I’m not some kind of ride-or-die Amy Schumer fan. I basically only watch her show in the clips posted on other sites, and as I said in a post earlier this week, I think the trailer for Train Wreck looks really funny. Schumer has become known for being pretty bro-y, with a biting feminist edge. But in a Guardian write-up about Schumer’s rise to stardom, a writer took issue with Schumer’s comedy when it comes to issues of race. This is what The Guardian’s Monica Heisey wrote:
For such a keen observer of social norms and an effective satirist of the ways gender is complicated by them, Schumer has a shockingly large blind spot around race. Her lacklustre stint hosting the MTV Movie awards (a rare misstep) featured lazy jokes about Latina women being “crazy” that left Jennifer Lopez as unimpressed as the online commentariat. While a much-lauded sketch from the show featured an ad for a training centre where old people learn not to be racist, Schumer’s stand-up repeatedly delves into racial territory tactlessly and with no apparent larger point. Her standup special features jokes like “Nothing works 100% of the time, except Mexicans” and much of her character’s dumb slut persona is predicated on the fact that the men she sleeps with are people of colour. “I used to date Latino guys,” she says in an older stand-up routine. “Now I prefer consensual.”
Schumer has said that she’s not worried about the show upsetting people because viewers know “we have good intentions”, but as Anne Thériault wrote for the Daily Dot: “Amy Schumer frequently makes jokes that perpetuate stereotypes rather than dismantle them … It’s hard not to feel like Schumer is only here for women who look like her.”
Is Amy Schumer’s comedy merely an extension of the closing borders of white feminism? I don’t know. I want to give Schumer more credit than that, because from what I’ve seen of her, she IS sharp. I want to believe she’s not just another Chelsea Handler, a “comedienne” who only trades in shock, vulgarity and racism. Schumer always seemed deeper than that. Anyway, Schumer responded to The Guardian article by posting this on her Twitter:
Put down your torches before reading this so you don't catch on fire. pic.twitter.com/JyRQGvFuX8
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) June 28, 2015
She was also tweeting stuff like “I don’t have any jokes that deal with race in my standup. I haven’t for almost 2 years” and “When you read the word “racist” who did you assume it was against? uh oh, maybe you need to take a look at yourself.”
Personally, I hate when someone makes a first-person “trust me, y’all, I’m not a racist” argument because it feels like they’re about two seconds away from listing all of the reasons they’re not a racist, going from #1 I have black friends, #2 I sleep with black people, and all the way down to #57 I think Tyler Perry is funny. It feels like The Guardian hit Schumer in a sensitive area and she’s overcompensating a little bit. Or maybe I’m totally wrong. Maybe she’s just as bad as Chelsea Handler and my defense of Schumer is going to blow up in my face. Ugh. I hope not.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I didn’t understand her joke about consensual sex and Latin men until someone explained it to me…..not cool.
If Donald Trump is being pulled to the carpet for saying the same thing about Mexicans, so should Amy.
It’s not cool and it’s not funny.
Definitely this – it can’t be “intolerable” for Trump, but only slightly “sketchy” for Amy.
If she did say it, I’m gonna have to shun.
Donald Trump is a hugely powerful business man with many employees who is running for the most powerful public office in the world.
Amy Shumer is a stand up comedian.
If people cannot see the difference they are going to have a very difficult, very stressful life.
+1
This.
Trump wants to be the POTUS, Schumer just wants to make people laugh.
both have/had tv shows. thats what its about. Trump rightly lost his tv contracts and so should Schumer
+1 Mia4S
Stand up comics are not the same as mainstream business men that are running for office. There are a LOT of things comics say that would never be uttered by a politician running for office. (Though plenty of politicians have said scandalous things and meant them that I WISH they were just joking about)
I don’t want to censor comics. The way I see it, they make fun of a lot of people. Sometimes I laugh, and occasionally I get offended. But I don’t think I get to pick and choose. I like a LOT of Amy’s comedy. I do not like the fact that she painted latinos as rapists. But I don’t think it is fair for me to laugh at one off color comment, and then expect to put a gag on her when she says something that *I* find offensive. Same goes for Tosh. I really hated his rape “joke”– but I laugh at 85% of the rest of his material—so where do you draw the line?
I 100% agree with you Mia4s. It’s a JOKE! Society has become far to sensitive.
YES
I must be being very stupid here, but don’t get the latino joke?
anyone?
Shes saying Latino men are rapists.
I think she is implying that Latino men are rapists. I can’t think of any other explanation for the joke. She used to sleep with Latino men, but now she prefers to give consent. If she had made the joke recently, I might think she was making fun of Donald Trump’s stupid remarks, but apparently this was some time ago. I have never heard of a stereotype of Latino men as rapists, not that such a stereotype would make it acceptable, but that just makes her joke even stranger.
