Laura Bell Bundy's racist(?) caricature- Page 4

[PeterJamesZielinski]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:04pm

You can't scream for Equality in life and then not have it go both ways.

If you think this is harmful and racist then you must take this type of humor out of every culture. If Laura Bell Bundy can't do it, then Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle can't do it. Margaret Cho can't do it. Etc, etc.

Eventually people of your hyper sensitive mindset will just drain society of everything makes it great by over labeling it and complaining.

You're ridiculous. Go see a Broadway show and enjoy yourself.

Stop nitpicking this minuscule bull****.

If you find it funny...great.

If you don't...turn it off and stop bothering the people who CAN take a ****ing joke.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:20pm

songandd-man, I didn't say they get a pass. I just said it's not racism, which is a culturally institutionalized mechanism that contributes to keeping people who are not of the dominant culture dominated.

If you think this is harmful and racist then you must take this type of humor out of every culture. If Laura Bell Bundy can't do it, then Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle can't do it. Margaret Cho can't do it. Etc, etc

The difference is of course that what they are doing is speaking truth to power. Much different. They are not overtaking the power and using it against the institutionalized power because, well, the culture is set up to prevent that.

I don't know the tone you intended your post Peter, but to me it reads as if you're about to blow a gasket. I'm not sure why taking on an issue that is brought up in the thread and contributing my analysis to it is "nitpicking bs," it's just contributing to the thread. And, um, "go and see a Broadway show" is not first on my list of relaxation activities.

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 12:20 PM

[Almira]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:34pm

"If you find it funny...great.

If you don't...turn it off and stop bothering the people who CAN take a ****ing joke." - PeterJamesZielinski


I sounds like you are saying if you find this caricature of black stereotypes funny, I applaud you. If you don't, shut up about it because you are killing our buzz.

I guess because you aren't offended, all discussion by those who are offended shouldn't be allowed.

As far as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Margaret Cho, why do you assume that the people who find Bundy offensive don't find what they do offensive? All three of them have been criticized by their own communities.

No one here is saying any of them "can't do that." But it does sound like you are saying that if someone doesn't find Bundy funny, they shouldn't be allowed to discuss it.

You may want to take your own advice: If you won't want to hear why people might be offended, don't read this thread an go see a Broadway show.

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 12:34 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:38pm

And personally, I don't think Laura Bell's thing is hideous or unforgivably offensive (like, say, Mel Gibson or Shirley Q. Liquor) and that not all racism is created equal. I just wanted to chime in that people who love her (and I like her a lot) saying, "It's funny, it's not racist" doesn't mean that's true.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 2:34pm

How do you feel about the Tracy Ullman skits, Namo?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tracy+ullman+shaneesha+briansbro&aq=f

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 02:34 PM

[sondhead]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 2:53pm

"As far as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Margaret Cho, why do you assume that the people who find Bundy offensive don't find what they do offensive?"

Because it is being suggested that racism is only when white people make fun of other races, and never the other way around. Read above.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:10pm

Because I generally see these sorts of things the way Namo and PalJoey do and because I like to believe my views on race are on a continuum rather than immutable, I've given this a lot of thought.

I think it's this comment


And personally, I don't think Laura Bell's thing is hideous or unforgivably offensive (like, say, Mel Gibson or Shirley Q. Liquor) and that not all racism is created equal. I just wanted to chime in that people who love her (and I like her a lot) saying, "It's funny, it's not racist" doesn't mean that's true.

that makes me think, yeah, you are probably right.

Not that it was asked of me, but I don't know where to stand on the Tracy Ullmann charactere Mr Midwest just linked to. I guess I've always on some level believed that intention plays a part (and that just because I think it so means other people do, or even that I'm right) and since Tracy is known for being a satirist that I don't really blink any eye. I didn't feel a negative intention from Laura B's either, but because I can argue even with myself, I know that just because something doesn't have a negative intention doesn't mean it's not racist.

So, I do not know. At all. About ANYTHING.

A harmonious Saturday to all!

with love,

Mrs. Stone

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:16pm

Fascinating discussion. Like Phyl, I phyl--uh, feel--a lot of complicated and contradictory things.

Namo, a genuine question for you: Are you saying that Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitic statements (assuming we agree that they are) can't be considered racist because he doesn't belong to the U.S.'s dominant culture?

[Almira]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:20pm

"Because it is being suggested that racism is only when white people make fun of other races, and never the other way around. Read above."- sondhead

Really?.. "never"... I've heard/read/sceen many white people cry racism from comics commenting on/mimicking white people.

