comedys influence of society,Marcus Anderson post 11

Throughout media and film, there are many avenues which display many stereotypes of different races. Especially in our society today, comedic stereotypes are being used more loose within out society. An example is the other day on a radio station i was listening to was playing an unedited song was that had the N word in the song. When the song aired it was about 7pm. I never before in my life had heard the N word played on the radio on a public station. I just think that our society is flirting with a dangerous line of letting things "fly" as far as races are concerned. Its nice to be entertained, but in the same breath its a senstive things when we joke and allow certain things that cant be accepted "fully" and without hesitation to be acceptable.

Stand up

Whenever a comedian does stand up there is one thing they all have in common. They all have a distinct voice for different races. Probably the most famous from recently is Dave Chappele's white voice. Every race has a distinct voice and every comedian seems to follow the same voices. Is this a big problem or not? They are all very exaggerated an maybe a little over the line but isn't that what comedy about, pushing the limits to test peoples boundaries? I personally do not think there is anything wrong with it but I have heard on occasion, complaints from people saying that it went to far. I think it really does just depend on how easily you get offended. Comedians seem to be trying to get that shock factor now or that is how they truly hear people. Maybe that is why people laugh, because they are accurate. It is just an example of perspective and what you find funny.

Cho, Marcus Anderson post 10

After watching the stand up of Margret Cho, there are many things that I took from the stand up. In my own personal opinion, I thought that Margret Cho was quite funny. I think her appraoch to indentifying and addressing the racial stereotypes that she faced within her life was great. She was able to talk about her life experiences and address the wrong in which she was viewed by society because of her ethnicity. I think that is was quite interesting when she spoke and said that the people on who were running her show said she wasent to "asian" enough. I think that it is quite interesting that our society feels that it has the power to control what is acceptable in the behaviors and identifying of different races. I believe that the misconceptions that society makes of people of races saying that there" too much or too less" of their race is crazy. Time is changing as we know it, and those old stereotypes of races are growing old too.

King of th Hill

We were talking about the TV show King of the Hill in class and the only thing that went through my mind was Episode 6 of Season 10, "Orange you glad I didn't say Banana". The reason this was going through my mind was because we had discussed the insult to black people was being called an Oreo, and in this episode Kahn is called a banana which is the Asian equivalent. The is insulted for being to white Americanized. So during the whole episode he tries to go back to his roots, only to realize he enjoys acting white. This can really send a mixed message, it seems like the show thinks that being Americanized is the best and any other way is just not good enough. He says he escaped Laos to find the American dream, which from the message of this episode would be to be like an White American which might not be the best.

Model Minority

Andrea Burns
Post 12

A topic mentioned in this week's reading was the idea of Asian Americans being the "model minority." While it's meant to be complimentary, I feel it to be an inappropriate thing to say. For starters, a large basis behind them being called this is their success at assimilation. It seems to put a massive pressure on them to assimilate when they shouldn't necessarily need to. It also puts more pressure on them to be successful, intelligent, and to conform to this high pedestal that they're being placed on. Asian Americans are already expected to be of high intelligence and ambition and this furthers the stress being put on them. It puts them on a higher level than other minority groups that isn't necessarily granted for the correct reasons. Other groups may rather just stick to their native culture and shouldn't be looked down upon for that. This idea also groups all Asian Americans together as one when not every individual is necessarily a mathmatician. This overlooks the struggles Asian Americans have faced and still do, especially the Southeast Asians.

Margaret Cho: admirable or dishonorable?

Andrea Burns post 11

Watching the Margaret Cho comedy video left me conflicted in my opinions towards her. While watching it I was getting pretty annoyed with her. I found her to be extremely obnoxious. However I've never seen a comedy act before, so for all I know part of the comedy is being over the top and obnoxious. Looking past that, I was kind of in shock by some of the things she said. Granted I'm not a prude or live under a rock, but I felt some of the things she said was taking it a little too far. Again maybe that is just part of the comedy of it, but I found myself shaking my head at quite a few of her jokes thinking, "did that really just come out of her mouth?" On the other hand, she did do a good job of exposing and addressing stereotypes and how ridiculous they can be. For example, when she mentioned the producer asked her to speak in her "native language" when English was her first language. By bringing these stereotypes to the surface, she was able to discredit them in a comical manner.

Ms. Cho

Margaret Cho
I’m not surprised at the struggle Ms.Cho endured to be recognized as American. It’s continued proof of power and pressure from the dominant group to stipulate what they want us to be and how we are to be labeled.
The text points out that the term Asian American is a misnomer. I argue the same for Hispanic American and African American. Our origin can be from anywhere in the world, but because we have similar physical features, color to our skin, possibly some ancestors from a particular region, the hierarchy demands that we be pointed out and counted separately. Not because they want to display a ‘beautiful mixed salad bowl’, if you will, but to keep track of those individuals that they want to maintain control over. As we continue to move about and mix with others, it sends them into a panic and they come up with new labels for us. A way to lump us into categories that will suit their purposes.
Who, in their right mind hires a native to teach a non-native how to be a native?
S. Ramos, Post #12