I’ve never heard that stereotype either. It wasn’t a very funny joke, but admittedly I’m very unfamiliar with Amy Schumer and her comedy.
Come on guys, seriously?… Is it a good joke? Maybe not. But it is insincere to say she is literally saying all Latino men are rapists. You know darn well that’s not what the joke meant.
Uh. That IS what the joke meant. Otherwise, what alternative explanation do you have?
TX: What’s the text book definition of non consensual sex vs consensual sex?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t find rape jokes funny. If that makes me po faced, so be it.
if you don’t understand that a stand up comedian doesn’t mean EXACTLY what they say, there’s no amount of explaining it that will help and you should probably stay clear of comedy because you will always be offended if you take everything literally
Do you guys know what hyperbole is? Do you understand that when I say “it’s hot as Hell!” I don’t literally mean it is as hot as Hell?
because I feel like some people are struggling with this very basic concept.
Not saying it’s particularly funny, btw.
But seriously, what did she mean if not that?
No dog in this fight, I’ve long since learned even the best intentioned people can have their own blind spot and I haven’t been paying attention to Amy but TX…
You can’t pull the elementary school playground defense, “Geez guys don’t you get it? It’s sooo obvious.”, without you know…actually being able to explain or defend your point.
Either you can actually explain why others are wrong about the joke or you know they’re right and you’re weakly pretending otherwise.
TX: you can write an entire thesis on hyperbole and it still won’t take away from the fact that you are defending a rape joke.
You know why we don’t make jokes about some things?…..because they are not funny. There is no context that can make them funny. Not slapstick, dry humour, hyperbole, wit or any other version of whatever twisted sense of humour that exists can make rape funny.
Just give it up. You can’t defend the indefensible and the very fact that you resort to insulting me rather than lay out a rational argument for why rape is funny to you, demonstrates that very clearly.
And since I’m humourless, perhaps I should point out that your example, ‘hot as hell’ is a simile which is a figure of speech designed to paint a more vivid picture as opposed to hyperbole where someone uses exaggerated language. Two different things. Amy didn’t use a simile here nor did she pick a harmless subject matter to hyperbolicly paint Latin men.
@TX
Then what is she saying? I’m willing to be corrected if I misunderstood. She said she used to date Latino guys but decided she likes consensual sex. So maybe she’s “just” saying that all the Latino guys she knows are rapists. It’s still offensive. Why do some people think something said as a joke is automatically free from criticism? That makes no sense to me.
maybe she implied that THEY didnt give the consent?? she does crude jokes, but she mainly jokes at her own cost – thats why i like her. Havent heard that bit though
@TX I’d love to learn what it REALLY meant as well. I’m to dumb myself to understand it, clearly.
Agreed she’s a more palatable version of Chelsea Handler.
Before reading all the comments, I read it as she was pressing them. .. isn’t a large portion of Latin america catholic and therefore religious so she had to force them? Now she prefers men who just say yes….?
that was my thought as well
I also assumed the joke was about her being a predator. It makes a lot more sense than the other way around.
Agreed. I dislike her kind of humor anyway.
Just watched some of her stand up on you tube after reading this article. IMO she is really unfunny. Did not….laugh once. She must appeal to someone though.
I thought vulture had a good analysis of this too. One of the writers points was that it’s not just that she makes jokes about race, it’s that her jokes don’t have any substance in case. It’s just sock value. yes, comics can make jokes about race. But substance and meaning have to play a part.
And her defense off her race jokes was utter crap.
+100
Yes! Thank you. I don’t think people were really analyzing what was said. And I was waiting for her defense to get to a better point, but sadly nothing substantive was there either. Honestly, it sounded a little Seinfeld to me. The “I’m a comedian, let me joke around” excuse is getting really old, really fast.
At least Seinfeld’s jokes are funny.
Good night nurse! Apologies for all the typos. Hope everyone gets what I was trying to say there.
Yes. I’ve enjoyed some of her videos and was all primed to like her but as someone here pointed out on another thread, when you joke about race the punchline needs to swing up not down. I’m paraphrasing. 😛
On a separate note, I love your your Animaniacs reference and your Invader Zim avi.
She’s nowhere near as bad as Chelsea Handler and the writer missed the point of one of her skits, BUT she still has an issue with race. A lot of comedians, do, actually ranging from Seth McFarlane (ugh) to even Louis CK. Her defense is lame. For someone who is clever, you think she would have written a better piece about how she’s said some problematic things but that she has learned from it.
