I thought I was open minded and had a sense of humor prior to this course. I laugh at bodily puns; I find scatology and disease funny not only on a basic level but also on a socially symbolic level (hey, I wrote my MA thesis on excrement in eighteenth-century England).
However, Eddie Murphy reinforced my hyper sensitivity this week. I don't think AIDS jokes are funny. I don't think I ever will. Ironically, I find the hidden syphilis puns and references on the Renaissance stage pretty darn amusing and significant. I read Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year and perceive the narrator's obnoxious, self-righteous tone regarding plague victims to be slightly amusing. Where's the disconnect?
I think it goes back to historical context--a theme that keeps cropping up in this course. We discussed why we aren't offended by Lenny Bruce. We're de-sensitized. And I'm not offended by syphilis and black death jokes because, for the most part, society isn't "plagued" by the diseases anymore. In reverse, in 1983, Eddie Murphy's AIDs jokes probably weren't as offensive because large segments of the population didn't perceive themselves to be at risk: in many ways, Murphy used the disease as a humorous social signifier, as a way of creating insiders to feel superior to outsiders. Now we know even more about the virus, and awareness increases our sensitivity. It's just not funny in 2009. Perhaps this portion of Murphy's routine should go in the vault for a while. If cures develop, and third world nations are no longer suffering from access to treatment, we can laugh at it again.
(Then again, maybe I'm just too sensitive after watching Angels in America over the weekend...right before I sat down to watch Delirious, hoping for some unrelated comic relief.)
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I doubt it's just Angels in America. The AIDS bit (and the homophobia in general) disturbed me, too.
ReplyDeleteI think that you're right that AIDS has become more relevant in our society to larger portions of the population.
As far as the homosexuality comments go, I think this part disturbed me so much because it is embarrassing to think about how acceptable this type of joke was (and perhaps still is) in mainstream America.
While Chris Rock's (and perhaps even Ralphie May's) comments on race can be seen as examining the tension between different groups in a way that could be informative and productive, I saw nothing redeeming in Murphy's discussion of homosexuality. There was nothing socially useful to me.
I think you're dead on with your observations here. I'd compare this to when some comedians (particularly edgier comedians) tell jokes that poke fun at a small minority of people with a particular physical or mental ailment (i.e. paraplegia, OCD, etc). They know that, as long as they're not hateful or malicious, most of their audience will laugh at these jokes. People who are affected by these ailments (or have a close relation who is affected), however, may find these jokes to be in bad taste. This is a calculated risk- and loss- on the part of the comedian.
ReplyDeleteMurphy chose AIDS as his calculated risk. Back then AIDS hadn't received the same major publicity and was viewed as being more concentrated in the homosexual community. To many, it wasn't a very big deal. Murphy capitalized on this and used it to keep his act edgy and relevant at the calculated loss of a few audience members. Lose a few, win many.
Now that the disease is more widespread and receives more attention, those same jokes don't go over quite as well. That small minority of people has grown by quite a lot over the years, and I think its safe to say that Murphy would not make the same jokes today. The loss of audience would be too great.
I think that the AIDS joke was a dated joke. People did not know a whole lot like we do now. As when he said faggot isnt an acceptable word for homosexuals anymore either but it may have been then. I did wonder when i watched his stand up if in one or two generations, if people will be able to laugh about when they were kids playing outside and the ice cream man since nowadays kids sit around the computer, play video games and watch tv.
ReplyDeleteI think what makes you able to laugh at the older humor is that it is"historical"--AIDS is now, and serious...but some can still laugh at these things during the joke's "lifespan." Witness the Bush jokes that appear almost immediate after a gaffe, or the jokes about tsunami or other politicians. There are always some things that an individual will not consider funny under any circumstances--or at least under very limited circumstances. People who died in the Plagues have been dust for a long time--not so AIDS victims.
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