Asian Americans

While I was reading the Asian Americans chapter in the textbook I found many of the facts in the Prejudice and Discrimination chapter interesting. In the section they talked about a study they did on Americans' attitudes on Asian Americans. In the text they reveal that in the survey about 25% of Americans would not feel comfortable with an Asian American president and only 15% would feel uncomfortable with an African American president. However, when it came to a family member marrying someone from another race 25% of Americans would to some degree disapprove of a family member marrying an Asian American and 34% would disapprove their family member marrying an African American. I found this very strange. I wonder the reasoning as to why more Americans would feel comfortable with an African American president but an Asian American in law.
Ashley Allen, Post 12

Post 12: Margret Cho

I have never really heard much of Cho's stand-up before this class, but I was pleasantly surprised. HEr impressions of her mother were in my opinion were empowering for her. It was almost a way of showing that the stereotype doesn't hurt her. That is huge. It is something very hard to do for almost anyone of any race or ethnicity. Hopefully at some point more people will be able to find a wayto do the same.

Post 11

Well, today I am sure we have all heard about the horrible news that occurred in Japan. Of course I mean the the tsunami that struck the coast of Japan. This morning I walked into Cranston dining hall and that's where I learned about the news. As I was talking to my friends about the disaster, I heard a group behind me also discussing the disaster, and couldn't help but realize how ignorant they were. They had even stated at one point that this is what they got for coming over to our country. It was ridiculous that someone would say something so heartless and ignorant. I don't even know how else to feel about the things they said besides embarassed for themselves.

A more recent example of Asian culture in Hip-hop/(13)Nicki Minaj - Your Love

Hot new artist Nicki Minaj who is has a big appreciation for Asian culture as a whole, Its on a more "superficial" level in my opinion. But she totally owns her signature hairstyle/weaves: Chinese bobs or Chinese bangs. She is a self proclaimed "Harijuku Barbie" Which refers to Japanese fashion culture in Harijuku Japan its very similar to NYC's 42nd st. She Was also rumored to be of Asian heritage in he beginning of her career. (Which is untrue she is west Indian/Trinidadian) This video makes reference to samurai's and the whole fight scene was done like Kabuki theater with the use of silk scarfs as blood and the falling of cherry blossoms at the end. I like the video & the artist, Asian culture has somehow been very prevalent in hip hop music.

Jin - Learn Chinese not the video but the song.This was ma jam (13)

One of the rappers he refered to Redman once rapped in chinese on a old track he was apart of wu tang clan. Also the song/video has alot of references to breaking down "Asian" chinese stereotypes.

Terica Post#12: Gays: The Joke of Asia

Ok, so I was bothered a little by the joke “There are gays all over the world but not in Korea”. I wasn’t offended by the joke at all. I thought it was quite funny. However, it made me think of all the gay things in Asian culture. The example of G Dragon in class was a very small example. There are groups where guys try to look like girls. They parade around in tons of makeup and have really long hair; some of these people even go as far as wearing women clothing. However, they are not gay and are only doing it for their image.  There are whole genres of gay men that are targeted to women. In Japan, bishounen boys are really cute boys that seem really girly or gay. In manga, there is a genre called yaoi which is gay porn. Yet, it’s gay porn from women. The guys in the books are often feminine and the storylines romantic. The yaoi genre is rather large even though homosexuality is still not accepted. The gay genre in Asia has gone as far as national tv. A television show aired a skit called hard gay. In this skit a man wearing a latex vest and short shorts with a biker hat, walks around the street thrusting his crouch at people. When I thought about all these things I realize how negative these images are. It’s almost as if Asia has its own gay joke.  Asians are shamed and disowned when their gay but it is perfectly fine to imitate them.

The first Asian rapper. Jin "Learn chinese" (13)

The first Asian rapper within the mainstream of hip hop had surfaced several years ago. He won numerous rap battles on BET's rap battles then was signed to Ruff riders by DMX and he was a great lyrasis but people really brought into his swagger as a NYC rapper and the very first American hip hop mainstream rapper. His first single "learn Chinese" can be seen on YouTube. I was unable to post the video But if you search him you can hear the single. I liked him then. Umm now He is a christian rapper I haven't heard to much of his recent music but I'm sure just because his musical content has changed his talent just evolved. I like Jin. Hope you take the time to look him up as well.

Asian culture has always been popular in Hip hop music videos. (13)R. Kelly - Thoia Thoing

This is R kellys 2003 single Thoia thoia. Its a song about partying but it has extra flare by adding a "asian theme" Also hip-hop music is very popular in Japan.

(12) New York town/Chinatown, New York City - Video tour of Chatham Square, MOCA & Columbus...

