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Austin Babies
New favorite blog.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: New favorite blog.
OMFG. There goes my morning.
Thanks
Tragically, there are only a few entries.
The jig is up...
me: omg https://textsfrombennett.tumblr.com - make sure you read the intro
Ah, the trusty rockwilder. My very favorite dog. Ahem. Dawg.
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
When 3 Became 4
I love him. My fav was the art history one.
Sorry to be a killjoy, but this basically seems like a modern-day blackface to me. It's the classic minstrel show formula- the humor is based on stereotypical "talking black" and "being stupid." Bennet is in blackface and the cousin is "straight guy."
I guess my line of research, which is based on child speakers of actual vernacular African American English, makes me more sensitive to this stuff.
(p.s. you know I love you, LLCG, so nothing personal)
You may be right, Blue.
However, "HUSTLA DA RABBIT" is pretty funny.
I totally agree, but guess I still find the humor in it.
ETA: And by "it," I totally mean just this site. NOT the concept of "blackface." I'm totally contradicting myself, I know...
It's basically Ali G, which I totally laugh at. Maybe it's funny because the white guy is an idiot, and he thinks he's doing a accurate rendering of a super-masculine black thug, but he's failing. Maybe his failure is what's so funny.
Yeah, just something to think about. I mean, there's a reason humor predicated on race/religion/class is so popular.
(edited to make sense.)
Sorry, bluestreet, but this is hilarious! I need more!
I disagree. I think its hilarious.
Bennett is stupid and funny because he idolizes a lifestyle based on dumbing yourself down, whether black or white. Yes, the gansta thing is associated with the stupid part of the black culture, just like trailer home people are associated with the stupid part of the white culture. It's not racist to laugh at this kid for the same reason it's not racist to laugh at Earl's ex-wife in My Name is Earl.
The problem with screaming racism all the time (I think you were implying that this blog is racist) is that it shuts down and makes more tense any intermingling of cultures and the ability to laugh at stupid things.His (and my) intent is not to say A-A people are stupid, but to say Bennett is stupid for pretending to be a thug from a different culture. I would laugh at a little black kid (or my nephew) for acting like a gansta too. Its the posing that's funny, not their race.
WELL PUT!
I think Blue hit the nail on the head with the Ali-G thing too! I love him too, so yeah - how is this any different? In no way do I think enjoying (and laughin at) either makes me a racist.
Yeah, like I said later, the humor may be on Bennett's lame pretending. And just because something is hilarious doesn't mean it's not racist. Prejudice is source of a lot of hilarity, and it's not always a bad thing. Dave Chappelle is hilarious, especially when he's using racial stereotypes!
But whereas you may see a problem with people screaming "racism" all the time, I see a problem with people (usually white, usually middle-class) screaming "PC" just because it inconveniences them to consider the implications of what they're laughing at.
Yep, there is! Because its funny! I think its a good thing to laugh at ourselves and each other.
I'm stepping away from this post, because I get riled up, but I don't think of any of you on this thread as being racist.
Hope I wasn't too much of a downer.
Yeah, like I said later, the humor may be on Bennett's lame pretending. And just because something is hilarious doesn't mean it's not racist. Prejudice is source of a lot of hilarity, and it's not always a bad thing. Dave Chappelle is hilarious, especially when he's using racial stereotypes!
But whereas you may see a problem with people screaming "racism" all the time, I see a problem with people (usually white, usually middle-class) screaming "PC" just because it inconveniences them to consider the implications of what they're laughing at.
I've considered the implications, have determined that there aren't any other than possibly discouraging white kids from posing, and am still laughing at it.
And, to me, there is no difference between this or anything Dave Chappelle or Ali G does.
I've considered the implications, have determined that there aren't any other than possibly discouraging white kids from posing, and am still laughing at it.
And, to me, there is no difference between this or anything Dave Chappelle or Ali G does.
Or Carlos Mencia. That guy would have me in tears.
That's not playing fair, is it? You stir it up and then leave?
I'm not upset or angry, but I am a little riled up. But, I try to use these opportunities as an exercise in having a civil exchange without getting upset or condescending or sarcastic. I am getting better, but I am a long way from there. I think, though, that a good place for me to start is with an educated person who can go toe to toe with me. Its more difficult on the interwebs without the advantage of tone and inflection.
Come on back, yo.
You're a little too ghetto for me.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. I love me some MrsRosie!
