It reminded me of that scene from 'Band of Outsiders.' A movie i didn't like. I only rented it because I wanted to see the Quintin Tarantino connection. The teenage dancing scene was the only thing i liked.
If this is getting downvoted because I'm complaining the Liza joke from SNL - - don't look at me. Gabe brought it up. But if I'm getting thumbs downs because of the "(h)alf of my..." line, then that that's cool. I'm fine with that. Like most of the stuff I say, it was out out of line AND unnecessary.
Maybe I should be leaving this comment on the SNL post but in the words of Bonanza City's BEST mayor, 9-year-old pageant contestant, Taylor DePriest, "DEAL WITH IT!" Come to think of it I don't know why I'm not writing this on over there since scavenging 4-day-old-blog posts so I can pick fights with people *is* my hobby. But whatever. I want to talk about the Liza thing. Last week one of Amy Poehler's Weekend Update jokes banked on the hope that there was STILL gold in the "gay dudes like Liza Minelli a LOT" mine. The mayor of Hollywood needs to outlaw that mess. And the law needs to extend to the satellite offices at Rockafeller Center. That joke is tired. (Half of my homo friends don't know who she even IS. Sorry, "homo-y friends." It will take a few days for me to remember that it's an adjective. Please respect my privacy as I make this difficult transition.) Between this and Outsourced, NBC clearly demonstrates that they ain't care about broadcasting fresh, creative programming. Not only did SNL's Liza "joke" reinforce a dumb, broad, stereotype, but it confirms that Lorne Michaels has given up all ambition to make SNL the ivy league of the North American comedy circuit. Not that NBC should really care since enrollment is up at Greendale Community College.
ianthemighty, do not take downvotes to heart. This is the Internet. It should change it's name to "Who Cares.biz" Videogum commenters, or Monsters, as they are called, are a very great group. They are smart, they are funny, they have excellent taste, and I have witnessed some amazing examples of kindness and empathy between these people. And because they are EXTREMELY kind, they go to great lengths to avoid hurting each others feelings. These kids have MANNERS! They are a thoughtful group. So thoughtful in fact that sometimes in efforts to avoiding tipping forward into the racism fire, they lean so far back that they go up in flames. Really what am I saying other than, "hey you guys, stop being so thoughtful of my feelings!" It's a cool problem to have. Like I said Monsters are sharp mofos, but at times their overwhelming kindness creates static and they can't access the Critical Thinking parts of their brains. When this happens, you should point it out to them. No joke, they will downvote the fuck out of you. It will make grumble "next time I'll just keep my comments to myself." You will even swear off coming back. But seriously it's WhoCares.biz. If people want to further the "Protect The Meme" agenda, let 'em. But don't let that stop you from advancing your "Hey Internet! Use Your Brainz!!" platform.
And likewise Icy, I believe that it is YOU that is taking this the wrong way. Since Videogum started reporting on Antoine Dodson, the writer has communicated that he's of two minds on the popularity Mr. Dodson is enjoying. Gabe admits that the Bed Intruder song is funny, however he also, like other blogs like The Awl, observes that the meme is little more than finding humor in poor, black people. I encourage you to read earlier Videogum coverage about Antoine.
I confess, despite my earlier comment, I always thought wondered the same thing. I was also always a bit unsettled by the Aucoustic And Slowed To 3/4 Time indie band versions of rap songs. I can't deny it makes me uncomfortable when I see white people, taking some fool thing that one of us minorities has done and holds it up for ridicule. But once I got honest about the origin of my unease - I have a persecution complex, AND I like the superiority that reprimanding people brings), once I got honest about those character defects. then I had to ALSO be honest that 1) I've seen every one of those people have a good laugh at white, privileged people and 2) they were laughing at someone being ridiculous, not being black. Rich white people say ridiculous things all the time. That's the mission statement of Fox News for crying out loud! Once I realized that, I stopped being troubled by all of it.
You suggest that Gabe is merely pointing out how irritating it will be to show up to parties, dressed as Antoine and have to explain yourself over and over. You think he's trying to spare us from having to spit out a mouthful. You argue that dressing as Internet memes is too "insider-y." Let's keep in mind that Antoine *did* blow-up pretty big. No joke, my grandmother knows who he is. Also, this is just a guess, but I'd bet that people whose costumes are "something from the Internet" are pretty familiar with feeling misunderstood. I'm sure it's not a concern.
