WARNING - video has NSFW language

[emchy]

so... the guy on this website http://notarapper.com/base.htm
made this video

and so - viewing it. it feels really problematic to me. it has messages like buy some land, read a book, drink water, etc. instead of drinking 40s and buying rims for your car. and telling kids to buy land instead of rims for their car is a good thing. and we all know that PC PSA's don't work. but it also feels fucked up. like - is this what it takes to make kids want to bother to listen? it aired on BET and on VH1s The Best Week Ever. I don't know what sort of pop culture response it's getting. But I feel like - almost like it's one of those things that within it's own cultural context it's fine. Like bitching about your own mother. But once out in the world where other people can put their stuff onto it - maybe not so much? I totally saw films like that while working at Frameline and I was all - omg if I saw this in a straight context i would be so offended - but here at a queer film fest knowing the filmmaker is queer it feels more ok. Racism / classism is so fucking loaded though. Just... would love to know your thoughts.

Comments

[sagahar.livejournal.com]

When I first watched it, it just felt wrong. Don't get me wrong, I laughed my ass off at the blatant ridiculousness of the whole thing, but it struck an odd chord with me.

[cindymonkey.livejournal.com]

feels all fucked up doesn't it?

[substitute.livejournal.com]

As a parody of gangsta rap it works great. Out of that context it would be pretty awful. I don't think it was intended to give a message to kids or anything, more to make adults laugh at mixing up gangsta rap with pointless PSA's.

Out of context it would just be a pain in the ass, yeah.

[hurtcynic.livejournal.com]

I saw this a few weeks ago and it was entitled "Racist Rap". I think you could take a lot of the same song and change the word "nigga" with "honky", change the skin tone of the people in the cartoon, and who knows, maybe even make it a country song, and have about the same message. Would anyone think that was racist? MORE racist? LESS racist? A pretty comical point when asked.

I think some people might miss the point. A lot of the recent humor genre is based on diminishing race hatred by making fun of stereotypes. People like Dave Chapelle and Carlos Mencia make a whole business out of it. It's funny because it crosses the mind as unnacceptable and taboo, but it's mainstream. Laughing or finding something funny is the result of being suprised by the outcome. But the message isn't really to tell black people they smell and waste money and don't read books, it's to spark conversation, make people laugh at the absurdity since everything is so protected and people's feelings are easily hurt by this kind of thing taken in a serious context. And I think most importantly, it makes us look at ourselves and say "Why did I find that shit funny?". Because if you answered "It wasn't funny", then you're either sensitive, or racist, right? (-:

Just my 2 cents...

[cindymonkey.livejournal.com]

i disagree. i don't think we're at a place where white folks should feel good about laughing at racist stereotypes. even if they're young and think they're "color blind"

Our culture is still strongly racist and strongly sexist though usually in subtler ways that involve lack of access to an even playing field.

This video was made by a Black poet / rapper. Now - people can certainly have internalized racism and I would be shocked if most people didn't to some degree. A piece like this is problematic though - it uses the animation and crunk styles that are strongly exaggerated as part of the aesthetic. This style is very in fashion right now with kids. Especially kids who embrace a "gangsta" culture that is being spoonfed to them by media conglomerates who are making money hand over fist. So is it bad to say read a book, drink water not 40s, buy land not rims no.

But part of the problem with the imagery is that in trying to lampoon old caricatures and racist imagery - it's normalizing it. Just like women are sold the normalizing that models looking like they've just been murdered in photo shoots is hot. Normalizing violence against women imagery isn't a good thing. And normalizing old racist imagery isn't good either. Even if you don't ascribe to those beliefs.

Sure Chapelle and Mencia can make fun of stereotypes. So could Richard Pryor. So could Redd Foxx. People have been doing so - and hilariously - for years. That doesn't mean if you think its funny you're off the hook. And it doesn't mean that our culture has moved past race.

To think that we're "beyond racism" is just incredibly dangerous. Kinda like thinking that "all police are good" and "the government will protect us"

Awesome in theory. True occassionally on a case by case basis. Overall - not foolproof life strategies.

[cindymonkey.livejournal.com]

see the context is what i am curious about - b/c exactly.

[hurtcynic.livejournal.com]

Ok, I understand your point, because you bring up several good ones. And I don't entirely disagree. In no way shape or form am I trying to say racism is ok, or that it isn't alive and well in the US, or that America is immune to it's effects because thinking so is dangerous, and I agree. I don't want you to think I'm ignorant.

