W. Kamau Bell: Sarah Silverman is Racist.
W. Kamau Bell is one of San Francisco's top standup comedians, and a good friend to The Sound of Young America. He wrote this provocative note on his myspace blog, and I thought it was perfect to share with you. What do you think?
Sarah Silverman is racist.
I put this sentence at the end of a bulletin I posted recently. And the funny thing was the amount of responses that I got to that comment and not to the bulletin itself. (Though at this point I don't even remember what it was about either.) I put it in randomly. It was a thought rolling through my head at the time, but not because it was a "joke". I actually do believe it.
ANYWAY... Here's my point. First of all despite what people may think since I am a comedian, I don't have any INSIDE information as to her racism. (I have only met her once BRIEFLY several years ago, and like much of that alterna-stand-up crowd, she seeeeeeemed nice at the time... but then why wouldn't she?) I just saw her movie, Jesus is Magic, and I was... well... not so much stunned as I was disappointed in how racism is apparently becoming chic amongst the hipsters. (I guess if they can make Coldplay hip ANYTHING is possible.)
Watching her act I was just left cold by how racist jokes are apprently OK when they come out of a mouth of a beautiful woman who allegedly coats them in IRONY, but somehow when Larry the Cable Guy does his red state/redneck jokes(some of which are racist), David Cross and Lewis Black speak out aganst him in Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone is the same magazine that places the mantle of both Lenny Bruce AND Richard Pryor on Silverman's shoulders.
To quote Eddie Murphy in RAW, "GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!"
Sarah Sliverman NO PERCENTAGE of either Lenny Bruce OR Richard Pryor. (I have to believe that she would admit to this.) Those tw GENIUSES used the topics of race and sex to criticize the status quo AND to further the discussion of these topics along, not to just titillate as she does.
There is NOTHING wrong with titillation as long as it is not dressed up as intelligent social criticism.
It's not that I don't think she is funny. I GET THE JOKES. In fact, that is most of my problem... After listening to all of her racist jokes in her movie, I walked out thinking, "I GET IT, SARAH! All the stereotypes about black people are TRUE. Thanks for the update." I'm sure many would say that I am missing the ironic twist... YOU'RE CORRECT! After five or six of her jokes supporting the same stereotypes that have been perpetuated in the U.S. for four hundred years, I COMPLETELY MISS THE IRONY. Her comedic point of view on race seems so simplistic and unevolved. I would think her act was BRILLIANT... if she was twelve... or if it was out of the mouth of a comedic character who is CLEARLY an idiot... you know, like Andrew "Dice" Clay. His first album is still hilarious
The experience of watching her movie was all made the more pathetic for me due to the fact that these jokes are performed in front of a mostly white audience. (I say mostly, because I did actually see ONE black guy in the audience. And yes he was laughing... maybe because he came with white people.)
The ultimate tragedy of this is that Hollywood clearly not only condones this, but sees it as brilliant. In a time of incredible comics like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and... (Well, I guess that's all we have for now.) who are clearly links to Bruce and Pryor AND are working hard to advance society's conversation about race it is painful to see Silverman SOOOOO celebrated. I will conclude with what I often say in situations like these, if me and all my friends (comics, performers, musicians, and artists) were as successful as her I wouldn't even blink an eye at her antics.
And YES, I know her act isn't all about race, but anyone familiar with her knows that it's basically 70% jokes that put down women and 30% jokes that put down minorities.
I'll leave it to someone else to cover that other 70%.
W. Kamau Bell OnlineAirplane Giveaway: Jasper Redd and Kamau co-host TSOYA, as we give away a plane ride (realaudio)
TSOYA: Comix & Comix Pt. 3 with Sarah Silverman, Brad Meltzer & Kasper Hauser (MP3)
Kamau can also be heard regularly with Kevin Avery on Live 105's morning show in San Francisco, reviewing movies as "Siskel & Negro."
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posted by Jesse Thorn at Wednesday, April 12, 2006
25 Comments:
I dunno, man. I've seen Sarah Silverman's act, and Dave Chappelle's, and Chris Rock's, and they all talk about race. The only significant difference I can tell is that they're black, and she's not. I think this all comes down to the old issue of who's allowed to say what.
He lost me when he suggests that Andrew "Dice" Clay's racist material comes from a "comedic character" who is clearly an idiot and Sarah Silverman's racist material doesn't. I would have said it was the other way around. One might think the material is tiresome, but I think its clear Sarah Silverman is in character as a ditzy girl when she does her routine.
She's no Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce tho. I agree with that!
Iya wrote me on MySpace:
I applaud you for posting this commentary. And I agree, Sarah Silverman is a very funny woman - to those who are far enough removed from minority culture as to find the denigration of such populations humorous.
Irony has to do with bits of truth, but one thing Sarah Silverman does NOT do is look at what created and creates certain minority realities. It's easy to laugh at, so long as you don't look to hard, too long or too real at a situation.
I'd recommend not giving her enterprise your money.