Oh, hey, I didn't mean to not play fair, I just figured I was being a killjoy and post hijacker, and that this was more appropriate on P&CE. But I'm down if you're down :-)
So, right now I'm reading over this entry to see how different the blog is from classic Blackface...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface
BFP 12.20.2010 :: missed m/c 1/2011 around 8 weeks
BFP @ 9dpo 5.24.2011 :: missed m/c 6/2011 around 7 weeks
positive for ANAs (1:40) with a speckled pattern
MTHFR c677t mutation (heterozygous)
*folic acid, baby asprin, Prometrium, acupuncture, Lovenox*
BFP @ 9dpo 2.1.2012 || HCG = 8 : Progesterone = 19.2
2nd HCG @ 11dpo = 40 || 3rd HCG @ 21dpo = over 5000!
Stick, little one, stick! EDD October 15, 2012
I don't see Bennett as comparable to Blackface. The guys doing Blackface were intentionally portraying stereotypes of a different culture for humor- at the sake of the community they were parodying.
Bennett is simply (and with all seriousness) attempting to be a part of a different community/culture and failing miserably. He's not doing it to be funny. He's not doing it to harm a small part of African American culture. He's doing it b/c he's an idiot.
His cousin, like many of us, finds his stupidity hilarious.
I was just typing this. So, instead I'll just say ditto.
Right, I acknowledged this (bolded) point a couple of times after my first post.
But part of the humor is also his use of stereotypical black dialect- I don't think most people are laughing because they know there is a rule-governed dialect historically used by AAs (including educated and middle-class, ftr) and that Bennett is failing miserably to adopt it.
It's not just him trying to adopt another culture. It's specifically him performing a stereotype of blackness while simultaneously demonstrating his staggering ignorance. There lies the link to minstrel shows. I don't think people would think it was so hilarious if he were pretending to be British while saying the same things. Just a guess.
And Blackface performers weren't necessarily intending to harm blacks. For one thing, many blacks also performed it. The whole "Step and Fetch It" routine, IIRC, was based on laughing at the stupid man with "bad English" act like a buffoon.
I am just thinking of that Friends where Monica and Pheobe were annoyed and making fun of their friend that lived in London for a year and came back talking like a Brit. It was annoying and funny because she was posing, using terms like "flat" for apartment and "mo-bile" for her cell phone. People posing is dumb and funny. That's all this is.
GET OFF MY COMPUTER.
Friends did an episode where a woman moved to England for a minute and came back thinking she was British. It was the same situation; a person who clearly is not part of a community or culture trying (and failing) to adopt its dialect and way of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRS_HoppJk8
Same thing in the episode as w/ Bennett, people think she's a fool b/c she's a fool.Sorry, ladies, no. The two examples are not really the same. You have to consider context. Stereotyping the English, while culturally insensitive, does not carry the same weight as stereotyping African Americans.
I don't think it's Bennett who is being insensitive. I think he's the fool. It is those who laugh at the fool's behavior, knowing it is not OK, who are being insensitive.
I always knew you were a smart girl.
See, this I can agree w/, but not from the aspect of being culturally insensitive. If anything, it's not ok for me to be laughing at this guy b/c I'm pretty sure he's not all there. So, there's that.
Ali G was brought up earlier. Who, btw, bluestreet IS doing the same thing, but w/ a British accent- not a classic "King's English," but there, none the less. I find Ali G (and promoting him) more culturally insensitive than this guy (Bennett's cousin) due to the intent. Ali G is knowingly setting out to make fun of the culture in which he is mocking. People are laughing b/c Ali G is going out of his way to hit up all the stereotypes for the sake of humor. Bennet's cousin has the intent of making fun of his cousin, not the culture.
I just see Bennett (and his cousin) as different. I'm not laughing/judging/whatever the culture, I'm laughing at a guy who is just clueless.
I'm doing a post and run so that I can clean the kitchen while the boys are at school.
Yes, Bennett is the fool. Of course it's insensitive! Laughing at someone for being an idiot is insensitive. It's also funny. And, IMO, not racist.
Ah, but Ali G is doing a British accent associated with Afro-Carribean/Cockney Brits (specifically Multicultural London English)- it's the British analogue to African-American, socially and culturally. Unfortunately for me in the context of this argument, I find Ali G really funny.
And you get that it's the same, if not worse, than this blog?
I lived and worked in England while Ali G was in his prime in the UK, not yet having made it over to the US. I lived in a well to do suburb south of London filled with people who found Ali G hilarious b/c his comedy was, to them, an accurate reflection of what they saw when going into the city.
Do you think there are not people who will see Bennett as an accurate reflection of what they perceive to be AA hip-hop, gansta culture?
There are people who think that Bennett is portraying exactly what they believe AA urban youth culture to be. Those people are not on this board, I'm sure, but they exist.
AliG is no more offensive than Bennett, however I wonder if intent makes a difference. Sasha Baron Cohen has often used his comedy to expose bigotry and racism in the audience who enjoys it. Bennett is a wannabe.