I’m also on the fence about Schumer. I was enamored with her after the first season of her show, but it’s hard to know how much of it she really wrote. The third season is boring IMO. Most of her interviews and stand-up are very repetitive. I don’t find her offensive in the least, most of her “racist” and “sexist” jokes are pretty predictable.
Trying to understand why Amy Schumer is being dragged over coals for making a couple of admittedly inappropriate jokes, whereas in many corners the Trevor Noah debacle (in which we saw not only racist but misogynistic jokes and stolen material) basically blew over in 1-2 days without any consequence to him. I find that really interesting.
Where exactly is she being dragged over the coals? People were demanding Comedy Central fire Trevor, is that happening to her? No
its not like this is going on for weeks now. there will be some articles about it and if they dont find anything more its over. it happens to everyone who makes it big, people love you, you can do no wrong, are a genius and then comes the moment where the wind blows into your face. wait it out and then you are in the establishment.
I was going to say the complete opposite. Trevor Noah got DESTROYED on this site as well as many others for his tweets, which were from long ago, and which I personally found way less controversial or offensive than these examples.
Yeah…not real crazy about Schumer. Methinks she doth protest too much regarding her “I’m no racist” claims. I think she’s really obnoxious.
Ugh what would you say if you were accused of racism? I certainly wouldn’t just lay down and take it!
Maybe I’d try some self reflection and make an attempt to educate myself as opposed to being defensive?
She’s sharp in other instances (well, when I’ve seen her on talk shows anyway) that I’m really shocked by the race jokes she made. The race jokes don’t seem to have a point to them.
Exactly. So to me she gets a pass but should hang up those types of jokes she’s clearly not great at.
So sick of this new world of having to monitor so carefully
Every word that comes out of our mouths so we dont “offend” anyone. A sterile 1984 pc world is much more offensive than a tired joke about mexicans…
If people dont like her jokes dont see her movies or watch her on tv
I think it’s okay for people to point out that those jokes aren’t funny though. I know comedians are given more lee-way for what kind of material they can work with, but if some part of the routine isn’t working, I think one might as well let the comedians know that instead of having them live under the delusion that those jokes are making people laugh, which I don’t think they are.
I think the comedians need to stop whining or explaining. If you stand behind the comedy then just do it. If people find it funny, you will succeed, if it isn’t funny, you won’t.
Yeah she makes it worse by clarifying and defending herself.
As I said, I’ve never seen Amy Schumer’s show, but people always seem to say how clever she is. Her response piece seemed very….simple and didn’t speak to a thoughtful, articulate, or witty woman. She would have been better off just not responding.
This!! +1,000,000!!! For everyone preaching tolerance the opposite is happening, intolerance for just about anything is the new norm. Hypocricy at it’s finest.
Yeah, but I’m sensitive about YOU being sensitive is just as stupid and hypocritical, maybe more so. Telling someone to get a thicker skin, while crying about how their thin skin is hurting your ‘tough’ skin, is the circle of absurdity.
Humor is a reflection of our time. This kind of humor may have been great 30 years ago, but it does not fly now.
Exactly.
We are more today than we were yesterday (or at least many of us are) if you can only find humor in the relics of the past then of course you’re going to feel frustrated and confused by others saying it’s not cool.
From what I’m gathering the situation seems to be that Amy displays a sharp wit and awareness about women’s issues, the patriarchy, and how they struggle and is dead, dumb, and blind when commenting on race. She goes from being smart and deep to shallow as a puddle. That’s not surprising, that’s Western feminism with a bow on top.
Why is it so hard not to make racists jokes? I’ve never made a racist joke in my life. I’m not trying to attack you Jessica, and I know you’re a nice person, but when you feel that refraining from implying that all Latino men are rapists is “monitoring so carefully every word that comes out of your mouth” I have to wonder what is normal for you. I mean, I agree with you when it comes to that guy who used the word “niggardly” and got fired for it. That’s a real word and just because it sounds like an offensive word, people were outraged. I thought your point would be spot on in that situation. But this was pretty much something you don’t need to say, in my opinion. Maybe I’ve gotten too sensitive, I just think it’s time to stop these lame jokes that reinforce harmful stereotypes.
Having done stand-up, it is working with then twisting the stereotypes which make some great jokes. Everyone is too sensitive. If we try to make jokes that won’t be offensive to anyone we will just stand in front of the mic silent for a five minute set. Amy’s mistake here was acknowledging the criticism. Jokes bomb, ideas bomb. You take it as a learning lesson for your craft and move on. As she said, she hasn’t done any racially inspired jokes in two years. I thinks she’s been knocking it out of the park this last year with her feminist stuff. She found her voice and is killing. Lighten up folks!
So you can say whatever you want and hurt whomever you want because you’re doing it in the name of stand-up comedy? Ok. I guess I didn’t get that memo.
