Modified On August 13, 2012
This AFP article discusses the two new comedy shows– one hosted by David Alan Grier, the other hosted by DL Hughley— that enable Comedy Central and CNN to safely peddle satirical commentary on Barack Obama, should he be elected president.
Good luck to both hosts and good luck to their writing staffs.
Lena Williams, 58, who authored a book about subtle racism in America, said she laughed when Grier plastered on a gray wig and impersonated the poet Maya Angelou praising the new president, while her sister was offended.
“When he did Maya, you had to laugh because she has that regal way about her. But my sister said, ‘I am so tired of black comedians making fun of black women,'” Williams said.
And Williams admitted to her own lingering concerns about some of the jokes.
“There is a serious danger,” she said, recalling the violence of past decades. “That is why the older generation has some problems with some of these shows. It reinforces the caricature.”
Huh?
Danger? Violence of past decades? It’s a comedy show. How would you like to be on the staffs of these shows with cranks like this in the audience?
Both shows are screwed either way. If Obama is elected, they’ll be handcuffed. Their ability to make fun of the the president will be severely limited by college professors, poets, reverends– all of them variously “offended” or “worried” or decrying the “danger” of such mockery. They’ll cite “violence of the past decades” or vicious frat boys who might take the material the wrong way. Of course, the worst pressure to squelch the merry-making will come from DNC and Obama himself. (Just today, he tossed three reporters off the campaign plane because their newspapers endorsed his opponent. If this is how he treats members of the Fourth Estate, just try to envision how much patience he’s have for the guys and gals in the writers’ room.)
And, if he’s not elected, well, what’s the sense of making fun of the guy who lost? The abovementioned poets and profs will be even more cranky and less inclined to tolerate Grier’s and Hughley’s edgy, race-based bashing (if that’s possible!) and the air would be sucked out of that comedy balloon pretty quickly.
We are fascinated by this quote, from a professor of “cross-cultural studies”
The second thing, in the back of the minds of many African-Americans, is of course the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, and the fear that racists could actually use violence so let’s not make a big deal of the fact that he’s black.”
In an article about humor, they ask a college professor a couple of questions and he almost immediately starts talking about two of the most horrendous political assassinations of the last century. This does not bode well for these two shows.
And, depending on how things shape up on November 4, this does not bode well for comedy in general.
Stay tuned.