In the spirit of our viewing of Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" I wanted to share this. Please click on this link: Minstrel Cramps, to view this picture and comments on mobypicture. Side note I did not even know this social site existed until I encountered this picture, but I am guessing it is like a combo of facebook and twitter. Anyway, this lady's name is (at least the profile's name) is Sarah Sliverman, and she posted this picture with this caption, "I have minstrel cramps."
Some of the comments were:
"Sarah Silverman And now your suffering Post Minstrel Syndrome Because some idiots thought this pic was Racist? ha ha I thought it was funny! Not Racist at all! Just a play on words."
"Sarah Silverman STFU!! racist cunt."
"mmmm pancakes"
This is just wrong on so many levels! Going beyond the obvious use of black face, it is wrong because it also objectifies and demeans women. First, the fact that it is a play on words with the biological womanly function that may lead to menstrual cramps. Second, this picture gives off the impression that being a woman with menstrual cramps is something that is negative. Or am I being too sensitive. By the majority of the comments mots people found this picture quite entertaining. So is this picture simply just a play of words as one of the comments suggest? Nothing more.
Is it ok she is in black face because she herself is a woman, and as suggested in one of the comments a comedian? Are we as Americans too sensitive and politically correct? Thoughts anyone?
"Sarah Silverman STFU!! racist cunt."
"mmmm pancakes"
This is just wrong on so many levels! Going beyond the obvious use of black face, it is wrong because it also objectifies and demeans women. First, the fact that it is a play on words with the biological womanly function that may lead to menstrual cramps. Second, this picture gives off the impression that being a woman with menstrual cramps is something that is negative. Or am I being too sensitive. By the majority of the comments mots people found this picture quite entertaining. So is this picture simply just a play of words as one of the comments suggest? Nothing more.
Is it ok she is in black face because she herself is a woman, and as suggested in one of the comments a comedian? Are we as Americans too sensitive and politically correct? Thoughts anyone?
I don't think you are being sensitive, however this is exactly what we talked about (which you mentioned) where comedians think that they have somewhat of a "racial immunity," that they can make racist (and sexist) jokes because they are only doing it for the laughs (even if they may be racist themselves). I will say that in some cases, yes we as Americans can be a bit sensitive on certain subjects, however this example is over the line, and not entertaining in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThanks Damian. I know that skilled comedians are always pushing the line with political correctness and some do it with skill in class without making offense to cause attention to an social/ political matter that needs attention. By no way do I believe in squashing a person's creativity and most times I am not easily offended. In saying that there has to be a line that should never be crossed and this act (picture) was one of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you are being too sensitive Shawn. I feel this way too when I come across content similar to this. I don't find this picture funny at all. Because Sarah is a female comedian I think people are able to acknowledge the humor in the picture and are less offended by it. At the same time people feel sympathy for her. Our society is sympathetic towards her because she is a woman so her racist jokes do not sting as much. If this picture was of a popular male comedian in the media today, I believe the comments/reactions would have been way worse. I agree with you in that she definitely crossed a line here considering this image is still very offensive for blacks today.
ReplyDeleteThanks Janel. I agree and you made a great point, that if this was a white male comedian that appeared in black face this picture would have not been received well at all. It is very apparent that the messenger plays a big role on perception and how the content is translated. I do not mind in "your face" type of humor and even uncomfortable humor as long as the point is clear. This act is just plain tasteless.
DeleteI found this very degrading first because many people lack the ability to understand the strong emotions that come with portraying such a picture, and then linking it to another important topic such as sexism(for the male audience, who might find this funny). I understand the fact that “comedians” have the ability to get away with such offensive type of work, however it is important to acknowledge that when using such stereotypical ideas it is essential to at least get a message across. This can be done by adding content that relates to what you are trying to portray. It is important to acknowledge that the best type of comedians or even the famous ones use their comedy to portray an idea or to get across their audience by showing certain things. The only purpose is not to make their audience laugh, but understand certain things as well. This picture can across “funny” to certain people however I agree with you that this picture is wrong, especially because she is not trying to show any concept and only posting to get feedback. She might have gotten away with it because she is a women, however she is not trying to get attention for the political aspect of it; therefore it is wrong in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree Zeba, she definitely used her "woman" license for the play of words and one could argue she used her minority status (being Jewish) as a license to appear in black face. Yet what is astounding is that she is exploiting the use of this minstrel with no clear motivation or objective for the sake of being funny. Which ultimately defeats her credibility as an comedian.
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