Comedy used to be the domain of rebels. Those who used to massage the line of what was acceptable–and sometimes cross it–in order to force us to think about ourselves and the human condition. In the aftermath of the “Slap Heard Round the World”—Will Smiths’ bitch-slapping of comedian Chris Rock on the internationally-watched Oscar stage last year–some still argue that violence is justified against those whose jokes don’t hit that mark. Writes The Root’s Candace McDuffie:
There is no other interpretation to be taken from this—except that it’s a full-on endorsement of violence against those whose comedy might offend your senses. You can make fun of all the old guys you want, but joke about females of color and expect to get your a*** kicked. Because you deserve it:
This is extremely dangerous, anarchic stuff wrapped up in “academic” prose. It’s especially alarming to be inflaming passions when there are real-world dangers: Among comedians, both David Chappelle’s and Chris Rock’s brilliance is their ability to poke fun at truths and expose human foibles regardless of race, religion, or gender, like so many of their forebears—Lenny Bruce, Sam Kinison, Richard Pryor, or modern day’s Ricky Gervais—and so many other legends. This writer certainly has the credentials:
In other words, she’s worked for about every liberal, race-baiting outlet around, so it’s ok if she calls for violence against those with who she disagrees with. If she didn’t have an “intersection of race, gender and entertainment” background, she would be roundly criticized as the agitating radical that she is. If a conservative said something like this, the mainstream media would be on it faster than Jerry Nadler could chase down a jelly donut. Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice would be hauling off the dangerous QAnon ultra-MAGA insurrectionist who said it and making sure he never saw the light of day again. Do you hear that sound? Crickets. it’s appalling that someone would condone violence like this, and it’s equally appalling that the people who are constantly screaming about such things have suddenly lost their voices. |
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