Hot on the heels of Michael Richards making an ass of himself with the N-word as a comedy club, we have this gem:
I think what bugs me more is that Rosie -- who claims to be enlightened and went off on Kelly Ripa for her comment to Clay Atkin about "where his hand's been" (I'm not even going to get into that because I haven't seen it) -- pulled this shit.
There's something definitely hypocritical about those actions. If she's going to be sensitive about homosexuality, some consideration should be given to other ethnicities and backgrounds. I mean, Firefly managed to get Chinese correct and Rosie couldn't? Not even mu shu pork or even ma po tofu?
I don't think it's racist in the same way as the Michael Richards incident. But it's irritating. It's the same thing that I've had to deal with ever since I was six. I've had to deal with people speaking gibberish to me, mocking me for not blending in (that is, white suburban girl). It's not exactly the same thing to mock back with a French, German or Italian gibberish because really they might not be French, German or Italian.
However, I wear my ethnicity on my skin. I look Chinese. I am Chinese. And the first impression people will always have is that I'm not from the United States (despite the thick Midwestern accent when I open my mouth and my hulking frame) and therefore exotic.
I know that some people are going to say that I'm being oversensitive or something, but really, that's bullshit. Try dealing with shit like this all your life and then see how sensitive you get about it. The shit gets old. This is old. And really, if you're going to try and ethnic joke, be wittier than just the same stupid "ching chong" routine.
4 comments:
A friend from my college years spent many months in China, and once he said that he used to see joke tapes depicting "what Americans sound like." It was kind of like this: Please excuse me thank you excuse me please please thank you excuse me thank you please.
I 'spose we had it coming.
Geez. I cannot believe she said this.
The thing is, I think sometimes, racism can be funny. I think when it's expertly done, when it's clear that the point of the joke is to cast ridicule upon those who honestly believe such things, it can be effective and really funny. (I am thinking specifically of Arrested Development, where two of the characters are really racist, but it's clear that we are not supposed to identify with them) Most people are not sophisticated enough to write such humor and end up basically spouting true racism under the guise of "humor"
Also,
"Try dealing with shit like this all your life and then see how sensitive you get about it."
Preach it, girl!
K. -- Agreed. That's why Borat and Mel Brooks are funny. They make asses of the racists too. What also bugs me is the lack of creativity with Rosie's thing. I know it's totally improve, but it's still stupid. And I wonder if she'd try and pull that off if Lisa Ling was still on.
Sarah -- Hee! That's what our tour group sounded like when I went to China.
Anger started to subside? Don't worry, Rosie's "apology" will help get the blood pumping again:
"To say 'ching chong' to someone is very offensive, and some Asian people have told me it's as bad as the n-word. Which I was like, 'Really? I didn't know that.' ... I'm sorry for those people who felt hurt or were teased on the playground. ... But I'm also gonna give you a fair warning that there's a good chance I'll do something like that again, probably in the next week, not on purpose. Only 'cause it's how my brain works."
I'm more neutral on the issue, but this apology really, really sucked.
Post a Comment