So Tracy Morgan is in a heap load of trouble for his homophobic “joke” during his stand-up routine. In case you haven’t heard, Tracy Morgan “joked” that people who complain about gay bullying are just whining, and if his son whined about gay bullying, he would kill said son. See, that’s so funny because it’s completely over-the-top and not something that would ever happen in real life, so the absurdity of it all makes it funny! LOL!
Except not. There are different schools of opinion about how harmful this is, how much retribution he should face, and how much time we should even spend talking about it. Me? I’m mostly disappointed to see this side of a performer I enjoy so much on 30 Rock (hence the “dammit (janet)” tag). But Morgan’s apology is what interested me the most:
“I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”
Sigh.
I’ve heard the “equal opportunity jokester/offender” defense before. I’ve used it myself. That was before I started thinking more carefully about how I and others use comedy. It’s really quite simple and easy to say, “Either everything’s a fair target for humor, or NOTHING IS,” and I used to live by that rule. Now, I believe that comedy and the debate over “fair targets for humor” is a lot more complex and nuanced than a simple all-or-nothing, black-and-white rule.
But I’ll talk more about those nuances at another time. Right now, my eyes are still pointed to the top of my head. See, when I heard Morgan’s apology, my eyes rolled so hard that they got stuck.
“I’m an equal opportunity jokester/offender.” I’m still amused at how many comedians, how many people, use that excuse and think they’re being oh-so-clever and “edgy” – or even better, egalitarian. (Martin Luther King, Jr. would be so proud; that’s TOTALLY what he was talking about in his “I Have a Dream” speech.) They make jokes that rely on tired stereotypes and cliches and then claim to be edgy and original, and then they defend themselves by pretending to be “equal opportunity jokesters.”
Well, equal opportunity jokesters, I have news for you. You likely have many friends and fans who appreciate you for “telling it like it is!” (e.g. “repeating the same stereotyped shit that’s so old it’s practically fossilized”), but there are others, like me, who are not impressed.
You want to know why?
Every time I see or hear you make a “joke” like this, I no longer see your face. I no longer hear your voice. You cease to exist to me as an individual. Your individual personhood vanishes before my eyes, and all I see in front of me is a third grader who squints hir eyes, flops hir hand, beats said hand against hir chest and makes a “DUHHH” sound in a crude impersonation of someone who has a disability.
Basically, you’re no more original than the kids on the playground who made fun of the retards.
How does that feel?
Or hey – maybe I just don’t get your sophisticated humor. Tell me another gay joke – one I haven’t heard before. I bet it’s hilarious.
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I’m an equal opportunity offender! ‘Cause all groups of people have equal opportunities in life, so the resonance of all jokes targeting any group of people is exactly the same!
Dear Tracy Morgan: Maybe you should watch this Louis CK routine, hmmm?
I’m an equal opportunity offender! ‘Cause all groups of people have equal opportunities in life, so the resonance of all jokes targeting any group of people is exactly the same!
DUH. Wasn’t that, like, the whole point of Animal Farm?
I think I had similar views on Tracy that Chris Rock did, I tend to think TM has a legitimate mental illness of some kind that is not simply drug abuse, that makes him erratic/labile and unable to acknowledge or respect social boundaries. Working in the entertainment industry, particularly in comedy, where there is that anything goes as long as someone laughs idea, probably exasperates that.
I’m NOT excusing what he did or said, or arguing it’s not a true reflection of his homophobia, just that..he often seems to me like a the homeless black guy on the corner who spews all sorts of weird hateful shit, only Tracy has a job, a house, and money. With most people who do this, I can say: hey they have the power to *control* themselves and not say stupid offensive shit, but Tracy Morgan? I seriously question if he does have that power w/o drugs/treatment.
But your right, the thing is no matter what work related consequence he suffers via the Network and his bosses, he’s ultimately made it really difficult for me to enjoy his performance on 30 Rock (or in anything else), going forward, and even kind of poisoned it going backward. He has reduced himself to his hateful words. He’s hurt untold numbers of gay kids/people, and those who love and support them, not to mention his own son and if he actually IS gay.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Tracy Morgan were mentally ill in some way. They do reference mental illness with his character on 30 Rock and the character is based on him, so…
This is a danger of our culture, which has pretty effectively been overtaken by the grating hollowness of a vapid pop-culture. “Anything for a laugh” is cool until the “edge” we so blindly pursue is sharpened into a weapon for use against us. I defend free speech, it’s an imperative liberty, but I resent more and more of my “clients” these days. It seems to have been completely forgotten, that with rights come obligations. Tracy, one example of a larger, diversely populated issue, can make that joke about killing his son. (Gosh, it really sounds bad when ya put it that way), and there will be pockets within a given crowd who see it as a joke, albeit a really bad one, and move on. Others will see it more literally or symbolically, and become concerned/offended. But there are those will read into it a license for the worst kinds of feelings and behaviors. There is real danger in this kind double entendre. It leaves the speaker a plausible out, and they’ll take that out every time, that’s why it’s there, to the person saying it. But all those who would read into it the worst, and there are enough of them to give Sarah Palin the idea that she stands a snowballs chance in hell at a bid for the White House, know in their gut that they have heard the truth. An immediate criticism of my observation is that it punishes the many for the actions of the few. I get that, but is it really so punishing to stop being so mean?
is it really so punishing to stop being so mean?
Thank you for saying that. I think people use the “free speech” excuse to get away with saying a lot of hurtful, mean-spirited, unfunny crap. I’m never going to tell someone to make a certain type of joke or comment illegal, but I often wonder, “Do you really have nothing else to joke about?”