Good fortune,
Iya
Nick wrote me:
"In a time of incredible comics like Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and... who are clearly links to Bruce and Pryor AND are working hard to advance society's conversation about race it is painful to see Silverman SOOOOO celebrated."
First off I object to this above statement. I just watched Chapelle's new DVD today and it is hack awful. There are about five minutes of decent "social critique" on the DVD.
I think Sarah Silverman on stage is a racist. I think that part of her act is the fact she is saying shit that a man can't say. Yes, it's a bit of a gimmick and yes it wears thin. However, alot of her bits are original and well thought out. Her bit about (paraphrasing) de-boning African babies to get the rare jewel attached to their tailbones is incredible. And it does have a social critique.
If she was a man I think she would be forced to change up her style. I don't think people would let her get away with as much as they do.
That being said, I think IF she wanted to change up her style she could do it no problem. I believe she is talented enough to do that. But it seems like her approach is "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
Sarah Silverman isn't a racist, she's a smart, funny and LAZY comedian.
That's the big difference between her and a guy like Larry The Cattle Guy. He's just lazy.
Peace.
Nick
The racist things Sarah Silverman says are so over-the-top as to be a self-mockery, and that's the key to her humor. It plays off racist undertones in society, bringing them out and exaggerating them to the point that you can't take them seriously. It's a risky gimmick (one I used to be into in high school) but it's not truly racist. I got tired of it, though. At a certain point, you get lost in the layers of irony like a fly trapped in a Napoleon. Good thing she's got other material.
So all this really makes her is Don Rickles with a better rack, right?
Don Rickles has those great nonsense insults, though. Like calling people a hockey puck.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
I've always taken it to mean that you've got the mentality of a thick, hard chunk of rubber.
And it works because it's got two "K" sounds in it, and therefore twice as funny as just calling someone a jerk.
Don Rickles had better theme music.
Susan Burke wrote me:
Thanks for posting this, as a female comic in the "alt" comedy scene in LA I am one a few that hasn't hailed Silverman as a genius for saying the same sick and stupid things my grandmother said. I'm sick of her, and this brand of easy play ground shock being hailed and respected. I'm gonna check this guys stuff out now.
I think the point is that her material is selling right now, just like Chris Rock's was 5 years ago, just like Chapelle for the last two years. Follow the money, ePals. She's not branding herself as the next Bruce or Pryor and it's narrow-minded to think that every comedian who does race material is trying to change the world. Sarah Silverman is getting some serious scratch for her act right now and will continue her schtick until the money stops coming in, and who should stop her?
Saying that Sarah Silverman can get away with saying things male comics can't is (somewhat) missing the point.
As things stand, her act - sincere, shallow, self-absorbed Jewgirl (sic) with all the wrong priorities - seems to spring from her, naturally and fully formed.
It's her creation, and the fact that her gender gives her certain leeway is one aspect of that. But it's not the thing itself. As a comedic writer, she's come up with a compelling comedic "voice".
The fact that a guy, or a less attractive woman couldn't do her act reflects the quality of her work, and not it's weakness.
You might as well critisize Maria Bamford for doing voices and characters because a less talented comedian couldn't make Maria's act work.
Is her work racist, or is her work a sly critique of the kind of person her stage persona apes?
I'm coming down on the side of "not racist" but with the heavy proviso of "that's what big chunks of white privilege buys her".
I don't buy that it's especially cheap or easy for her to be saying what she says on stage.
Nor do I buy that she's contributing to any wider debate about race in america so much as she's giving the alterna-comedy crowd visceral snuff-comedy yucks (see also "The David Cross drinking game" - take a shot every time Cross mentions child-fucking and see how quickly you get hammered...)
Perhaps the question is, has she developed a comic persona that requires more and more racially raw material to top what's come before? And is she getting the kind of laughs that made Chappelle walk out on his Comedy Central show? And does she, really, care one way or the other? And do comics have some sort of duty to call each other on that sort of shit?
I'm thinking yes they kinda do...
When I see Sarah Silverman I laugh at all the stupid overtly racist people I grew up with. I see her making fun of herself.
And, here's the funny part. Bell walks out thinking "stereotypes are true". I walk out thinking, "people sure have some crazy ideas in their heads."
Though I guess when you've been oppressed for the past 300 years by white people, their self-effacing racism humor doesn't have the laughs it might.
I still say she's not *actually* racist. I think she is just doing the shock-thing. Though, it is time for her to move on....
I agree with "anonymous" above.I think she's funny and enjoyed "Jesus Is Magic."
When I make a racist joke to my friends, the comedy is NOT in the reinforcement of a stereotype, it's in the highlighting of the absurdity of racism. It's in thinking, "Are people still racist? Are we still doing that? Really? Really?"
It's no different than Chapelle doing jokes about race. Some stereotypes are true and deserve to be mocked. Some are dated, mean, and inaccurate, and the people who uphold them deserve to be mocked.
I mean she cracks a lot of jew jokes, catholic jokes, jokes about herself, you name it. I mean maybe she did more black jokes than jew jokes, but I didn't count.
