ESC

#OscarSoWhite Was More About Black Equality Than Anything Else

Turns out no one at the Oscars got the memo that there are other minorities besides black people. Which also meant they didn’t get the memo that using racial stereotypes to get a cheap laugh probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. As was covered by every single media outlet on Monday, this year’s racially sensitive Oscars trotted out a couple of Asian stereotype jokes because, haha, they’re not going to say anything.

The first bit was where they introduced accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers who ended up being two Asian boys and an Asian girl because Asians are good at math and hardworking, you see. Though one of the kids couldn’t figure out where he was supposed to stand thereby ruining the one good Asian stereotype. Asians were probably more pissed about that than the joke. Said Chris Rock, “If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids.” Get it? Child labor joke. Heyoooo!

A little while later, Sacha Baron Cohen came out as Ali G and doubled down. This time it was a joke about yellow people and small dongs. He was talking about minions, obviously. The old switcheroo! Zzzzz.

Here’s a fun game to play when you’re debating whether or not to use a joke like this at the Oscars. Restructure the joke with a black stereotype. For example, this one was an overt racial remark about physical appearance + negative stereotype = oh, no, I’m describing this other thing. Then think about telling that joke in front of a bunch of black people you’ve never met. If you think it’d get your ass kicked, it’s probably best you don’t use it.

Don’t get me wrong. Satire is great. I love satire. But only if it’s clever. If you’ve read this site long enough, you’ll realize I have no idea how to be clever and neither did anyone at the Oscars. These jokes were the jokes a white person tells only in a room full of other white people.

If you want an example of good satire, look at Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments