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Thursday, March 11, 2010

When funny becomes derisive, and inappropriate......


Hi ladies. Sorry it's been so long. I'm consulting on a big RE project and I've hardly even had time for my family..... so lets not waste any time now.....


I think a lot of bw are so busy looking at the small frames, they fail to see the big picture. What I mean by that remark is that so many people never bother to look down the road and make a calculated guess as to how their present actions will affect their future. This is something I have never understood, but this seems to be a common trait in the bc. For instance, think about all the movies you see with bp acting like common fools. A few off the top of my head are:

booty call
I got the hook up
house of pain
how high
have baked etc.

I notice other cultures seem to have an vested interest in their present, future, and the future of their offspring, and the offspring of their race that seems to be decidedly lacking in American blacks. I'm not sure how this came to be or why, but it's completely obvious to anyone who cares to investigate it. I remember reading a book a few years ago, in which a white Author was addressing a bm (who had asked, why bp were not getting the respect they deserved)

The author told him plainly and succinctly: "You've always entertained us whites with your comedic ways, and clowning. The problem is -no one respects a clown"
I remember feeling struck by his words, and a bit stung. But I knew they were true. Too many, far far too many bp shuck and jive and giggle at the most inappropriate things, all the while wondering why the world does NOT take them seriously. My question is, if you've set yourself up as the world clown, how do you ever expect to be taken seriously? Can you see Obama becoming President as a shucking, jiving, giggling fool? Do you think Oprah would have ever become a talk show queen if she was a large, giggling, silly, cackling jester?
I remember being in Arizona visiting one of my very successful book Author, cousin. We were downtown, and there was a military parade going on. At the end of the parade a black limo stopped and General Powell stepped out (he was a general then)He was surrounded by soldiers-who immediately jumped to attention. But, he made such a commanding presence, that even the civilians (of all races) jumped from their cars and immediately saluted him. My cousin who's is a pretty well-known author and rarely impressed by anyone, was practically in tears he was so honored to be in his presence. Some people actually were in tears! It was an experience I have never forgotten. The very air around him seem charged with the energy of a leader, and commander.....

Certainly few of us have his aura, and charisma. But all of us can be taken more seriously, and command ordinary respect by the way we carry ourselves and interact on a daily basis. Now, I have nothing against humor at all, I think it's a wonderful life ingredient that ameliorates the pleasures in life. But for some people it becomes a tool for a slovenly life, filled with stagnated nothingness, and covered up with dangerous laughter. Or, sometimes it's used as a weapon of veiled hatred and pain to be welded at hapless, and unarmed victims....

What I mean by that is,I've seen humor used in a harmless fashion to lighten a heavy load, yet, I've also seen it used many times to bring people to their knees and treat them in ways that defy decency.
(think about how you felt as a bw, to hear D L. Hugley laugh about what Imus said)

Also, I think it's just plain dangerous to laugh at some things. It normalizes and lessons the impact of the damage they cause. For exp. I remember hearing comedian Sherl Underwood joking about R. Kelly molesting little girls. She went on to joke that every time he molested a child he had a hit record, so he needed to hit someone else because he needed another "hit" The audience howled with laughter, but to me it just felt wrong to laugh at something like that. I just don't see it as a joke. I know bp often joke about things to relieve the ponderous weight of some issues, but how come Jews never laugh at the holocaust? How come Indians don't laugh about the pain of reservation life? How come the Irish don't laugh about their civil war that's gone on in their country for years? Could it be perhaps, because these things are held sacrosanct and above the silly jokes, that some would make of them?

Today, we see many comedians and ordinary men laughing at the plight of bw. I believe it's because when the jokes first became inappropriate, no one said anything, and now they've grown out of proportion, but the world is so used to laughing at us, it's no longer a big deal. Many bw today are suffering horribly and yet many people are still laughing and treating it as a joke. I actually heard bm on a website I won't mention, laughing about the murder of the bw/wm couple last year! It' almost like nothing is off limits anymore. It's like watching an entire race of women swimming in a river of pain, as the people laugh on...
Just my opinion, but I think the joke is really on us-and it's not funny.....