@HoneyB: Having similar experience, I agree wholeheartedly about stand-up… and would extend that to riffs, improv, sketch & pitch writing, etc. Censorship is the death of free flow associative & mind-blurt comedy attempts (funny or not), and editing (including self-editing) most often happens later in the process and in retrospect.
Notoriety, attention and venue can thwart the natural evolutionary process of a lot of comedy – which is often a trial-by-fire ugly sausage factory. I’m not as drawn to one-liners and ‘jokes,’ and this very discussion is one reason why.
I’m with you. We’re running right towards a world that Ray Bradbury described in Farenheit 451. Everyone’s offended by everything and wants everyone to censor themselves by picking on them – that’s how the whole thing started.
I don’t particularly care for certain types of jokes but I’m not going to grab a pitchfork and force someone to feel the same way. I simply don’t have to listen to it and I certainly don’t need to share my opinion on everything (by ranting on Twitter or wherever) if it means that the amount of a “tolerable” or “palatable” ideas grows smaller and smaller.
The ideas aren’t getting lessened. They are exploding in an absurd climax of opposing views, where there is (a.) someone who was offended (whether rightfully or not) and (b.) someone who is offended that person (a.) was offended. And they all go at it vociferously.
The best way to deal with it is: how consequential is it? If the answer is VERY, like a representative espousing racist views to enact them into policy, for example, then engage. If it’s a pissing match, ignore it. That goes for BOTH SIDES.
I agree Kiddo.
You’d have to pry Monty Python jokes about the French from my cold, dead mains.
Humor is funny when it works. When it doesn’t, its mother was a hamster and its father smelt of elderberries.
belle de jour, Monty Python could do an excellent bit about “I’m offended… No I’m offended that you’re offended”. ..No, I’m offended by…. It could played similar to the ‘Argument’ skit.
@Kiddo: The Ministry of Officially Offensive Offenses.
Jessica,
You see, maybe if your parents had have to leave their home country, which they absolutely love, for reasons like violence, political reasons or poverty. Then overcome a horrible journey trying to get to the Mexican-American border, which might have include abuses, rapes, kidnappings, etc. Then risked their lives by crossing a river and a desert to finally reach a place where they had to clean houses, raise other people children, etc., and to adapt to live in a foreign land with a different language and the constant fear of being deported, to give their families a better life (And I’m talking of the ones who actually succeed because a lot of the immigrants disappear or die along the journey)… Then maybe, you would understand why we find these comments so offensive.
Personally I like Amy, and as a Mexican I can tell you, had this being a taco, cholo, ranchero, food joke, we would not have a problem at all. But this particular joke was offensive.
Yea it’s pretty obvious she’s limited with her interaction with diverse people BUT the things she is knowledgeable of IS funny. Just stick to what you know sweetheart. I won’t fault you.
She left a very bad taste in my mouth after her Stern interview awhile ago. Howard, another one who seems to get a pass for his bigotry, asked her about a joke Wayne Brady made at a comedy cenytral roast. He said that Amy needs to get it into her head that black guys arent drooling over her. Now for a girl who has done afew roasts and whos act seems to revolve around race based jokes at other comics, you would think she would have a thicker skin. But nope. She was genuinely offended by that joke. She and Howard spent the next few minutes lashing out over how the fact that she is white and blonde makes her a dream catch. She also seems to think that a wide flat ass = Booty, and therefore she is ultimate black fantasy. None of this was phrased in a jocular fashion, not that it is ever funny when white women assume they surpass all women of color in every conceivable metric, there wasnt any pretense that Howard and Amy were doing anything but correcting a misguided black man on what he should like.
So for me, Amy joins Mindy in the leastof comedians who got the feminism right and the race completely wrong. So disappointing when I have to scratch my girl crush and start looking for somebody actually worthy.
That sounds awful. I have read comments on other sites, that leave a lot to be desired when it comes to her and her “jokes” or commentary on race. Unfortunately, if you are not riding the “Amy is the best thing ever” train, people can get very nasty and disregard the comments, especially when the critiques are coming from women of colour.
Anytime women of color question any white “feminist” we are attacked. It’s the norm and we’re use to it
HAHAHAHA I love that Howard said to get over yourself! I find her annoying, her bits are funny but then run on too long on her show. And she needs some color in her face, the white chalky look is not pulling off right. Or maybe I’m a hater and her face annoys me?
I just came here to say she looks like a corpse in all of these pictures. What man at all (regardless of color) finds that attractive.
I think this is really rude. Some people have fair skin. Ugh I thought everyone on this thread was so offended with her racial insensitivity! What a bunch of hypocrites….
