To quote the constantly "feklempt" character from Saturday Night Live: "Tawk amongst yourselves..."
No, really, I want to know what you all think about this segment. I'll offer my $.02 in the comments section.
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- meera bowman-johnson
- Magazine maven turned wife and mommy who's lived, worked and played in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Harlem and LA. Recently moved from New York's Hudson Valley to Houston, Texas with her husband, daughter and fraternal twins.
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12 comments:
Why, why, why did you have to show me that?
I am going to have to find a way to enjoy Elmopalooza without noticing that Stuart/Stewart is up in nearly every scene.
Darn.
(What the hell is wrong with people?)
Yeah, I don't know about that...
Seen these instead?
http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/2007/02/02/black-history-month-a-project/
http://clairelight.typepad.com/seelight/2007/02/black_history_m.html
It's so cynical, it makes me sad. This is a chance for our kids to feel proud, not for some jaded adults to take the meaning out of it. Boooooo.
I laughed when Stewart was trying to name historical figures because it really showed how much black history month has been ignored over the years. If it had served its purpose and gotten the respect it deserved, he'd have known better. I realize it was a joke, but that was sad.
And surely the pundit knew better, too, but went along with the segment for the sake of comedy. He has a dry sense of humor, which I like, but I thought the irony got lost in this one. The audience basically was like "Yeah, black guy, what's the point?"
And that really shouldn't have been the crux of this, if you ask me. There has to be a way of asking "what the hell went wrong with black history month?" without implying that folks didn't do anthing.
By the time this clip was over I had a headache developing, and my mouth was twisted into a sneer. I walked away from my computer, took a deep breath, then came back to make this comment. All I can come up with is that it reminds me of when Dave Chapelle walked away from his zillion dollar show because he was being laughed at and not laughed with. White folk are not ready for this kind of humor.
Well, at least the pundit was "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
LOL Keith you put that so well!
But I thought the whole point of this segment was to ask why White America pretends to honor Black History month when most of them clearly don't care at all about black people? Since it's a white show it seemed even more venomous because the commentator was, essentially, saying, I know you don't care. You just think we should hold a big dance. Obviously, John Stewart was in on this point (as the joke about references to any important moments in Black History points out). The joke was being played on the audience, I felt. And on any black folks watching this at home. Kind of like the way you trick a person into admitting their prejudices and you walk off with your point confirmed. I thought it was a sneaky piece of satire. Which, of course, is how black people have been making their points since about, oh, four hundred years ago.
Sorry, I meant the joke was being shared WITH any black folks watching at home (or if any were in the audience for that matter).
The husband and I cracked up and have been waiting for SOMEBODY to youtube it, We thought not only was it hilarious it was funny as a mofo. It just goes to show the truth that even with its best intentions most people after high school completely forget what they are supposed to be commemorating. How many more "important things" can most people name besides MLK Malcome x and Harriet Tubman? Unless of course they have the black history trivia game at home. I read a story recently that kinda made me sad but I was even more saddened that I was not surprised, on ESPN they talked about how a older NBA player made a point to take some of the first and second year players to the black history museum in Memphis where MLK was shot, even though two of the guys went to college there and had never been. These are the moments that make Black history month purposeful, although they went in January. The commercials full of reverent voices from major corporations playing between top forty r&B and urban jams is the closest many black people get to any kind of celebration. And don't mean a lot to me.
In addition I don' think Dave Chappelles walking away from his show had very much to do with this kind of humor, as it did with the big wigs and the pressures that came with that contract he had.
Raquita, you're wrong on the last paragraph. Chapelle said it himself during his Oprah interview and in other media outlets. If you think he was lying, then that's a whole different conversation.
This piece could have been very funny in a different setting (maybe). Not enough Americans will view this clip the way it was intended, and that's the real issue here. Like Mrs. J said, "the irony was lost on this one."
I'm with Raquita, I'm still laughing. As for remembering Black History facts, how many people know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner? Ever watch Jay-walking? We have to be able to lighten up.
Yeah I do think he was lying to a degree. I think that the reaction to this kind of humor was a convenient excuse, as the reaction had been the same for the previous two seasons. I think hte "you better be 50 million dollars funny" pressure just magnified the "you think we are laughing with you but think again buddy." thing he had going on. So I'm not saying he didn't feel that way, but I think the expectations made that more evident to him than he would have been otherwise. The only skits he finished were about the pressure. and dave writes what hes thinkin.
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