And while being honest with myself led me to stop being bothered by the enjoyment people were getting at the expense of the disenfranchised, I have to be honest with you Ice, and tell you that YOUR translation is deeply troubling to me. You thought that Gabe was ACTUALLY offering that as a script of what you would say if you wore this costume. And you didn't even blink.
I dunno if that’s sexy Captain Hook though. Cause where’s the hook? I think that’s just sexy pirate ship employee. I don’t think she has a rank.
Also I can't believe no one has posted the sexy Finding Nemo costume yet! If I knew how to post pictures I would totally do it. You guys should see it. It's SO sexy.
i *think* I agree with ianthemighty. As long as he's not saying we should stop LOLing at Paltrow. We MUST always be LOLing at Paltrow.
Anyway, this is one of the points I've been making for 4 days over on the Outsourced post (I'm gonna see if I can argue in there forever.) The whole "we should not make fun of people who are poor brown/black people" argument is really patronizing to us poor brown/black people. It suggests that we need special protection because we're not as fortunate.....to be....rich and white? Gross. No thanks. That's what Paltrow is. On the reg my friends and I say we're gonna do "hoodrat things" not because we think it's funny that Latarian Milton is working class and black, but because that is an idiotic thing to say. When my boss is trying to get to the bottom of mystery at work, I will ALWAYS suggest that it involves "a crackhead that got a hold of the wrong stuff, climbed up into a tree and posed as a leprechaun." Not because I think being poor and black in Mobile Alabama is worthy of ridicule, but because I am so terrified of the power of herd mentality in that it can make a neighborhood group hallucinate a LEPRECHAUN and I need to use humor as a coping strategy for with my anxiety. I mean, cool, if you don't want to laugh at Internet memes that feature a disenfranchised population, that's fine. But when I read comments about how mean it is, I can't help but think of Videogum's Juggalo posts and Gabe's trek to Comic-Con. Being mean is being mean is being mean. If, in a post about a bad tv show that relies on terrible generalizations about groups of people you don't belong to as means for a cheap LOL, maybe think twice about responding with your cutting observations about how all of Stereogum's commenters are awful, terrible human beings. I mean at some point don't you have to ask yourself, "am I the type of person who groups people together and laughs at them or aren't i?" It's great if you want to compartmentalize, "it's ok to do to Juggalos, it's not ok to do to Mexicans." But you still have to ask yourself THAT question and you have to live with yourself after you answer it. Growing up and living here in Phoenix as a Mexican American, I am exposed to a LOT of prejudiced chatter and I would STILL choose a racist over a hypocrite any day of the week. Because at least they're honest.
Okay. I changed my mind. I DO know what racism is. Racism is believing that a race (or races) is inferior to another race. I am a Mexican and I'm pretty broke at the moment. Guess who seems more racist to me: the comedian who gets up on stage and makes jokes about low-riders? Or the guy who scolds the comedian because "you shouldn't make fun of poor brown people." RED FLAG ON THE GUY WHO THINKS THAT BEING BROWN AND HAVING LESS WEALTH IS SOMEHOW A BAD THING!!!!!!!!! Gross. No. Make fun of me. Please. Don't leave us out. If you want to not be racist then treat everyone the same. And I hate myself for saying this but, "writers of Outsources, if that making tired jokes about the cuisine of the homeland, well then knock yourselves right on out." Look omlette, I think it's great that white people want to be sensitive to race issues. The US wouldn't be as progressive as it is today (and you best believe it is plenty progressive) if it weren't for white people making efforts to be more inclusive. But lately, what I've seen, is that in an effort to be more tolerant, white people over correct and end up being really fucking racist.
(Wasn't able to comment below, so HI! HERE I AM!) Um....so.....Society's xenaphobia is getting worse by the day? From where I sit - and remember, i sit as a Hispanic who lives in a rough neighborhood of Phoenix, AZ - from where I sit, things are getting better, not worse. But you know what is getting worse? Our exposure to hysterics. Blah blah blah 24-hour news cycle, high speed Internet connection. It *seems* like things are getting worse because our media knows it's good copy when they do stories on fanatics. And since we have more outlets to voice our opinions, we have have more opportunities to hear each others support/disapproval of those fanatics. Studies seem to indicate that society is becoming more, and not less, tolerant. Percentage increases of "mixed" marriages, minorities hold more positions of power and have more access to wealth. There's more integration in school and neighborhoods. Diversity is up! But so are blog posts about #thecrazies.