Most people disregard these cries because they usually come from the type that is also upset that the NAACP is more socially accepted than the KKK.

If white people are offended that their race and status is being mocked or portrayed as inferior they should speak up more. But to suggest calls on racism is "never" the other way around is not true.

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 03:20 PM

[sondhead]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:27pm

Sigh... No, actually read up the post

"...as far as the [rac]ism is concerned, that's something that can only come from a member of the dominant culture when aimed at members of minority cultures."

I was only talking about within the context of this post. That opinion was expressed, and people responded to it. Then someone read the response and not what it was a response to and wondered why it had been posted.
Updated On: 7/17/10 at 03:27 PM

[Almira]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:36pm

*Sigh*

I followed your "Read above" instructions. However there are MANY posts above.

Which post you were indicating was to say the least.. vague. So I simply commented on my own quote that you posted in your response.

Heavy *Sigh*

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 03:36 PM

[jpbran]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 7:25pm

Ah, just two days ago, courtesy of Ms. P.R. Stone:

"Also, I'm duly impressed that we're all having a discussion about race on BWW that has as of yet not devolved into tantrums and nonsense. :)"

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 7:38pm

Well, it's never a real race thread until we have to hear the plight of the poor beleaguered white man. :)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 7:44pm

I said earlier that the Tracey Ullman blackface characters made me uncomfortable, as anytime a white person puts on blackface makes me uncomfortable because I believe it is impossible to remove it from the loaded historical context from whence it sprang.

Having said that, I believe, RuPaul notwithstanding, Charles Knipp is coming from a much crueller place as Shirley Q than say Tracey, Laura Bell or even Fred Arnisen doing Obama. I think that kind of lampooning is ipso facto racist and all white people are racist and I don't know why people defend against that with such vehemence. Are there people whose racism can do almost no harm in the world because they are completely powerless and have zero cultural impact? Yes. Are there those whose racism can result in horrific criminal activity and those who maintain the status quo of institutional racism? Absolutely. Like Phyll said, it's a continuum.

I'm sorry I got all Stokely Carmichael on everybody's ass, but his definition of institutional racism is the one I subscribe to. No person of color has EVER reversed the cogs of institutionalized racism and used it against the dominant culture.

And Reg, I believe Farrahkhan's stark raving anti-Semitism is the the byproduct of oppressed minorities oppressing other minorities.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 7:47pm

The difference between LBB's character and many well-known comedians who use this type of humor (Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman, etc) seems, to me, is that many comedians and satirists use it to reveal or comment on the racist nature of society AND entertain, rather than just entertain.

Our nation isn't as progressive as white people would like to think- and all one has to do is look at a high school history textbook to see it. Or, more accurately, not see it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:02pm

I agree. And I wish Sarah Silverman's satire worked more than 50% of the time.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:34pm

I really don't think this is racist at all. She is imitating sassy hair dressers, not sassy black hairdressers. Many sassy hair dressers like this are white.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:40pm

I'd agree with you if everything about this character did not say otherwise.

[SingMeASong]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:04pm

Black and lovin' it!

[Piper3500]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:39pm

this reminds me of when Harry Connick Jr went off on an Australian talent show when a bunch of kids did black face to do the Jackson 5. the subject matter that is, not the photo.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:44pm

"If you think this is harmful and racist then you must take this type of humor out of every culture. If Laura Bell Bundy can't do it, then Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle can't do it. Margaret Cho can't do it. Etc, etc. "

I agree with you and yet there are some idiots like Sherri Sheppard who says "we can make fun ourselves, but i white person cain't!" it is all wacky

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 1:03am

"some idiots"?

Really, piper? Did you read this thread or just skip to the end and add on?

[Piper3500]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 1:18am

i read the thread and watched the video and chose to comment on Peter James post and added my own thought about Sherri Sheppard who IMO is an idiot most times. she spouts that crap "we can, but you cain't" in the drawl she uses to bring up a point about this topic. there are others who think like she does. it's ridiculous. you can't laugh at one person, and then call "racism" when it's a white person. LBB was doing a "character" plain and simple.

Did the white Oklahoman country singers freak out when Keenan Thompson did a spoof playing Reba on an SNL short? I don't remember any backlash.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 1:41am

Um, I don't think you're really grasping the concept.


Try this. And if you can't see the difference I'll be surprised.

Updated On: 7/18/10 at 01:41 AM

[Paulyd]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 7:16am

Well I think this is ****ing brilliant and not the least bit offensive.