Humor Going Too Far?

Posted 2/10/2009 by DJ NY in Labels: , , , , , , , ,

I came across some videos on YouTube that made me think about the world we live in, black culture, and its music. My roommate Alex (who is white) was laughing hysterically at a video made by the wonderful writers at Saturday Night Live. Alex and I pretty much share the same views on everything that goes on in the world. We laugh at the same jokes and part of our day consists of watching Comedy Central and YouTube. It is kind of awkward watching a Katt Williams special with him because of the excessive use of the "N" word; but Katt keeps it real with everybody, so it didn't really bother me that much. Alex is also a big fan of Dave Chappelle, which is cool, but also made me think: does he go around quoting it like I do or does he say it in his head, and why does it appeal to him? I just never thought about it from the other perspective before (and I want to know what that is). 

Anyway, this was all in the back of my mind until he said, "Brandon, you have to see this video". I got off the couch and looked at the video, and this is what I saw...



I actually got a chuckle out of it, but then I thought: 
This is what we are calling hip-hop and people have every right to mock it. I take a lot of pride in [HIP-HOP] music. But as proven by the video, all you need is T-Pain on a hook and the record is a hit. I felt embarrassed for hip-hop. It was like Alex was saying: HAHA...SNL is making fun of the music you listen to. It's a shame that the formula to a hit record is: to make a stupid hook talking about nothing important, and say the word motherf*cker and b*ch all through the lyrics, and people will support it. Hip-hop has become a joke.

I have also subscribed to collegehumor on YouTube and I saw this video today...



Was that really necessary??? Yeah, it was supposed to be funny, but could it have been just as funny without using the "N" word? (Again, I can only speak from my perspective) But as a group of [mostly] white guys is it right to put that out there for your mostly white audience to laugh at, and immitate? I was moderately offended by this video, but again this is the way hip-hop is portrayed and I can't be mad at collegehumor for that.

My questions to you are do I need to lighten up or are you agreement with me? 

If you are white, what is your perspective on these type of videos and black comedy, (such as Katt Williams, Dave Chappelle) and if it is funny to you explain why?

I just wanted to say that this is just my point of view and I have the same amount of respect for a white person as I do for a black person; I'm just trying to get some insight on why some white people think these things are funny. Why is it OK for white people to imitate blacks (slang, dress, etc) and say the "N" word? 

I have two more videos I want to show and you can take it however you want to. My intent for this blog is not to bash white people, because its not right to blame a whole race for something that a couple thousand people are doing (that last part of my sentence might have went over your head).



After seeing this, 3 white guys went in a car and repeated the same exact words as seen in this video. The video got taken off YouTube after months of flagging. Is it right for these guys to do that? Absolutely not. They were loosely throwing the "N" word around in the car like it was no-one's business, and had the nerve to put it up on YouTube.  I wish it was up there now, just to show you what I'm talking about, but I can't because YouTube was forced to take it down.

The last video is just Chris Rock's opinion on white people saying the "N" word




Make sure you respond to the questions or tell me what you think. Peace.
(and oh yeah...I know I haven't blogged in a while, I've just been too busy. But I do have some other things that I want to post... so stay tuned.)


4 comment(s) to... “Humor Going Too Far?”

4 comments:

CtotheB said...

Dope commentary my dude



DJ NY said...

...preciate it



Anonymous said...

The N word reeks of bigotry and ignorance.

The use of the word by someone automatically discredits them in my opinion either as inarticulate, ignorant, racist. In some cases, all of the above.

From a white perspective, I'm not quite sure why a culture (mainstream rap, specifically) would want to perpetuate this brand. Perhaps it gives the rappers an "authentic," streets appeal to the consumers of rap music. But it's not their fault, if their is a market for the word (and the connotations that go along with it, positive and negative), someone will be there to deliver it.

I'll never understand how using the word can be unifying word, linguistic symbolism, or a term of endearment.



DJ NY said...

totally missed my point...but I agree with what you are saying.

My question is why does it appeal to white people so much? ...and do they have the right to make fun of it?




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