"Two Wongs don't make a White"
Question one: why would the Asian descendant 'Wongs' necessarily WANT to be white. Two Wongs don't make a black either or a purple, but the jokes funny because.... why - there's alliteration. No you're right - alliteration makes everything acceptable and funny - just look at newspaper and electronic headlines.
The ancient old nugget of wisdom heard in kindergarten, households and sometimes even boardrooms, has nothing to do with 'Wongs' or 'Whites', rather it protested that
"Two wrongs don't make a right".
A few blog binges ago, another FTVMS 210/325 post got me thinking about the racist content of many memes, headlines, comedy gags, TV shows even. Naturally my day was filed with Facebook, but now with thorn of distaste as i noticed more and more racially controversial memes. In fact a few key pillars of racism or comedy, were seen in who posted or commented what. As my previous blog talked about, the word "Nigga" and the meaning, text, connect etc. I wonder if demographics enjoy laughing at themselves, but are not prepared to be laughed at. I know it naturally works that way. Personally. i believe that you cant laugh at someone else if you can laugh at yourself first....
HOWEVER
the issue arises when there are societal, social, long term institutional and legal repercussions for the regeneration of stereotypes, negative press, lines being crosses, respect being lost and diluted reverence for cultural or religious differences. The examples below are what i couldn't scroll past last week over Facebook and i am curious to see how they sit with other people. Are we overreacting, is there realistic short/long term damage being produced, is comedy providing a release for the tension involved in multiculturalism, biculturalism, hybrid cultures and a media platform connecting them all?
There are 5 screen shots in total, with the top left from an Instagram that received overwhelming backlash over being 'offensive' and 'racist' by Blake Lively captioning her Instagram post "L.A. face with an Oakland boody".
Any other photos or posts, i have no rights to - or ownership over.
Finally I ask the question, how many Wong jokes will be made before we get the balance White?
Happy Blogging,
I think this comes back to, who is saying the joke and what is its purpose. Is the joke being subversive and who is it aimed at are important, as well as the joke actually being funny. Humor has great potential as a source of decolonization and reconciling differences but so many of the "jokes" that are race based, are often reductive and perpetuate stereotypes. Being able to laugh at yourself is important too.
ReplyDeleteI think you pose an interesting question: is it all in fun, or is it detrimental to any racial progress being made? I think I agree with Matthew: who is making the joke and why is the joke being made? If the joke is raising up a culture, rather than tearing it down, it can be progressive.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Blake Lively, her intentions were purely comedic. She likes Sir Mix-A-Lot and wanted to encourage body positivity for pregnant mothers. But some who identify with black culture found it offensive, since the song is about body positivity of black women. But I think it comes down to Sir Mix-A-Lot - the writer of the song - who said that Lively was simply doing what he was doing, expressing love for her body without the dismissal of black culture. It's tricky, but it comes down to who makes the joke, and who receives it. There's no one easy answer.
Love these comments guys thanks ! I agree its a fine line and the humor is subjective and often walks a fine line between context, intention, text and recipients. I tend to agree with Arielles point about Blakes instagram, it was without intent of offence and actually intended to promote their culture not exploit it.
ReplyDelete