Everybody is used to stereotypes. It is usually the first thing that comes to mind when you meet new people, they are those little preconceived notions everybody has about everybody else in order to define certain people's characteristics or just simply define them into a certain group. The fact is that many people are often upset when they're stereotypes are confused or don't come true.
When I was at Indiana University at Bloomington before I transferred, the first thing that people noticed was that I did not have an Indian accent when I spoke. The first reactions I got out of people was the astonishment that I did not fit the criteria for an Indian international student. The stereotype there was that all the Indians had an Indian accent, they all hung out with the rest of the Indians on campus. Being on the receiving end of the confusion was an interesting experience, but I have been on the other side as well, I never actually thought of how strange it is when you hear something you don't expect to hear coming from certain people.
These stereotypes are usually formed through the mass exposure to different types of media. I know one big influence for me was listening to various different stand up comedians and hearing people tell jokes about what the comedians were talking about. The basis for many comedians' material are exposing the different stereotypes that we all know about but giving it a more entertaining factor. The stand-up comedians I most listened to were Russell Peters and Robin Williams. Their material revolves around exploring the different stereotypes that emerge from all the different nationalities in the world. For example, Russell Peters usually makes fun of Indians, and in one clip he talks about how Indians are usually lazy and are not fit for manual labor, but can do math very well and he makes a joke about how if an Indian were a slave, it would be counterproductive but he would offer to do your taxes instead. The bulk of Robin Williams' material revolves around similar topics. My question is, is it ethical to exploit these stereotypes for humor? Will people take it the way it is meant to be seen or will people take the jokes too personally?
People do not take jokes from russel peters seriously. I have seen him live and I understand what you mean about how he jokes using stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteAlso I can absolutely relate to the indian stereotype because I am an indian too. I have experienced that look of shock my self
Great questions you raised at the end of the essay. I can identify w/ your personal experience too.
ReplyDeleteBut the title "stand-up comedy" is kind of a misnomer--you mainly talk about stereotypes and didn't go deeper into the stand-up comedy as a genre (of media). It's hard to make blanket statements about stand-up comedy w/out going deeper into at least one examples. I would like to see you exploring one media artifact and go for the depth.
c.d.
I have watched a few Russel Peters stand up comedy on youtube. When I watched the one he talks about Chinese people being really stingy and cheap, I laughed and did not feel offended because I know this is somewhat true in our Chinese culture. Answer to your question, I think it really depends on each person to see how they take the joke about their stereotype.
ReplyDeleteYour post is really interesting. I am usually approached with the same astonishment when I meet others for the first time in that I don't have any trace of an accent. I think a lot of the stand up comedians use this humor because the audience finds it funny. But they do fuel these stereotypes, and may even create some. Jeff Dunham is a hilarious comedian who is a ventriloquist, so he uses puppets. Achmed the Dead Terrorist is one of his acts and it's of an Arab skeleton who was a suicide bomber. But his act is absolutely hilarious. It's insanely stereotypical, but hilarious. If he were to simply state the stereotypes and racist comments, people would be horrified. But hey it's funny. I personally think people should lighten up and enjoy the comedy. But I guess there are more sensitive people out there as well.
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