I don't think I will ever get why just because a country has less wealth than the US, it automatically means we need to be extra-sensitive and never make jokes about it. It's very telling what someones priorities are when THATS what the factor they use to determine who to tease and who not to tease. Anyway most countries have mostly non-white populations, including the US, except for Canada and a few in Northern Europe. What's the big deal?
Have you guys considered that made the white dude is supposed to be the butt of the jokes? A few years ago I saw the movie this sitcom is based on, and it starts out the same way and you just sort of cringe through the first act because of how the guy is so embarrassing. He's just the *sigh* "stereotypical ugly American." The script is written so that he's unlikable. The audience does NOT root for him at all. And then slowly....over the course of acts 2 & 3, he starts to realize that he's is being a total motherfucker. He stops resisting Indian culture, starts experiencing more the place has to offer, and, big surprise, starts to actually like it. And your heart kind of softens to him. The movie is kinda rough and ham-handed, (not as much as the show) but you wouldn't get the same effect if you liked the character right off the bat.
I'm kind of thinking that we're not supposed to like that dude. That's sorta the point.
PREFACE: This show is not funny. I don't think this show is funny.
Okay given that.....Regarding your suggestions, ummmmm....what would be funny about that? What would be funny about a guy who is very well prepared to go live in a foreign country? Again, as it is this show is NOT funny, but within the confines of a "fish out of water" story, the comedy depends on people experiencing new things. This show is stupid, but I think a show about a guy who loved Indian food, knew a lot about India, was an Indian Studies major in college and then MOVING TO INDIA, i think a show about that dude would suck JUST as hard as this one.
Every time I have a (white) friend who goes to Mexico, I warn them about drinking the water. They insist that I'm perpetuating a terrible myth that Mexico is a dirty place and they ignore my advice. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THEM GET SICK FROM DRINKING THE WATER. I do not get the anxiety that white people have about admitting that things are different in other places. Also the Miracle Whip thing, what's up w/ that white people?
It's actually 5,000 boxes.
As for it being an outdated system, not really. I work for a company that does test screenings of movies before they are released. The audience members fill out surveys, I compile the results and hand a report over to someone at a studio. The report basically says "y'all need to make the following changes to your movie because the target demographic (and it's always white people btw) liked this/didn't like this/was unclear about so-and-so."
The movies we screen are dumb. GI Joe, and stuff like that and they are the ones that make money for the studio.
Now they are not MY taste. My taste runs more toward the crappy little indie movies with "interesting character development" and "a Built To Spill song on the soundtrack." And I get that most of America is going to flock to see the UnderwearEyes Pick Of The Week. And I get that the shows that I watch are mostly going to be the ones with lower ratings and the music I like will not sell millions of albums because who buys albums?
And I'm not even going to get into how the money GI Joe makes finances my movies about "poor blind mimes with a dream just trying to make it in this world" or how Ke$ha's lip gloss profits make it possible for whatever dumb band whose name has punctuation in it I'M into that week..like, Sunn O))), ((sounder)) or !!!.
The MAJORITY likes dumb stuff. No duh. But are you kidding me? I live in a time where even though the stuff I like isn't popular, it's STILL all over the place which was not the case 10 years ago. I guess I could complain that The King Of Queens is on tv in the afternoons...but you know what's on at the same time? EVERYTHING. I'm not saying, Outsourced sucks, change the channel. What I AM saying is that it is Idiocracy out there you guys. People like junk. MOST people. And that's why the the Neilsen boxes *do* work and why I get a bi-weekly direct deposit.
Wait so now we're mad at NBC for creating roles for Indian actors but not providing good content? Um? What? That's not an Indian actor complaint. That is an actor complaint. You know who else has to deal w/ crap writing? Hispanics. And the black community. And Asians for that matter. Oh! And add women to that list. And gays. The overweight. People with disabilities.......believe it or not, tv even seems to paint "white male" with a pretty broad brush. Some of my best friends are white guys ;) and I hardly ever see their unique Myers-Briggs personality types are hardly ever represented on television. It's very sad. But you know who always gets a raw deal on tv, do you know which group of people is CONSTANTLY having to deal with the hack writing that that just overgeneralizes *their* experience and who have to deal with roles that aren't multi-dimensional....flat kind of.....you know what group of people is underrepresented and undeserved, overlooked and ignored? EVERYONE. People are rich, complex. dynamic. I'm puzzled why anyone is surprised that television is failing so miserably to capture that. I mean what tv have YOU guys been watching? I've been watching the tv where Jami Gertz is married to Kevin James and his shrill mother lives next store and Mr. Big never wants to get married ever and it's just no fair. And The Wire.
