Racial stereotyping in all its glorious hilarity

Racial stereotyping in all its glorious hilarity

In the age of social media, stand up comedy is reaching new heights via the fingertips of avid keyboard warriors across the globe. I, for one, find my facebook and twitter feeds awash with a variety of stand up clips inundated with comments of “LOL”, “SO FUNNY”, “LMFAO” and the like, from viewers who are probably sitting at their laptops with stone cold straight faces.

Racial stereotyping appears to be the life juice of current ethnic comedians, including Russel Peters, Paul Chaudry and Gabriel Iglesias to name a few. And I must be honest, I find them all absolutely hilarious, along with a large proportion of my young south Asian peers. We love to hear the corny Indian accents, shopkeeper and even terrorist jokes. Nevertheless, I am beginning to wonder why, and what are the benefits or repercussions of this type of comedy?

When faced with a racial stereotype enacted by one of our own, we don’t appear to be offended. Comedians’ impressions are relatable, perhaps they even remind us of our odd uncles, cousins or that random guy who owns the local takeaway. If such stereotypes were constantly performed by white comedians however, would we feel the same?

On the one hand, laughing at ourselves is possibly the best way to stop taking life so seriously. Perhaps by using racist stereotypes, we’re breaking down barriers, allowing racial discourses to flow in a comfortable setting as opposed to bottling it all up as a society.  Maybe when we laugh at these impressions, we realise how ridiculous it is to think that a whole group of people could actually fit into stereotypical boxes.

There is also an uglier side to this coin however, one which is begging me to ask the question; are we taking racial comedy too far? As ethnic people we laugh at these jokes because we know about their inaccuracy, as do many of our white counterparts. That being said, there will always be some people laughing for all the wrong reasons. Dave Chappelle explained this in better words than I ever could, after quitting his hit TV show “The Chappelle show” which absolutely centred upon racial stereotypes and poking fun at racial boundaries.

“ The third season hit a big speed bump in November 2004. He was taping a sketch about magic pixies that embody stereotypes about the races. The black pixie--played by Chappelle--wears blackface and tries to convince blacks to act in stereotypical ways. Chappelle thought the sketch was funny, the kind of thing his friends would laugh at. But at the taping, one spectator, a white man, laughed particularly loud and long. His laughter struck Chappelle as wrong, and he wondered if the new season of his show had gone from sending up stereotypes to merely reinforcing them. "When he laughed, it made me uncomfortable," says Chappelle. "As a matter of fact, that was the last thing I shot before I told myself I gotta take f_____— time out after this. Because my head almost exploded."

Admittedly, I can’t answer all the questions I’ve asked. Admittedly, I will probably still laugh. But this time perhaps, my media consumption will be regarded with a more self-reflective eye.