If you find Howard Stern so offensive why are you listening to him? Stern’s show is satire. If you believe Stern is a bigot you’ve missed the point. He makes fun of bigots.
This exactly.
Oh please. How politically correct does a comedian have to be? And of course her comedy will be from her perspective as a white female. That’s her experience! That’s why it’s so spot on. She doesn’t have to be everything to every demographic.
I don’t think anyone is claiming that she has to be everything to everyone. IMO, she can say what she wants, but then other people have just as much right to call her out on her unfunny, racist BS.
I feel like this is the thing people don’t get about free speech (TRUMP!) – free speech doesn’t guarantee the right to NOT be criticized (or fired) for whatever stupid, unfunny thing a person says.
I’ve never been a fan of Schumer. Sorry. The “bro” sense of humor will never be funny to me and that’s the vibe I’ve always gotten from her. I once read somewhere that comics think they’re “edgy” because of race jokes, but they’re actually the same jokes racists use so actually they’re being quite Conservative. Just something for some to think about.
The comment in the article that says something to the effect of “she’s only here for those that look like her” implies to me that she needs to expand her comedy to incorporate different experiences/views just to have more diversity. I think that what makes her funny is that it comes from her experience as a white women. It’s genuine. How can she speak to the experience of other races authentically? (She can’t.) Keep it real Amy. Once you achieve a certain degree of fame haters gonna hate.
She’s capable of making subversive comedy, but I think her (and to be honest, most other comics’) jokes about race are (at best) incredibly lazy. IMO, a lot of comics do it for attention and shock value, but hide behind the whole “people are being too PC” whining. As with the other comics, I would not be shocked if she had racist beliefs but didn’t think those beliefs were racist.
Schumer was well liked because people agreed with the political message of two or three sketches. but i dont think anyone really thought she is actually talented. it was way more “yay feminism” than actually thinking its clever and well crafted. the whole “f*ckable” thing was around for years, i think the most prominent it was when it was about Rachel Dratch not being hired for 30 Rock for not being pretty enough.
A little off topic but genuine question: is “politically correct” now an offensive term? Online the other day a woman got SCHOOLED for using this expression. Others said it reeks of white privilege and oppression, and one woman even called her racist and a white supremacist. There was nothing racist in her comments, but the term “PC” ignited a firestorm. Should it be avoided?
I don’t know the answer to your question exactly, but I can see where people might start associating the expression with right wingers who don’t want to stop using racist and otherwise offensive references. There’s always an opposing outcry when someone is called out for making an offensive remark of “the world has gotten so miserable, we can’t say anything without someone being offended, you have to be so PC all the time, what about freedom of speech?” So maybe it has become sort of a dog whistle?
“Politically correct” should NOT be avoided, and it is only offensive to the perpetually offended. People need to get over themselves and stop being offended by every.little.thing. It’s so common today for people who have nothing substantive to say to use “-ist” and “-phobe” and “white privilege” simply to shut down discussion.
It has been common for centuries for people who have nothing substantive to say to fall back on stereotypes and make lame jokes putting down anyone different from themselves. And they don’t want to stop. So they whine that everyone else is “too sensitive” and needs to “lighten up” and “get over themselves.” Maybe you need to examine what it is inside you that makes it pleasurable to hurt other people. Because I have bad news, it isn’t tolerated anymore.
Thank you thank you thank you.
What I think is really funny is that there now seems to be confusion about who the perpetually offended are. Is it those would are super PC and are up in arms at perceived insults, or is it those who are irritated at the current level of PC in society? Perhaps they should all get together and form a club.
Or the “I’m not offended by anything because I’m too cool” people could just form their own country and spend the days reveling in insensitivity and crassness. The rest of us would be delighted, I assure you.
The usage is murky, but the term actually originated as a put-down of so-called “liberals” (defined as anybody who didn’t agree with George Bush, who may have been the first to use it in a speech). So the original intention was derogatory of anybody who points out a problem with the status quo or questions the mainstream or thinks about how other people feel when the target of stereotypes etc.
In the US at least, the term became popular in the 1990s, when conservatives used it as a term against liberal stands regarding race, gender, class and LGBT issues. It was meant to shut down discussion and eventually became basically another way of saying “oh, you’re being too sensitive” re: race, gender, class and LGBT issues.
I disagree with Robin and actually think the opposite – IMO, people throw out PC to shut down the conversation…as in “you’re so PC and overly sensitive about EVERYTHING! (subtext: Let’s go back to the days when certain people had the right to say any offensive thing they wanted to and there wasn’t any backlash about it.)”
So, I could see – if her comments were anything like what I wrote above – that people might have felt she was ignorant of her privilege and couldn’t see how what she was saying was offensive.
Exactly.