Here's a couple of things I don't understand. According to what I read, you think people like Richard Pryor and Carlos Mencia and so on are ok to make fun of stereotypes on a national level, but if I laugh at it because I'm white, it's not ok? I'm not "off the hook" as you say? Well, that's pretty discriminating, isn't it? Because I'm white, I can't laugh at racist humor?

And I guess I understand where you tie in sexism into the comment, but it doesn't exactly apply. A lot of things are sold with sex. Women are given an incredibly unfair expectation to live up to in their lives without having to subject themselves to daily scrutiny thanks to the media. And because of that medium of advertisement, we come to the normalization you spoke of. It's not right, but it's WAY more socially acceptable than racism.

To tie into the normalization, you look at the medium and say it's a cartoon, and that the style of the imagry is racist along with the message. I don't think kids would watch this kind of a video and ascertain that they should read a book and brush their teeth and buy land. The fact that it's done in this fashion adds to the stereotype because it might be popular with kids, but crunk and hip hop are also popular with plenty of adults. I think kids have about as much access to this video as they do any other kind of inappropriate material on the internet. This is just not for kids. And stereotypes are ALWAYS exaggerrated on tv.. what should make a satirical music video any different?

I bring you back to the original question: If a white person were to make a music video called "Read a Book, Honky", would that be racist? Would it be ok for black people to laugh at it?

[cindymonkey.livejournal.com]

well - calling a white person honky isn't racist - it's bigoted. which is different and would still be wrong.

you're not racist if you find humor that plays on ethnic / racist stereotypes funny. that's social commentary. however it doesn't make you not racist either. see my point there? the specific WAY you find it funny is problematic or not. and that is so individual. it just doesn't let anyone off the hook to examine the root of their reaction is what i meant.

re sexism. socially acceptable doesn't make it less fucked up. and now i must go back to work. more later.

[hurtcynic.livejournal.com]

According to Wikipedia:

Honky:

A term used by black prositutes in the 20's, when the white 'johns' would pull up in their cars and beep their horns..."your HONKY is here"

Honky was later adopted as a pejorative in 1967 by black militants within SNCC seeking a rebuttal for the term nigger. They settled on a familiar word they felt was disparaging to certain Americans of European descent; hunkie meaning an American of Slavic or Hungarian descent.[1][2]

And according to the Merriam Webster dictionary:

Nigger:

1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. a black person.
b. a member of any dark-skinned people.

2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.



Sorry to split hairs, but Honky is a term meant to be used as a slur to counter nigger, only against white people. So by definition, it's technically as racist as nigger.

I understand what you're saying now about how an individual interprets the humor is what makes it wrong or right. Hence what I said earlier: "And I think most importantly, it makes us look at ourselves and say "Why did I find that shit funny?". Because if you answered "It wasn't funny", then you're either sensitive, or racist, right? (-:" I'm saying almost exactly the same thing, how we interpret our reactions makes us dig a little deeper. Am I laughing because I'm racist? Am I laughing because it's a funny stereotype? Am I not laughing because I'm offended? Am I not laughing because I thought it was factual? All important questions.

I look forward to your continued response.

[cindymonkey.livejournal.com]

racist vs bigoted is about the group that has dominant power in culture. reverse racism is a red herring b/c while white people can experience prejudice and discrimination there is not an entire socially constructed methodology of oppression to enforce it. yes both of those are slurs. but one has a lot more power based on how much power the person being insulted has.

example. call a differently abled person lame and it has a whole different context as calling someone who is not differently abled lame.

racism is about power.
bigotry and prejudice are about idiocy.
big difference.

[hurtcynic.livejournal.com]

LoL, you're completely right. Honky is no way near as offensive to a white person as nigger is to a black person. And there's a good amount of reason why, chiefly because black people suffered through hardship and the term is derogatory through hardship. Honky... well, it's sole purpose in creation was to put some of that power into a black person's hands. Doesn't make it right, and it surely is bigoted and discriminating, but you're right. Like what Tim Curry said in "Clue" about communism, reverse racism is "nothing but a red herring".

I think racism can also be the result of idiocy, though. It's powerful, but sometimes it's hard to see the lines between bigotry and prejudice and racism. Bigotry is more like ignorance, because a bigot essentially doesn't know any better. Someone who's prejudice (under common connotations) has a little more control, has an active thought process behind WHY they are discriminating. And racism, well, you can be racist if you are bigoted. You can be racist if you're prejudice. It's really all in perception.

But I ultimatly agree with you. HOW you interpret what you say or what's being said to you can make all the difference. And really, the solution is education.

So, uh... read a mutha-effin book. (-:

[deth-nell.livejournal.com]

also toward the end it starts sounding like an ad for speed stick.