Serenity Now!
Let’s reflect for a moment on Mel Gibson’s drunk driving arrest.
Calling a female cop “sugartits” is certainly a drunken ramble, regardless of whether the female in question is in possession of a rack one could honestly refer to as sugary. Carnality tends to sit just beneath the surface for most of us; get a few drinks in me, and I’ll blather on at some length about any number of sexual questions. (Come to think of it, I’d probably do it sober, too.)
But the problem with Gibson’s “We all know Jews rule the world” act ends up being the exact same problem with Michael Richards’ “nigger” serenade, thrown at black comedy club audience members last week: “nigger” just doesn’t sit on the tips of regular people’s tongues, and it certainly doesn’t become the answer to most people’s common annoyances without first being ingrained in one’s common thoughts.
Having spent some time in my early 20s working at a comedy club, I can tell you “nigger” is not how stand up comedians defend themselves on stage. Oh, they’ll make fun of your general appearance, your job, your parents, your drunkenness … here and there, they’ll simply demand you shut the fuck up. (The best example of this I’ve ever seen came from a female comedian, whose name now eludes me; but she was a filthy and fairly amusing little thing. If I think of her name, I promise to post it here.) But what they don’t do, unless they’re cracking wise at a Klan hall of fame dinner, is drop a dozen n-bombs in about ninety seconds time.
And now with noted hack attorney Gloria Allred in the picture – she’s representing the black audience members, to what rational end no one really knows – this will continue to get stupider and stupider until someone finally scratches out a check (of whose final pre-tax amount Allred will take it upon herself to pilfer a very large percentage), which will succeed only in slightly enriching a few people’s bank accounts.
Concurrent to the settlement check, Richards will write another to the NAACP (or similar) and sit with either Jackson or Sharpton (or similar) for an hour or so, at which point Richards will pronounced contrite by the black leader in question. And white people will nod. Truth is, we don’t know what else to do. In modern history’s nearsighted eyes, a couple checks and one meeting will seem like enough.
Calling a female cop “sugartits” is certainly a drunken ramble, regardless of whether the female in question is in possession of a rack one could honestly refer to as sugary. Carnality tends to sit just beneath the surface for most of us; get a few drinks in me, and I’ll blather on at some length about any number of sexual questions. (Come to think of it, I’d probably do it sober, too.)
But the problem with Gibson’s “We all know Jews rule the world” act ends up being the exact same problem with Michael Richards’ “nigger” serenade, thrown at black comedy club audience members last week: “nigger” just doesn’t sit on the tips of regular people’s tongues, and it certainly doesn’t become the answer to most people’s common annoyances without first being ingrained in one’s common thoughts.
Having spent some time in my early 20s working at a comedy club, I can tell you “nigger” is not how stand up comedians defend themselves on stage. Oh, they’ll make fun of your general appearance, your job, your parents, your drunkenness … here and there, they’ll simply demand you shut the fuck up. (The best example of this I’ve ever seen came from a female comedian, whose name now eludes me; but she was a filthy and fairly amusing little thing. If I think of her name, I promise to post it here.) But what they don’t do, unless they’re cracking wise at a Klan hall of fame dinner, is drop a dozen n-bombs in about ninety seconds time.
And now with noted hack attorney Gloria Allred in the picture – she’s representing the black audience members, to what rational end no one really knows – this will continue to get stupider and stupider until someone finally scratches out a check (of whose final pre-tax amount Allred will take it upon herself to pilfer a very large percentage), which will succeed only in slightly enriching a few people’s bank accounts.
Concurrent to the settlement check, Richards will write another to the NAACP (or similar) and sit with either Jackson or Sharpton (or similar) for an hour or so, at which point Richards will pronounced contrite by the black leader in question. And white people will nod. Truth is, we don’t know what else to do. In modern history’s nearsighted eyes, a couple checks and one meeting will seem like enough.
posted by Brian S. Wise | 7:37 PM
<< Home