Is he kidding?
Being an outraged minority is a multi-million dollar a year business.
I guess Robert Byrd is and entertainer.
Is he kidding?
Being an outraged minority is a multi-million dollar a year business.
I have only seen or heard one genuinely funny comedy routine involving the use of the 'N-word': Dave Chappel's piece in which he plays a blind, black white-supremacist. It works precisely because it lampoons both racism, and the African-American embrace of the epithet.
(Actually I think Chappel's best work always works by simultaneously mocking white and black folk in complementary or contrasting ways.)
Ah, Stanley, take a chill pill.
Ain't it cool to own a word that honkies cannnot say??
Ain't it cool to own a word that honkies cannnot say??
KRAMER: I guess I screwed up!
MICKEY: You sure did. Big time.
http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheRace.html
Michael Richards was born in Culver City, California. What we southerners are suffering, if anything, is unintended but expected bigotry by the mainstream media, expressing their disdain for flyover country in general and the south in particular.
"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
Can we still use the word 'denigration'? You know what it means.
Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.. learned that over 50 years ago and it still works.. all these whiners who get 'offended' at 'names' are pathetic babies or just use it for other motives.
I rarely agree with Crouch, but he's right on this one. Once humor and wit were displaced by infantile spewings of obscenities and insults, this was bound to happen. When I look at many early comedies, prior to the Lenny Bruce generation, I marvel at how innocent they were - and how uproariously funny. All a performer had to do was raise a knowing eyebrow to get his message across, or do a simple double entendre that could get the audience laughing so hard they cried. But that took timing, smarts and theatrical personality.
"It was important for him to get right out and say he's sorry," said Wallace. "Jerry dropped his own standup bit on the show to make room for Michael.
"But this will damage him for a long time. You can go on TV every day and apologize and people will say you didn't."
Asked how he felt about Richards' outburst, Wallace - who is black - cracked, "It's about time someone told those Negroes to shut up."
****
He is a very funny guy. I feel like I've been laughing with him for thirty years. I saw him a few times live. He's an old pro.
He always wanted to be a comedian even when he was a little boy. But he went and got two degrees in marketing and sales at Akron (Ohio) way back when. Then he went off to try his hand at what he really wanted to do. I'm glad that he did.
He is a very funny guy.
He is a very funny guy.............. and he is black.
"The question, however, is what exactly did the patrons suffer?"
Evidently, they suffered a greatly enhanced sense of opportunity for unearned revenue.
If Barbra Streisand can have paid hecklers in the crowd she can use an excuse to launch into an anti-Bush tirade, why can't Richards have paid black hecklers in the crowd for him to denigrate, conveniently caught on video and timed to happen at the same time Seinfeld's next season is released on DVD?
They probably told the dolt to say something controversial but then he took it too far and it backfired on him.
I smell a set-up.
Nice to see a limosine liberal get their racism caught on camera. Watch how hollyweird will attempt to cover for their brother.
From Boston Herald Inside Track:
http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=168650
"...Two other comedy club patrons Carol Oschin and J.P. Fillet, reported to TMZ.com that Richards’ recent racial rant at the West Hollywood laugh palace was a flashback to the not-so-stand-up guy’s gig at The Improv in La-La in April. The duo recalled that in the middle of Richards’ skit, a man in the crowd yelled something to the comedian whereupon Kramer’s alter ego launched into an anti-Semitic diatribe.
Oschin said Richards started shouting, “You (bleep)ing Jew. You people are the cause of Jesus dying.”
Again, sound familiar?
He continued railing against the man until storming off the stage in a fit, she said.
As for Richards’ April outburst, Rubenstein says his client insisted that he’s “not anti-Semitic,” and “was playing a role and poking fun at the rednecks.”
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.