Russell Peters: Stereotypes & Prejudices never been funnier!!
When is it ok to laugh at comedy based on racial stereotypes and prejudices?
Well, my communications textbook states that the tendency to prejudice and stereotype members of other groups is one of the main barriers to intercultural communication.
But then, where does that leave Indian Canadian comedian Russell Peters?
Being Indian, he suffered extensive abuse and vilification during his school days for being a South Indian. He was mistaken for a "Paki" and this gave him some sort of solace, which has now formed the basis of his comedy. Though his act is littered with racism, his Indian upbringing and sexism, everyone I know loves him - particularly anti-racist people of colour. Russell completes 20 years of stand up comedy this year and is bring back all his classics, just as we love them!!
In the video below Russell imbibes exactly what I wanted to talk about.
He talks about the prejudice towards the “Blacks”. Prejudices are negative social attitudes held by members of one group towards members of another. It provides a basis for discrimination. Prejudices are said to be products of in-groups, very rarely are they a result of direct contact with the out-group. Most Indian parents live by the notion of blacks being dangerous only because they have "heared" so. They hardly check the validity of this information.
Peters later talks about Indian people smelling and the prejudice towards Indian food. To me it classifies under the exaggeration cognitive bias. Just because of a few smelly Indians it doesn't mean that the whole Indian population exhibits bad odour. It just a way of showing the superiority of the “Whites”. As for Indian food you know you all love it!!!
He then goes on to talk about his name and how Indians have a “specific” stereotype when it comes to Indian names. When I first came to Singapore and introduced myself, people here found it hard to believe it was my real name just because I was “Indian” without an Indian name.
Peters also targets people from other cultures suggesting:
“Chinese people cant drive” that is another prejudice that exists, and lets face it 'we love it'.
There are also positive stereotypes that he talks about like Jewish people are stingy ans so will have enough money once they retire, Japanese are smart and Gays are good with fashion. We use them as they help us make sense of the world we live in.
This video on Arabs took me by surprise. Peters was so right when he joked about them. Most of us do associate Arabs with violence!!! I thought he was really stupid to talk about them (keeping in mind my prejudice towards them) but I later realized that through his wit he is conveying a strong message, Arabs are just like you and me. They are normal people!!
Peters’ jokes are different; if told by a white person they definately wouldn't be funny or well accepted. However, they work for every genre of audiences, because they aren’t crafted for a white audience. Peters rationalizes with people on the above prejudices hoping to reduce the cultural communication barriers they cause.
Being an Indian raised in North America I can relate very well to what Russell Peters has to say. I have even had similar situations with my parents, many resulting with a threat quite like “somebody gonna get a hurt real bad”. And no, not all Indians have bad body odour however, most Indians do need to take breath mint after eating Indian food. I do believe Asian women make bad drivers, not that I’m great myself but older Asian women are just terrible. I feel that Peters has a very unique style and a good mixture of dirty and clean humour. His jokes seem to be universally accepted as he does not pick solely on one race. Even though I am an Indian, I find his jokes about Indians very amusing.
ReplyDeleteYea buddy... I totally agree with you...
ReplyDeletewhat prompted me the most towards writing this entry was the fact that he so tactfully deals with the whole racial stereotype business.
He crushed all my beliefs that permitted me to ignore people like Arabs and Blacks.
His take on blacks being dangerous reminded me so much of what my dad told me when I was leaving for Singapore..."be careful of the blacks...their crazy...you never know what they can do to you..."
Besides all this he has something so endearing about him... I'm addicted to his humor.
Russell peter is indeed a classic comedian. His jokes are funny and witty. He has the kind of impact whereby people after watching his show, uses his jokes to create laughter around.
ReplyDeleteHe pokes fun at various races yet it comes across as accpetable. Have you heard of anyone being offended by his jokes? I have not.
Good representation of this idea.
ReplyDeletePerception is really key to the concept of discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice.
I watched some of his clips before and it's hilarious yet really touches on realistic issues. Unconsciously, viwers will come to comprehend the underlying menaing of his jokes, altho it was meant to an entertainment. Aas we are all Com students, we should know that people stereotype and are prejudice to some races etc. But more importantly its your perception of them that will alter ur actions and words.
ReplyDeleteLaughter is the best medicine in many aspects of our life. Sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves to loosen the atmosphere
ReplyDeleteIt is inevitable that people are all subjected to stereotypes. Even if Russle peters is in Aamerica, im sure he is being judged. Pus the fact that he is of another race, he will be judged even more.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with fellow netizen Ming Hong that laughter is indeed the best medicine. But then again, everything in life has its limits. I think its fine to make jokes about things, but racial jokes and slurs can be taken very badly. For example, its fine to an African American if a fellow African American calls him a racial slur, being, ''nigger''. But its very easy for a person of a different race to get beaten up, harassed or even killed for saying that word to an African American, even if it was a joke.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone take jokes well. I have found myself in tight spots before for making jokes about others [not racial of course], and getting into trouble simply because the other person had a lack of a sense of humor, or he simply didn't like jokes.
Russell Peters has offended many countless of times. Having lived in American before, I have heard comments and criticism from different people of different races about him and the racial jokes he makes.
So when can jokes be justified then?
It boils down to perception and the cognitive ability to percieve humour from different viewpoints. Yet the comedian must prime the audience so that they do not take offense at racial humour, which is in effect what Russell does.
ReplyDeleteOmg I could relate to this! grr.. In fact just the other day we had a discussion about this in my ESL class. They were talking about the prejudice that 'Indians have bad body odor' which is so not true. I mean there are some but not all are just like any other nationalities. Same when I introduced by myself, they couldn't believe how I didn't have an Indian name being Indian myself. I think its quite pathetic that people stereotype. I mean imagine in the case of the french! They say, "French men are good lovers" really are they all? LOL Unless one hasn't experienced something, I think it is utter foolishness to base your opinion on some one or something! I guess through Russell's jokes one should realize that stereotyping would never do any good! It's like an awareness.
ReplyDeleteI found this post really interesting since it explored Peters' ability to use prejudices to foster intercultural understanding.
ReplyDeleteHe starts of with a prejudice that is well-known and easy for his audience to accept - say Indians and Chinese being cheap. He then qualifies it with the fact that Indians are not swayed by transient fashion trends and that the Chinese are ingenious enough to get what they want at a lower price - almost indirect compliments. Since the audience has accepted the first statement it is more likely to accept the second, more positive representation of the community.
We tend to assume stereotypes are always bad but they almost always contain a little truth. The danger arises in assuming that this LITTLE TRUTH is the WHOLE TRUTH. Russell helps us see beyond facile, parochial views of our vibrant societies.
And then, getting a diverse group in a room and having them laugh at themselves and each other together - that's powerful stuff! We all need a little sense of humour when it comes to questions of our "identity". It was said of Douglas Adams (writing about endangered animals) and is probably true of Peters that instead of shaking his finger at his audience he invites them to enter a conspiracy of laughing and caring.