I’m def not the PC police and I love Amy Schumer but as a Latina I find in general jokes about race to be lazy and non original. Latins leave their country and work for pennies for a better life?? HILARIOUS!
And this is whether it’s Amy Schumer or anyone else.
Eff you!
@lilbowbee. You are my girl crush.
Go girl, it doesn’t take a dictionary to figure out how simple the joke was but when it’s about race you can stop a joke short and it’s a winner.
I like her. She is not my favorite but it is incredibly hard to be a successful female stand-up comic. Her constant commenting on her sexual endeveavors come off as a little desperate to me, but I thought she gave a great interview on Howard Stern .
Since when do comics have to work-in an underlying moral commentary on society in every joke?
A comic made a joke about race?? Sound the alarms. I find it more offensive that comics go to that obvious route and I personally enjoy comics that are more imaginative and that are storytellers(Mitch Hedberg being that one exception) but that is just my preference.
I don’t know…It seems odd that any vulgar atrocities that come out of Lisa Lampanelli’s mouth blows over rather easily though.
I’m not a fan of hers AT ALL. But, I do not think she’s racist. Trey Stone and Matt Parker leave no one out, including people with special needs. Maybe what makes Amy so polarizing is that she is white and blond and female??? If she were a black female comedian making jokes about “dumb” white girls, would it be an issue?
She might not be a racist as herself in her private life, but I think the joke about Latino men being rapists is definitely racist. I think that joke crosses a certain line and I don’t understand the punchline (maybe there’s a full context that hasn’t been mentioned in which she’s trying to subvert other people’s stereotypes, because that’s the only way I could see that joke having an actual punchline?)
I have thought she is quite funny when I’ve seen her on Ellen (and definitely funnier than Chelsea Handler), so I’m surprised she’d make those other race jokes, because there’s no display of intelligence there like she’s shown in her other discussions.
Making a joke about a dumb white girl is not equally as offensive as a joke about latino men being rapists. How do people not see that?? You have every right to be mad at a dumb white girl joke but due to the hundreds of years of instutionalized racism in this country something like a “little joke” brings about something more hurtful in minorities than it does white women. You have the right to be upset but thats just a fact. South Park was insanely offensive towards a plethora of groups but there was always some sort of social commentary not just “lol latino men are rapists” and shock value jokes.
Chappelle has said a similar thing. People started laughing at his jokes about race for the wrong reasons and not really understanding the social message he was trying to get across from them so he ended the show.
Well said kdlaf.
A black female comedian probably would have never been given a public platform and lauded in the mainstream media for anyone outside of her small fanbase to even know she was making jokes about “dumb white girls” unlike white, blonde Amy. Also, she’s not just calling certain races dumb she’s implying that Latino men are rapist. If rape jokes aren’t funny than how is calling a whole group of guys rapists based solely on the strength of their heritage funny?
Oh, you mean like Whoopi making jokes about dumb white girls on The View not having a platform?
As they say in comedy you should always punch up. A black woman making those jokes is doing that, whereas with white comedians it can be more problematic. South Park does it really well, I haven’t seen enough of Amy to really judge.
Not to defend her totally, but it seems like every person totally fails hosting award shows, with some exceptions (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Ellen Degeneres, and that’s it, right?) I can imagine there was probably pressure on her to step up the edge from MTV; they hire teams of writers to do those jokes, she’s not responsible for probably most of the content (hence why it wasn’t her usual brand of funny) except that she made the choice to say the words of some bro-ey male comedy writer on the team that was hired.
Whenever something is confusing, regarding sexism, racism, etc, it’s easy enough to substitute a different word, and see how it plays.
so, replace “latino men” with “black men” (keeping with amy’s phraseology of ethnicity before the person), is her “joke” now racist, still racist?
is it ok for her to say this, about people? is it ok for anyone to even hint a joke about rape? for a man, or a woman?
There’s a difference between joking about rape and joking about rape culture. It’s dependent on the target of the joke. If the punchline is the victim, or about a stereotype, it generally fails.
LOL @ Schumer being ‘deep’! LOLOL
I’d cut her more slack, but I have a problem with her defense of ‘it’s a joke and it’s funny–I know because people are laughing.’ That’s your explanation that it isn’t racist, because people are laughing? Oh, man. Blind spot, indeed.
Her standup drops in and out of her personifying a “stereotypical” clueless, privileged, upper middle class white woman. And she says the things that a “stereotypical” clueless, privileged, upper middle class white woman would “stereotypically” say. I can’t believe that this is lost on people, although if they’ve ever seen her standup act, they would understand this. If she is offending anyone, it is the “stereotypical” women that she portrays, because she’s saying that these women are narcissistic, clueless and dumb.
