Sure, if they’re legitimately funny or clever. I think that’s the problem with this whole topic in general. I don’t get automatically offended or bothered by jokes involving anyone’s race, but it’s such a touchy issue that it’s hard to do it in a way that’s legitimately funny or clever.
I’m a big Dave Chappelle fan, but that recent special he had where he ranted about trans people for what felt like 45 minutes fell flat for me—not because I believe trans people are somehow immune from being made fun of, but because very few of the jokes actually made me laugh and felt humorous. A lot of it felt like it was coming from a place of spite, and that doesn’t really lend itself to humor.
I would guess that’s basically the real crime here with this movie—it just doesn’t seem funny. And in the same way that I wasn’t one of those liberals screaming for Chappelle to be cancelled, I wouldn’t scream for this to be cancelled either. It’s satire. It’s comedy. Laugh at it if you find it funny, skip it if you don’t.
It got cancelled because its racism wasn’t tongue-in-cheek. The racial elements weren’t satire, they reflected actual outdated, racist attitudes. In a sense it endorsed a racist viewpoint, it didn’t mock it.
Not necessarily—but I think there’s a variety of factors to consider.
The first factor is what I’ll call “political.” Plainly, conservatives habitually deny that any sort of inequalities or discrimination exists—except against themselves. And that shit gets really old. Conservatives should expect the same indifference from us that we get from them when we want to talk about issues of race and inequality.
A second factor is who the object of ridicule is and who is ridiculing. “Being singled out over one’s race,” as you put it, has been comedy fodder for ages: think of the black dudes speaking jive in Airplane!, or basically the entirety of Blazing Saddles. But these were made by white filmmakers, #1; and secondly, in the case of Blazing Saddles, we of course had Gene Wilder playing the not-racist white guy, so it didn’t seem like all white people were being painted with a broad brush.
I find that when black directors deal with race, it makes a lot of white people quite uncomfortable. I believe I saw a comment or two about Spike Lee earlier ITT.
And if I’m being blunt, I think another factor is that this movie hits too close to home for some people. When Chappelle does his white news anchor character or whatever, it feels like neutral and safe comedy for us to laugh at. A black director making a film with black characters that tackle white undomfortability?? A lot of white peoples simply can’t handle that idea. But I think what Mel Brooks said still is true:
"It's OK not to hurt the feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it's not good for comedy.
"Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. It's the lecherous little elf whispering in the king's ear, telling the truth about human behaviour."
—Mel Brooks
