In multiple jokes and skits, Macdonald played to racial stereotypes of black males. He wielded racial tropes without finesse, satire, or social commentary. Instead, he invested his jokes in those tropes. To put it bluntly, he was racist. Obviously, calling someone a racist these days invokes an immediate backlash from whites stating that acknowledging race and cultural differences isn't the same as racism, and maybe it shouldn't matter since it was harmless and in good fun.
For example, Danny Granger, a black forward for the Indiana Pacers, referred to Joakim Noah, a mixed race center for the Chicago Bulls, as a coward. Noah's mom was Miss Sweden. Macdonald stated that those are fighting words where he comes from, but he's *insert typical Norm Macdonald sarcasm here* "not sure" what that means in the "black community." The audience is meant to supply the punchline - but what is that punchline? The joke, for the unaware, or the racist NBA fan (weird, no?), is that what?, someone will be shot since black culture is gun/crime/gang culture when it comes to stereotyping? While there were plenty of other jokes to be made, and sarcastic ones at that, Macdonald opted for the joke that implies a stereotype.
At another time on his show, Macdonald made (at least) two comments (or were they jokes?) regarding the boxer Shane Mosley and his upcoming fight with multi-weight champion Manny Pacquiao. Both jokes were predicated on Macdonald's "belief" that black fighters are better than lighter skinned fighters. Both jokes were predicated on a long-held racist fear in white America: black people are physically stronger than white people, but do not have the moral or intellectual wherewithal to participate in a just society.
I'm no Tim Wise, but I think Norm Macdonald is afraid of black people. Then again, most racists are.
Beau, love the post, but I don't know if I agree with you about Norm. I think his entire shtick (and it has been from the beginning) is discomfort. Is what he is doing really all that bad, or is it uncomfortable for people in the back of ones mind, we understand and kinda agree with the joke he is trying to imply.
ReplyDeleteI am biased in favor of Norm as a huge fan of his SNL work and his movies. But I am a little skeptical of directly calling out Norm as racist.
ReplyDeleteHis humor has always straddled the sarcasm/dead-serious line. So I'd like to believe that these jokes are just intended to be "ironic" in a post-ironic world.
Also - this is a possible explanation, not an excuse - he's got to have a team of writers working on that show so I doubt this is all entirely originating from MacDonald's inner psyche.
You were SOOOOO ahead of the curve. He's totally racially screwed up. He's on Last Comic Standing and it's so apparent that he's got issues. Half of the stuff out of his mouth is bordering on the sharp edge of racist before he reels it back in, and he totally freaked out when a white female comedian acknowledged race - he said only black people should be able to say that type of joke. It was not a racy, questionable joke. He's just scared that someone will catch on to him. And he's afraid if he's got to comment on stuff like that, that he'll have no idea what to say, so he'd just rather squelch her voice than have to reveal his own underlying racism/fear of race/racial screwed-upness. Call it what you want. There's also an interview with Nicole Richie where he tells her that she isn't black, despite her saying that indeed she is (I think she'd know.) LOL. He's got issues.
ReplyDeleteNicole Richie has mixed English, Mexican. and African ancestry, but she would most likely not register as a black woman to the casual observer. She had been adopted and raised by the Richies.
Deletecheck out his espy awards opening monologue to see his racist quips dudes even a wierd "plantation" version of col sanders in kfc commercials
ReplyDelete"Plantation" version? It's called an accent. Colonel Sanders was from Kentucky.
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