i'm probably not as qualified to write about this as i'd like to think, but rumagin, delf & i were talking last week about comedy skits that satirize racial stereotypes, and (no matter their intentions) whether they serve to reinforce and naturalize sterotypes and ghettoization, or whether they destabalize them. i, being one to usually argue for the revolutionary potential of performance argue that comedic representations of stereotypes do destabalize them. perhaps people find them funny because they think they're "rooted in truth" but i think they also find them funny because they realize that they are satire-that they don't represent reality, but an exaggeration. and this tends to call into question how these things are constructed. overly-"ghettoized" language makes us realize that people who might talk in similar ways are themselves engaging in a social performance. satirizing the employment options in low income neighborhoods focuses attention on social inequalities.
of course, people often bring up Chappelle's resignation from his show because he felt people were laughing at him, not with him. and i don't doubt his reasons for feeling that way. but what this argument ignores is that at one point, and presumably for some time, he felt that his performance did have potential to change things. to denaturalize. perhaps to break down and reform popular and ideological notions of race. and maybe it didn't happen as quickly or as completely as he'd have liked. and he certainly had every right to decide what he did. but i think he was more effective than he thought. npr did a series in 2002 addressing these issues, and some other comic did seem to feel effective in dismantling stereotypes, at least to an extent.
but then again, maybe i give audiences too much credit. maybe i assume a critical viewer, where there are none. now, leap would say at this point we need audience reception studies. so, despite the fact that no one ever comments here these days, i know you're out there. so how do you think this stuff is received?
when you watch WacArnold, does it highlight for you the structural inequalities and violences of urban ghettoization, or do you laugh because, oh, those crazy black urban folks....they really do need to get a job.
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do you laugh at bon qui qui because it presents critique of racial stereotypes, or because "those people" really do talk funny?
seriously, i'm curious.
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