hurtful humor

There are many comical shows on tv now that feature comedians poking fun at people in the news, Hollywood, or even youtube clips. Shows like the Soup, Chelsea Lately, John Stewart, and Tosh.0 are just some of the few that make a career off of tearing other people a part. Tosh.0 for example does video breakdowns where he finds funny clips on youtube and analyzes them to poke fun at the people in the video. He often uses racial remarks or stereotypes to get a few laughs. While I have seen his show and do laugh most of the time, it seems like this is a new genre of comedy. Jokes that often would offend people are the talk of the town. One major issue with this type of show is that people will often mimic the jokes or that type of humor not realizing how offensive it can be. Depending on who your audience is, things can be taken differently to each person. Having jokes spread like this can also lead the misunderstanding that there is any shred of truth to these statements. Often jokes can be used to hurt people on purpose and the more offensive jokes are used the more the one-liners can turn into statements. Someone can repeat it to someone else who does not know its a joke and then downfall begins from there.

Is it really necessary to use this kind of humor to make a joke? Is it really funny in the end? At this point in time I cannot even think of other comedy shows that do not poke fun at people or cultures so it seems that this is pretty much the main if not only type of show out there. While this is the style most comedians use, when is too much too far? I have heard my fair share of racist jokes that are being repeated and they heard to from someone or a professional comedian, but when there is humor involved, the lines or intention often get blurry. People use humor or sarcasm to mask how they really feel this way they can say what they want to but avoid the consequences or if someone does get mad, in the end it was just a joke. I still do not know my complete stance on this subject but I do think there needs to be some boundaries lines drawn. I cannot help but feel like some of the animosity out there is just fueled by this kind of humor.

There is a new McDonalds commercial that has been aired in France featuring a father and son eating lunch at McDonalds. This scenario sounds pretty familiar and nothing we have not seen in America before, but one thing that differs from this commercial and other McDonalds commercials we have seen is that this one features a gay boy hiding his sexuality from his father. In the end, the slogan says come as you are. This idea of acceptance is lacking in many aspects of the media that we see everyday. The simple phrase come as you are does not jump out and offend anyone but also sends a big message. There was nothing outrageous in this commercial, just a father having lunch with his son, but the very subtle words and clues used to signal the boy was gay speaks volumes for their company. While they have yet to release anything like this in the United States, it goes to show that there are ads out there advocating for a change in media. Everyone and anyone is accepted there and they want you to know it. At the same time you feel bad for the boy because he is struggling with communicating with his father. It would be hard for anyone to sit and watch this without feeling any sympathy for him. While he never comes out to say anything, the end almost seems like the commercial is cheering for him as well as anyone else feeling like an outcast. We should all want to say come as you are, and all media should portray that same idea. No matter who you are, who you love, or what you believe in, you should be able to have the same things everyone else does. One should be able to openly discuss how they feel with family members and the fact that he can't shows the issues many others face as well. This is also featured in Glee with Kurt and his dad. While his father knows he is gay, they struggle with not having common interests or interests hegemonic norms want us to believe fathers and sons should share. Going back to my main point of this entry shows that this commercial should be a model for many other ads and media outlets. I guarantee this commercial did not push away customers or cause them to lose business. Instead, it gave the company a whole new image or acceptance. Now if only America would jump on board since this is not the first time there have been similar commercials aired in the UK and US that are changed to fit our norms.

