THE HECKLERS seeking their 15 minutes of fame? Who bought them off to go away?
If I'd been the heckler, I'd be demanding MY time with Letterman, Larry King, Bill O'Reilly, etc. Geez, if John Mark Karr can have interviews on cable news, why can't I?
Agreed.
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