Whatever though. People don’t have to find her funny if they don’t, and they can clutch their pearls at the horror of this mean, horrible, terrible, unfunny, racist comedian. It will be awesome when all that’s left in comedy clubs are knock-knock jokes and milquetoast, Jay Leno-esque Tonight Show monologues. Others of us will laugh along with her and other comedians when we find them funny, chuckling at the absurdity of it all.
So you’re saying her schtick is more in the vein of Colbert?
in the same vein that both Beethoven and Bieber are musicians i guess.
@ I Choose Me – Yes, I think you could say that. but Colbert is more committed to it and doesn’t break from it (that I’ve seen, anyway.) AS is more fluid, if that makes any sense.
I’d like to think that would be the case. There was a sketch about her having trouble describing her black sales assistant to the cashier because she’s afraid to offend her. I thought she was parodying how white, overly PC people behave in front of POCs. But then she had a stand-up routine where she made fun of white people making fun of POCs ( black people have funny names, South Asians have b.o., etc.). I thought that was sneaky.
Is racism against the Latino and especially Mexican community growing recently?
I’ve been a number of times in the US and have always met really wonderful people but I have been perceiving lately more racism, and like is some kind of “safe” to bash or joke about Latinos.
…hmmm, it’s not growing. Latino/Latina people are challenging and fighting against their unfair treatment in this country and its causing a lot of bigots to become more aggressive.
When bigots are challenged they get angry, for evidence 6 Southern black churches in different states and areas have burned down since the Dylan Roof shootings.
I agree. I think it’s part of the process and is a sign that things are changing. If change is happening, you get a pushback. It’s sad, and it’s scary.
Ugh. I like Amy for the most part, some of the bits on her show are hilarious. Her 12 angry men sketch was too funny (and she wrote it guys before you get into she’s not funny blah blah blah).
But she’s really sensitive and easily offended. Almost every time she’s defended herself from some level of criticism it’s been cringe worthy. Her constant need to reiterate she’s a size 6, telling her weight, and talking about how she can catch a d-ck anytime she wants. Actually the last one was funny, but everything else no.
Yep. Amy Schumer has medium body Chelsea Handler with strong notes of Lena Dunham and a slight finish of Sarah Silverman. Or just a serious case of I’m-casually-racist-and-white-but-a-feminist-your-argument-is-invalid-itis. Comedians may not run the country but they are being trusted more and more as educated social commentators. (You know some people watch the Daily Show religiously but don’t watch the actual news.) That comes with responsibility. Louis CK attacks all kinds of hard issues with (mostly) poise & humor – at least his content is subtantive. But people are always ready with their pitchforks because he just reads as a straight white man (who is actually half Mexican). The fact that the vast majority of very successful comediennes are white, Jewish girls just shows how stupid and institutionalized this “Aw, it’s a joke get over it” attitude is. It’s like “Oh, but we have Wanda Sykes, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Cho & Mindy Kaling. Why are you people still complaining?” Dawww, you’re right. Thank you, white ladies!
So from what I gather the issue is this woman who is very insightful about bringing topics of feminism into a comedic form where she can mock the ridiculousness of our patriarchy ultimately goes for the cheap race jokes and doesn’t try much harder.
I’m someone who loves comedians, I love all comedians and forms of humor. I’ve heard many a race joke and the truth is if you want your humor to land you will ALWAYS need depth to a joke.
Latino’s rape people – isn’t depth. It’s just a stereotype. Making a music video mocking how we’re all suddenly obsessed with butts in our culture even though we poop from them – that has depth. It explores an issue by diving beneath the surface, same with her “Girl put on some makeup” sketch and the (I’m just quoting the sketch, don’t ban me) “Last Fuckable Day”
If jokes were as simple as “Man those -insert minority- ammiright?” we’d all be stand up comedians. So yeah it sounds like she has a blind spot, she cares about feminism so she takes time to explore how to bring that topic to an audience in a way that explores the issue but when it comes to race she falls short and hope back to the 90’s. It’s not shocking, it’s Western feminism.
There isn’t a funny comedian in existence that doesn’t offend a whole load of people. Take out the offence and you remove the funny. Comedians mock, that’s their job. We can’t censor them according to the personal sensibilities of the professionally offended, there won’t be any left!!!!!!!!
People aren’t censoring her. They’re just saying that her race jokes aren’t funny. How is that censoring?
She can continue to say what she wants to say, and other people can continue to have an opinion about it.
No, people aren’t simply saying her race jokes aren’t funny. People are saying they’re offensive and that she’s a racist. Depending on how much traction the “outrage” gets, it can end careers. Nowadays you don’t have to censor somebody to shut them up, you just have to scare off the advertisers. It’s a much cleaner version of book burning.