Obsession

In our recent articles about Fandom and Stardom, it mainly discussed regular people looking up to celebrities. Celebrities are suppose to be these icons of achievement balled up into everything we want but will never have, a very depressing thought when you consider who is famous currently. My generation have created a whole new identity of celebrities because you can now be famous for just being a hot mess or being arrested. High standards are still provided but the Lindsay Lohans of the world are still just as famous as the Jennifer Anistons. In between was born as new celebrity. The reality show celebrity. How tv stations pick the people for those shows I do not know but reality tv stars has become a whole new category. Seeing as we hold celebrities on these pedestals makes me want to critique celebrities who wants to be perfect. The first name that comes to mind is Heidi Montag. Self made fame whore, Heidi started on the MTV reality series the Hills. She was the best friend to the lead role and started off as the innocent girl from a small town. After a season or two, her plastic surgery charade began. First it was minor changes, but eventually it led up to what we see now in the current season and many tabloid magazines. Her desire to be perfect or ideal caused her to have many surgeries in one day. Not only did she risk her life but she looks like she came out of the mattel factory right next to Skipper. Her surgery supposedly made her have the perfect face and body, etc. Instead she no longer looks real. This just goes to show how the lime light causes celebrities to want to buy into our obsessions with them. They want to continue to be held on this pedestal, to be seen as perfection that no one else can achieve except for in this case her perfection can be paid for at a really high price. Her own stardom caused her to obsess about perfection and I cannot help but wonder if she never was on the show to begin with would she still be the small town girl from Colorado. I think stardom and fandom can ooze into celebrity world as well. We think that we are idolizing people that we can never be like and that pedestal causes them to have to live up to our expectations. When they fail we enjoy their down fall and when they succeed we are jealous of their accomplishments or look up to them as idols. Actors and Actresses, musicians, artists of all kinds say they want to go into the business to pursue a dream but do some just really wanna be famous? People do not have to have any real talent any more as long as you can make a profit, you are valuable. It really makes you think where these people will be in a few years as shows like the Hills come to an end. Will they be desperate to find work just to stay in the spotlight, will they follow their passions, or will they fade into the background amongst many other celebrities that lost their ten minutes.

In the show Will and Grace, it centers around the relationships of heterosexual and homosexual men and women. With a show that bases so much of its content on homosexual characters lacks in representing a wide variety of aspects. While I love the show and think it is a great sitcom, it just plays into the rest of the sitcom stereotypes. They give you the gay character but they only give you part of it. It is nice, however, to see the characters not fall into the same dynamic that other sitcoms often do. Instead they show Will and Jack, the two main gay characters, having multiple relationships that are not always monogamous. This is a big change since most other shows portray gays as having the same mindset that everyone is suppose to have drilled into them and even though heterosexuals are represented in the media as having more than one kind of relationship mindset, it is nice to see a gay person not seen in the media light as being married or having children. It is important to give gays the same representation as heterosexuals have especially because of the day and age we live in. People are a lot more open minded so why shouldn't media be. Even still the show Will and Grace does not come full circle by any means. They show did have an episode where Jack was so desperately waiting the gay kiss that was suppose to be featured on his favorite television show but was not shown because of network censorship. This kiss was made a big deal on the show and in the end Will ends up kissing Jack to show that major kiss but despite the message that was shown by the show, it never really went above that level of intimacy. They never really had that much that went beyond a peck or two and even then that was not seen very often. This was kinda strange considering the fact that the show surrounded two gay men. In fact, most of the kissing was seen between the men and women despite the fact that the men were gay. This lack of representation plays into the articles and speculation of the media and how they only show certain amount of homosexuality.

Stereotypes occur in media everyday but what happens when one stereotype takes on another? Is it offensive to a culture even though stereotypes are often seen in a negative light or does it just create a whole new identity to stereotype? We have often seen different cultures blend especially in the media realm i.e. white rappers. Rapping is linked mostly to the African American culture and attributes to the hardcore identity that is stemmed from a life of struggle. What happens though when people like Eminem join the scene and behave just like the black rapper stereotype we have known for years. If I remember correctly he was not taken seriously right away but his relationship with respected rappers like Dr. Dre helped reinforce his identity and gave him credibility. Now he is seen to have talent and capability from what I have seen and heard but coming from a background that lacks in rapper world knowledge I would not say I am an expert by any means. There is then the crowd that sees Eminem and follows his identity to create white rapper wannabes and while Eminem grew up in a trailer park and raps about his drunken mother, these kids grew up in upper class suburban families. Are they know less credible even if they have talent? This whole new culture that popped up where white kids are going against the hegemonic norm and behaving like a culture that is stereotypically suppose to act a certain way. So even if the stereotype that black people can rap and have certain images is offensive then can they also be offended that someone from another identity would be imitating their supposed identity or are they just viewed as being obscene. This also comes into play with language and slang. Is it okay for one group to use certain words and not everyone. I know with some words it is but I am talking about more everyday words. There is so much slang out there but if someone white says it are they less credible and less hardcore and just look stupid. When people say they are from the ghetto but are really from suburbs that maybe just are not as affluent as others, is it offensive to people who actually live in the ghetto? This ties into media usage and how they can joke around about stereotypes and use phrases and images to convey meanings that might be trying to shed light on a certain situation, but are misunderstood and repeated. If viewers are not aware that there are certain shows that poke fun of things to bring awareness like SNL and MADtv which have many outrageous skits that can be interpreted in various different ways. People can get offended or they can repeat what they hear or act out what they see without thinking about the underlying messages. All these things play into the identities media created and how we use them everyday to create our own identities.