I saw "Jesus Is Magic" in a theater in Santa Cruz and people booed. I thought it was great. When Sarah Silverman makes racist jokes I get the feeling that she's in on it, I don't get that feeling from Larry The Cable Guy. I find it Ironic that people are criticising Silverman for not being politically active and just saying things for shock value, when this entire political discussion about race and comedy is happening because of her stand up.
I also never trust critiques from comics. Comics, especially those who haven't made it, have nothing but bad things to say about everybody. The criticism that Silverman is just saying racist things because she is a woman and can get away with it is as hollow as saying I know Silverman is racist because I'm black.
I recently watched Jesus Is Magic and was a little turned off by it. I didn't find Sarah Silverman's black jokes offensive until I realized that she didn't spread the wealth among all the races. The vast majority of her jokes aimed at minorities were directed at black people. If you're a white comedian you should direct most of your jokes at whites and then spread the remaining jokes equally among black, Mexicans, Asians, etc. It’s much harder for people to call you racist if you follow this formula. I'm not easily offended and Sarah Silverman is no exception. I did however grow tired of her act.
I think Sarah Silverman is a racist piece of shit. Anyone that's ever listened to her will tell you the same. Hey Max, the reason you don't think she's racist is probably because your a white prick who thinks the way she does. As long as white people continue to base the majority of their shit on racist jokes against minorities, they will be considered a racist POS.
Wow. I'm amazed at this whole discussion. You know how many black and hispanic comeidans I've seen do the uptight white guy? It's fucking everywhere. If I see another set of "White people do this, but black people do this." or "Women nag, and men are disgusting pigs." junk I may shoot my TV. Stereotypes are so ingrained in comedy that people hardly notice them. So Sarah Silverman points out the absurdity by upping it to an extreme level and she's racist. We're all racist and sexist to one degree or another. Get over it.
"we're all racist and sexist to one degree or another". I chuckle everytime I hear this. Speak for yourself man.
The argument can be made that she's making a mockery of prejudice and bringing racial issues to the forefront. It can also be looked at as giving idiots a license to be idiots. Racism was slowly headed toward the direction of being taboo in social situations; be as racist as you want, just don't talk about it. However stuff like this can be looked at by idiots as making it okay to say things that could get them slapped.
i think this pretty much covers it:
http://www.nerve.com/screeningroom/tv/sarahsilverman/
I'm actually amazed at how Sarah Silverman's comedy routines have been able to fly under the radar so long without the backlash from the Al Sharptons alike who so dilligently pick up on everything Bill O'Reilly says. It seems today that "irony" and "satire" have been redefined by white comedians as a means of rebranding racial jokes rooted in historic stereotypes about minorities and sell them to mostly white, suburban folks. While I don't believe that Silverman herself is a full blown hate monger or a racist, I do believe that she's doing irrepable harm by perpetuating notions that many people DO have about blacks and other ethnicities. What people dont seem to understand when drawing parallels between Silverman and, say Chris Rock, is that black comedians have real life experience to dwell upon and therefore, yes they have a free pass essentially to make those kinds of jokes. One also has to remember that a race joke sounds comepetely different to blacks coming from another black then a young white woman.
Sarah Silverman is as much a racist as Jonathan Swift was a baby-hater.
She has "experience" dealing with ignorant daddy’s-little-angel suburban Jewish princesses, which is the ONLY group she makes fun of IN ESSENCE.
Here’s a clue-in to the PC-Nazis: real racists don’t find Sarah’s racists jokes funny. They just say, “Yes, I agree.” They don’t get the joke because it’s on them. If they think they get the joke, they are wrong, and it only makes it funnier to the rest of us.
She's a very good performer, coats her writing with layers (perhaps too many) of irony, and makes actually quite tame satire. I mean, "racists and biggots are stupid" isn't exactly edgy, and yet that is all she says and she is considred the queen of edgy humor. Personally, I think her act is a bit repetitive at times, and sometimes misses the mark, but that it’s very high quality nonetheless.
Don Rickles has those great nonsense insults, though. Like calling people a hockey puck.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
I've always assumed it meant, "you are small and black and ought to get slapped around by a lot of white guys." I always assumed that was pretty obvious. Don Rickles is a dick.
I think her "racial humor" mostly makes fun of racists in a "look at me, isn't it amazing that people actually think like my bitchy character" kind of way... basically it makes fun of the way of thinking in which anecdotal experiences and rumors are translated into universal generalizations, like in the endings of her Comedy Central show where she's doing the "life lessons" that always generalize experience with one person into an "observation" about a whole group, "gay people are good at karate but afraid to use it," or whatever, that kind of thing.
But I don't think the act is meant to be a serious social commentary because sometimes the jokes veer from that into gags about vaginas or simplistic stereotype jokes that are just meant to get laughs without really making you think. Most of it is funny, not all of it is defensible and some of the jokes are racist but I wouldn't say it actually contributes to racism because basically she's making things you've probably thought before seem appropriately hideous, or at least that's my impression.
Sarah Silverman is about as much of a racist as Stephen Colbert is a conservative.
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