SERIOUSLY am i the only one who is picking up on the hilariousness of all the "them, over there, they are scary and they are not like us" you guys are throwing down? You guys need to hunker down and think of a word for blog xenophobia. I'm not saying this with mean html. It's funny right? Plus i think you guys are mos def smart enough to come up with a good word.
Yeah, people from other groups. YIKES! Am I right? Us vs. them, making sweeping generalizations about groups of people, blech! NOT FOR US huh guys? Nope. Nooooo sir.
A big Videogum complaint about this show, a complaint I certainly have, is that it relied WAY too heavily on established things "we think are weird about India" for an easy laugh. It was as if the writers didn't put much effort in the writing? Do you feel that way? I definitely feel that way. Like...if it were set in China we'd be treated to jokes about being hungry 2 hours after eating! Yuck. How boring. How.....overdone, let's say. So I just have to imagine, that people in India wanting to research how the show was received, reading Videogum and rolling their eyes at one another, "boy, Monsters sure like that wallet joke don't they. It's pretty lazy blog commenting if you ask me. Shows no creativity."
Oh I get it--you grouped a LARGE number of people together, "People who like this show" and you made a sweeping generalization about them. From how I learned how jokes work from this tv show, that means YOUR comment is VERY funny. Nice work. Very clever.
I thought the movie was pretty okay. And the way I imagined it, LIKE the movie, the main character gradually gets used to his new surroundings and actually learns something. Which I thought was neat since most of the people who the show is intended for will be getting exposure to that transformation. I'm not sure I agree w/ everyone who is begging for cancellation. But I would like to see the same story arc as the movie.....which....didn't you guys just kind of guess that's were this was going?
I got the sense that the show was more "fish out of water" than "manifestation of the U.S.'s xenophobic tendencies." Don't get me wrong. This show sucks. The jokes are lazy. But people seem to be confusing the "Ha ha that's funny because it's strange and new to me" with "Ha ha that's funny because other cultures are so backwards and we're better than them." Pointing out that something is better doesn't necessarily imply that it's inferior.
Totally by all means we should only show a minority experience ONE way only. Okokok I KNOW that was not your point. I know. But that's what's really annoying about all the shaken heads over how A 30 MINUTE PILOT fails to capture the subtleties and nuances of the a minority experience. It never OCCURRED to me to fault Ugly Betty because it didn't tell MY story. That one Mexican doctor on Grey's Anatomy, I'm betting her storyline doesn't capture MY EXPERIENCE. Yikes. Some shows paint w/ a broad brush because they want for as many people as possible to be able to relate. It's lowest common denominator stuff and it happens CONSTANTLY. I'm confused about why this show is being singled out for not doing a better job at roughly sketching what amounts to archetypes.
I wouldn't even want to try to count how many television shows I've seen that featured a joke about white people being terrible dancers. Or blond women being ditzy. Or that fathers are constantly getting into jams because of how utterly stupid they are and would be hopelessly lost w/o his wife and kids. Relying on these conventions (and the tired ones in Outsourced) is lazy and boring. But the outrage is really just overreaction. It's best when shows approach things from a fresh angle. But even 30 Rock a show that's always lauded for it's creativity features: 1) A 30ish single woman who is having man problems. ARG! 2) Handsome, successful, selfish/jerky, rich Republican guys that sleeps with pretty women a lot. 2) 2 dumb blonds 3) A backwoods hillbilly naif with a heart of gold who has a naive take on The Big City 5) A black actor who seems to be straight from Spike Lee's great film, "Bamboozled" Tired tropes. All over the place. Lock up your valuables.
George Lopez had (maybe still has, i let my subscription to the his newsletter has lapse. I'm lazy--not because I'm Mexican but because I'm from Generation X) a sitcom. No duh, it was pretty dumb. Sometimes he'd make "jokes" about stuffmexicanpeoplelike. And invariably I'd read on some blog some white person getting ALL up in arms about it. "He shouldn't be making jokes like that. It's racist. Not all Mexican people sound like Speedy Gonzalez. This hurts the Hispanic community. They are good people, hard workers....." Yuck. I'm sure on his end he seems he's "culturally aware" and that he's, and I actually read this once, "providing a voice for a group of people who live in silence." But from my end, it looks like YOU think that I need you to protect me. From......George Lopez jokes? Are you kidding me? Why do people like that imagine that we're all hypersensitive? Is it all those photos you guys see of the cowering, shivering, thin bodies of people who make long treks through deserts and choppy oceans? I get that it comes from a good place. And that's nice that people want to be inclusive. But you know what makes me feel like a real outcast, you know what's really hurtful? Finding out that guy assumes that I feel like an outsider. White ppl being *extra* sensitive, treating me w/ kid gloves are patronizing as hell. Not jokes about how my name is probably Juan and I'm the gardener who enjoys tacos.