While this video is fairly old, I was recently reminded of it after watching the NOM video “Gathering Storm.” This topic in general is important but not what the main focus of this post is going to be about. Instead I want to talk about the main tactics they used to portray their message and why this video was one of the best responses put out. Gathering Storm uses actors portraying so called real life experiences. I have no way to tell you if this is true or not but we will give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment. Even so they use a wide variety of races in their actors despite my assumption that it is not significant of the race the real person was. They use this to make it seem like the storm is coming for everyone and its gonna throw you into Oz like dorothy except munchkin land will be homosexual land. They make it seem like we should all be afraid with their fearful tone and the dark clouds rumbling behind them. All this is called out in the video response weathering the storm. Unlike most of the responses, this one is not a parody, it does not poke fun at the video ever but instead use the same type of tone. Instead of black clouds they have a sunset like vision behind them, they show individuals that are showing how their rights and lives are being restricted because of certain laws. Who decides what love is considered real love and who is worthy or not of getting married. Religion aside, there are more than churches to get married in. Without getting too side tracked with my thoughts on the subject, the video points out that fear is being used to scare others into being opposed to other people living as they choose as if it will some how threaten their existence or livelihood. They used emotional support in each, the first through fear and the second through sadness and showing that one thing most people take for granted is something they don’t have which in a time like this when generations have fought so hard for equal rights and people are still being oppressed because a lifestyle choice. Last time I checked I had all my rights so why can’t everyone.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

There is a new controversial video out and it is M.I.A's new music video for Born Free. The video originally began its controversy when youtube decided to ban the video from being aired on their site. They claimed the graphic content was too mature and they would no longer be showing it. While the video is pretty hard to watch, there is a message she is trying to put out there with this video. While I have my own ideas, I will leave everyone to interpret their own as well because that is not the point of this blog. Youtube is known for being a site that is commonly used to share and watch videos. You can add your own or just watch the mass amount of pop culture that lives there. With the magnitude of graphic and adult content on the internet, when do we know someone has gone too far. I know I have seen video games with the same kind of content only way more bloodshed. Is there a difference between violence when it is an image of a real person or a digital image being portrayed. To me violence is violence and most video games that come out now make me sick to my stomach but some how it is okay for those to be available on youtube and not a video made with a purpose that goes beyond entertainment. I think or would at least hope that people would be aware that this is not actual footage since the murders appear very digitally enhanced but it still was enough to make youtube reconsider allowing this video to be aired on their website. So again I come back to my question of censorship. Where do we draw the line and when is enough actually too much? While the internet is accessible to anyone of any age as long as there is a warning label legally it is okay. So how come that kind of violence is inappropriate but shows like the secret life of the american teenager, which targets a young teen audience, allowed to always talk about sex. I would think that both contents are slightly inappropriate for that age group. The Born Free video however would not really appeal to that audience especially because she is not really known to them so really the only way most would even see the video is with all this commotion about it now. They are going to want to see what the big deal is and guess what it is still on the internet for anyone to see. So what is the harm in keeping it on youtube. Give it a mature rating and call it a day because the content is still out there and not just in this particular video. There are thousands of violent games and movies being watched every day but because this is more personal it suddenly becomes more offensive. Well to those I say this, if you don't like it, don't watch it!