by Ray Karaczun
Part Five
I will never forget this one substitute teacher I had in 7th grade because he was so funny. He caught everyone’s attention at the start of class with a joke, like how the opening line of your college application essay is supposed to be really interesting to hook the reader in. Then throughout the lesson he used jokes sporadically, like how slot machines reward you just often enough for you to stick around. Math was my worst subject and bored me so I often zoned out in class, but that day I remained alert, waiting to hear the next funny thing, and therefore that whole time I was also absorbing the lecture.
During 7th grade I also loved watching the YouTuber Filthy Frank. He was a character who filmed pranks, dangerous and gross challenges, and most notoriously, offensive humor. He described his channel as a place of “prejudice equality- everyone gets sh*t.” In videos like “How To Answer The Phone In 30 Different Languages!” he mocked the accents and stereotypes of several cultures. For “Africa” he perched in a tree and held a rock to his ear. For “gay” he unleashed a high-pitched, flamboyant, “heyyyyyy!” For “Scotland” he asked into the phone, “Hey baby, what are you wearing? A skirt? Nice. Oh, me? I’m wearing a skirt, too.”
Filthy Frank’s sense of humor is very explicit and crude, but Joji, the Asian and white actor who played him, supports social justice, and at times subtle woke rants shined through. In a video titled “COTW: GAME SHAKERS!!!!” he made fun of a children’s TV show on Nickelodeon. In between overreacting to cringey pop culture references and insulting the adults who had to write this garbage, he actually made a very excellent observation on black representation in media. After the black main character was introduced, Frank complained, “Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, Willis? Okay, token black kid, that’s a good move. You know, one thing you guys never fail to do is have one obvious token black kid... God, you call- they call me racist.” He continued to mouth off when it was revealed that the character’s black father is a rapper: “Don’t you wanna break the mold for the kids and kinda give, give the dad, like, a responsible job? Like an accountant or something? Like, why does he have to be a rapper? Being a rapper, the dad is irresponsible by default. You’re just digging a deeper hole.”
The same show that made money off of racist jokes made racism understandable to the audience while still being funny. If Filthy Frank recited an eloquent explanation of the importance of media representation using that phrase, a lot of audience members would roll their eyes at the social justice buzzwords. This isn’t what us thirteen-to-sixteen-year-olds subscribed for. Filthy Frank’s humor attracted an audience of people who laugh at sensitive subjects like racism, and some of those people could have been genuinely prejudiced. They click on these videos expecting to hear racist jokes, and sometimes they are met with subdued but effective antiracism which is presented in a funny way and gets sandwiched in between other kinds of jokes.
Sometimes comedians can get away with lengthier and more prominent rants. It’s very common for standup comedians to spread an important message like a personal moral to an attentive audience. In the standup routine Homecoming King, Hasan Minhaj described his experiences being a Muslim Indian child of immigrants in America. He spent plenty of time poking fun at how different his parents’ attitudes and behavior were from other peoples’. It was only fair of him to sacrifice some time to share darker stories, like a time after 9/11 when he and his family faced verbal abuse, property damage, and death threats, then twisted it into an empowering and America-loving speech that rightfully earned cheers from the audience. Eric Andre gives the impression that he cannot take anything seriously. His Adult Swim show, The Eric Andre Show is wild and unpredictable. But he also uses his Instagram to keep audiences informed on social issues, like racism, and to share his political opinions.
If you’re comfortable laughing at other people, you should feel comfortable laughing at yourself. Offensive humor can effectively be used to call out behavior to keep audiences in check.
Consider the blog and book series Stuff White People Like, which lists stereotypical behavior and interests of liberal, apologetic white people. After scrolling past “Wes Anderson Movies,” “Ugly Sweater Parties,” “Japan,” “Recycling,” and “Natural Medicine,” (cherry picked examples I relate to as a liberal, apologetic white person) you stumble across edgier and more political examples, like “Being an Expert on YOUR Culture” and “Having Gay Friends.” The post titled “Awareness” explains that white people like to “get all the benefits of helping (self satisfaction, telling other people) but no need for difficult decisions or the ensuing criticism" because after spreading awareness “magically someone else like the government will fix” the issue. Be honest: how many of us allies will post a black square on Instagram but hesitate at opportunities for more productive, hands-on activism? I felt called out by the post titled “Being Offended” which explains “... white people do not get offended by statements directed at white people… white people strongly prefer to get offended on behalf of other people.” Ironically, this statement perfectly illustrates me citing this website and creating this series in the first place (but will not stop me from posting it because I’m in too deep)!
How do you get a dog to swallow a pill? Wrap it in a slice of ham. How do you get an audience of bigoted, defensive, or avoidant people to swallow a tough pill? Grab their attention with jokes they want to hear, and jokes they agree with, then slide in the opposite of what they were expecting. We tend to not go around looking for someone to tell us the mistakes we make or prejudices we hold, but rather we stumble across funny, open letter tweets that happen to apply to us.
Sources
Lander, C. (2010). Stuff White People Like. https://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/
Minhaj, H. (2017). Homecoming king. https://www.netflix.com/watch/80134781?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C1%2Cc7d9e184bde5fcca9c3397dc4771482020a8fb8b%3Ac5726ad87e09ae6fd8beb8287013945779da3dbd%2Cc7d9e184bde5fcca9c3397dc4771482020a8fb8b%3Ac5726ad87e09ae6fd8beb8287013945779da3dbd%2Cunknown%2C%2C
SpeKtrum YT. (2013, August 3). How to answer the phone in 30 different languages! [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efDQJV7MDQY&list=PLUcaEFVjiff4b3mqYKL591Pjx8o94HKyF&index=5
TooDamnFilthy. (2015, October 9). COTW – Game shakers!!!! [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJ8t-v6Zjc
TVFilthyFrank. (2014, October 8). Weeaboos [video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFQQALduhzA
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