I dated this guy and he said the best movie was 'Shakespeare In Love.' And I was like, "it is scientifically impossible for anyone to think that Shakespeare In Love is the best movie." He INSISTED that it was great and that he loved it. "Is it the story?" No. "Is it the love garbage?" Nope. "Do you think the writing is really awesome?" Well......Look at me, I hit a reply button and disagreed with someone about a tv show on the INTERNET. Do I look like someone who shies away from the hot button issues? I said, "be honest with me, do you like that it makes references to Shakespeare's - - and others - - work and the whole thing is just a big inside joke for people who hang out at Renaissance Fairs and that it makes you feel slightly superior to people who don't get the allusions?" A slow and embarrassed grin crept across the sexy face of that pretentious dickhead, and he admitted that yep, I was 100% right.
That's what all this is, isn't it? I'm NOT saying that self-satisfaction is THE driving force of all this anger people seem to be experiencing, but I would like to propose that a small part of everyone's outrage might be motivated by that tiny little hit of power we get when our sensibilities have been violated (by the pilot episode of a sitcom?).
ANYWAY, Shakespeare mainly trucked in puns, gratuitous bawdy content, references to other works of art, not to illuminate a point, rather for the sole purpose of making a refrence. Audiences like to look up and say, "oh i get that...i know what he's doing. I recognize the thing he's riffing on here." It makes us feel smart and with it and included and it makes us feel very NOW. Shakespeare tackled social commentary via satire in his work again, not to enlighten the crowd or even really to entertain... he just knew that manufacturing controversy sold tickets. Ha ha! Shakespeare's life is Family Man.
Except for those love sonnets. Those are most dope!
(also, the real name is underwearOJOS....Mexican remember? But when I made my profile the wordpress said it sounded to ethnic and changed it. EllisIslandGum more like.)
Wow. This is the perfect metaphor for everyone's outrage. I'm doing the math and I'm going to generously guess that you have asked 2,500 people over the course of your lifetime if they are Neilsen families.....you have a .814% chance of hitting one. I am a big Charles Barkley fan because are you kidding me, that guy is nuts and in '93 he led the Phoenix Suns to their visit to the finals since 1976. HE grappled with this same mystery and for 2 or 3 years he asked every single person he came into contact with if they had the box at home. Stewardess, fans, waiters, lawyers, guests on his talk-show, people in the elevator with him. He never happened upon one. When I heard that, I thought, wow, that is a pretty out of control ego. Does he know how MANY people 115 million households is? He clearly has difficulty fathoming a world outside of his own MVP self. The U.S. is HUGE and his and your and all the monsters, our worldview, is not as wide as we smugly believe. Yeah WE all grab a to-go bowl of saag paneer from Whole Foods while the bike mechanic installs brakes on our fixies, but there are a whole lot of people who will relate to this idiot show.
Outsourced is terrible. It is just the worst. But not because it's racist. But because it's not funny. I know everyone is making this point, but I'd like to add, and I love you Patrick M., you are too clever by half, but in the same post we are complaining about Outsoursed's broad humor, dumb/easy/uncreative jokes, in that same breath everyone gave atta boys to Patrick for a pun. A delightful pun yes, but a PUN you guys. Puns are not funny. The only laughter puns get is the self-satisfied noise people make to signal to others that they are linguistically nimble enough to get it. ))>><<((. Yuck y'all!
I'm still figuring out where Outsourced is racist. It's stupid certainly. But racist? I am a Mexican American living in Phoenix, Arizona. I seriously think I forgot was racist means. Lately it seems to mean "anything that acknowledges race."
Also I want to point out that a few days ago on The Simpsons Post I saw many-to-several jokes about Apu and how zany it is that he came from India and had an arranged marriage, practices Hinduism, is the butt of every Karma Sutra refrence on that show, OWNS A FUCKING KWIK-E-MART FOR GANESH'S SAKE!!!
Dear Outsourced, you are terrible. You are boring. Please try harder at writing funny jokes so that your target audience raises it's standards.
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