Well, people can say the jokes are offensive too (and from what I can tell, the jokes about Latinos are). If she has made a joke that Latinos are rapists, she has willingly put out the perception of herself that she may be racist. That’s a consequence we all have to deal with, not just her. Once you say something that, well, makes no sense, as appears to be the case with her jokes about Latinos (can anyone explain what she actually meant if there’s an alternative meaning she actually wanted to share? ) you have to deal with how people perceive you and the consequences. That’s life. The First Amendment protects our freedom of speech, but it doesn’t say that it has to intervene to protect how people perceive our speech.
Yes, there is the potential to scare off advertisers but that’s how the free market works. Anybody who goes into entertainment knows that. But that’s not actual censoring — the government isn’t saying she can’t say what she wants. I don’t see any book-burning going on. If a particular company wants to protect their reputation or not be tainted by association with someone who says something that is offensive or potentially racist, that is their right. If my next door neighbour says something potentially racist, and I think it’s too off the wall for me to deal with it, I feel it’s also my right to distance myself from that person. I don’t have to put up with what the person said or pretend that person is a-ok just because that makes my neighbour feel better about his or her self-esteem. None of us owe anything to each other in that regard.
@RobN; If advertisers stop supporting someone because people are offended by a discriminatory comment, whose fault is that really? Are people not supposed to exercise their right to voice their offense because some middle or upper class person might lose money?
Based on what people have said here, I can’t really judge the context of all her comments enough to tell whether or not she said them while playing the role of a stereotypical racist privileged white girl parody as part of a comedy thing, if they’re desperate little jokes or comments she threw out there for attention and shock value, or if the jokes to some extent echo some beliefs of hers. But you can’t tell people not to voice their understandable offense while at the same time trying to position yourself as a warrior for free speech.
If somebody said or implied that you, male members of your family, or friends were rapists, would you honestly defend them and be like “lolz, free speech! It’s just a joke!”!, or would it bother you? Imagine what it’s like for people to hear both a presidential candidate and a comedian stereotype their whole race as rapists in one week. I’m not going to automatically assume that Amy meant her comments in the literal way that Donald did, but people definitely have a right to take issue with a stereotype and question/criticize the person who makes the comment.
A white woman made a stereotypical ‘joke’ about a certain race (in the pejorative!!!) and its not racist?? And the mental gymnastics to defend her!
Also, “Well actually, Donald Trump is a business man blah blah, she’s just a comedian.” Didn’t see any of that defence for Trevor Noah. (No. I don’t hold brief for him.) Eh.
Amen.
It’s not even ONE joke (which MAYBE I could let go while side eying her), she’s made repeated jokes over the years about Latinos: we have the crazy latina woman, rapist men, and ” hard working” Mexicans aka illegal immigrants 😒
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…..
Am I calling for her to be crucified? Nope.
But to those of y’all defending her ‘humor’ while blasting Trump in other posts, I just can’t at the hypocrisy.
Maybe it’s me but I’m over snark shit. It’s so easy that it’s boring
Obviously. She’s one of those “I hate everyone equally!” high school types. The only time she’s made me laugh was when she imitated Blake Lively on Conan.
Lena Dunham Pt 2
I love Amy Schumer her show is great!! She’s right Latinas are CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The jokes were offensive. Either she will learn from the criticism and stop, or she will see her fan base shrink to a$$holes and bigots. Not being offensive is not rocket-science.
Dumb complaints. She’s a comedian who happens to speak on gender issues. She doesn’t have to be all things to all people. I guess equality is the right to be just as crappy as the next person. Don’t hold amy to a higher standard than Seinfeld
newsflash: we’re NOT all alike. We’re different genders, races, ethnicities, cultures, orientations, etc….
AND IT’S OKAY TO MAKE FUN OF EACH OTHER!
Another newsflash: It’s one thing to make fun of each other and acknowledge our differences, but it’s a completely different thing to call a whole group rapists.
It’s not hard to understand why her comments are offensive.
I seem to recall some pretty below the belt “jokes” aimed at Patrice O’Neal by her at Charlie Sheen’s roast. I didn’t really know who she was before that and had no interest in her after it.
Testing…
One of her stand up personas is a dumb self-entitled white girl. The joke falls in. That category. It’s like saying Michael Fassbender is racist because of what he says in character in 12 years a slave
I have been calling her Mini-handler for about a year now, and I am so glad someone else finally sees it. the only difference that I can sen between Amy and Chelsea (besides a massive age difference) is that Amy is predicating her career on us believing that she doesn’t care if she’s fuckable, while Handler needs everyone to desperately believes she hasn’t reached that day yet.
by the way- whoever coined “commentariat” should be knighted by the queen. I am going to use this word in any and everyway possible