I have been to Chinatown several times and Its a great place only several block around the corner from Lil Italy. This it what I love most about NYC it's diversity. But Chinatown is a true example of how "we" umbrella Asian Americans. Here in Chinatown you can but all things Asian. I assume this is all for the sake of profit. So this very diverse mixture of business owner/vender's all live collectively in harmony selling whatever the masses are willing to buy they will sell. Here in Chinatown Koreans make "Chinese food" (American style) Vietnamese do nails. Manny/Petty's for 15$. Chinese sell hair weaves, Japanese candies and Manga's (Japanese comic books). While Japanese sell made in Chinese silks, toys and Nick knacks. Its a beautiful place. I also suspect their are Cambodians somewhere in this market. People usually assume that they are all the same. But they are a very diverse group of people whom blend their cultures very well for the sake of profit making it even easier for many other New Yorkers to confuse or just fuse this ethnic group particularly all together. So do you think that Asian Americans are justified for allowing themselves to be "umbrella-ed" as a race for the sake of economic gain? How can I tell a Korean not to sell Chinese merchandise in their stores if it making them cash? Should I expect "Chinatown" to be home to just Chinese people.....I don't think so. But any who if you ever get the chance visit Chinatown in NYC its work the trip. I also Have done karaoke in down at Korea way in NYC. Can you say fun, fun, fun!

Terica Post#11: A Peek At The Musician:GD&TOP - 뻑이가요 (KNOCK OUT)

It was really hard to explain GDragon in class. Yes, He seemed very feminine in the pictures but his image is a mixture femininity and masculinity. GDragon is a rapper and he does as every rapper does which is brag about how great he is and how many girls he gets.  This is exactly what he was doing in this song with T.O.P.  T.O.P is another rapper but he usually only shows masculinity. Yet, two weeks ago he released a video where he shared many kisses with the other guys in his band. The video did take away some of his edge and gained him fans because that saw the softer side of him.

Race in movies

Erin Goldberg Post 12

I remember reading an article a while back about the movie The Last Airbender, and how the movie was being cast with mostly white acts, even though the television show was about Oriental culture. The main character Aang was cast as a young white male, even though the in the series Aang is most likely Chinese or Japanese. In fact, the three main roles in the film are filled by white actors. I've noticed that casting agents and producers sometime tend to cast white actors in ethnic roles. I'm assuming they do this to appeal to a larger demographic (maybe they assume that white Americans tend to go to more movies than any other ethnic group). Either way, I think it's unnecessary and that even when minorities are cast in film and television they tend to play stereotypical roles (black convict, Asian nerd, etc.). Margaret Cho mentioned this in her special as well, when she referred to the producers hiring her an Asian coach to help her be "more Asian." This seem so unnecessary and I wonder if it would be at all possible to make a movie or television series that didn't focus around a minority as a stereotype.

Is race free game in comedy?

Erin Goldberg Post 11

After watching Margaret Cho's comedy special, we discussed the use of racial stereotypes in comedy acts. Is it okay for Cho to make fun of her mother's way of speech and ethnic tendencies. I think that the way Cho choose to bring to light the everyday stereotypes we make about Asians (good with math, eat sushi, etc.) makes her brand of comedy acceptable. Instead of making fun of Asian culture simply for the sake of subverting them and making them feel less than white culture, she speaks against making common stereotypes. And because she has been the recipient of discrimination and stereotypes, she understands the affect that they have. While I didn't enjoy all of Cho's comedy (some of the sexual stuff was a bit graphic for me), I did think that the Korean jokes were funny. Cho's description of her mother reminded me strongly of someone that I used to know and it made me laugh.

Asian Stereotypes(12)

In class we discussed some stereotypes of Asians.  The big one we talked about was the feminine side of Asian males and how Asian women are more submissive.  With those pictures of G Dragon, I think thats his name, he certainly did look feminine but I don't believe that it makes Asian women more submissive. I also don't believe Asian man are any more feminine than any other male in any other race or ethnicity.  But I would like to know what the rest of the class thinks because I don't know many Asians.  

Stand Up (11)

I believe Cho was very funny during her skit and that she has every right to make fun of Asian people.  I thought the only stereotype she left out was how awful Asian women are at driving. She had a point when she was saying how she isn't going to kill herself because someone else made her fail while trying to make her into something else. For example she mentioned the producer trying to sleep with her and the TV network trying to make her lose weight to play herself in a role and there was another one but I forgot it.  I also liked the part were she told us that a producer told her to tell her fans in her native language about her show and she said it in English.

Comedy

Marget Cho is a prime example of someone getting away with offensive comedy. It happens everywhere in comedy. Many of our favorite comedians make fun of specific groups of people. Does being a comedian make it okay? And if we find these comedians funny are we giving in to the stereotyping and such? If a comedian also makes fun of themselves, does it mean it's okay to make fun of other groups of people? Comedy is weird in this way in my opinion. I guess Margret Cho uses a comedic approach to talking about her life. But do comedians like this seem to make targeting certain groups of people and making fun of them or stereotyping them okay? Are we agreeing by watching?

Asian Women

Did some looking around online, thereare a lot of dating websites that are set up so you can specifically meet Asian women. Most of the sites sell these women as "upscale Asian women". The sites are mainly directed to white males. I found a website where an Asian women spoke out about her fears of dating. These women have to guess whether men ask them out based on an actual want to date them, or based on the fantasy date with an Asian women. Women in general wonder motives behind what men do, but i bet Asian women feel this to the extreme. A man from one of the sites is quoted to have said that "Asian women are hot but passive". Is this the ultimate male dream women? Is it showing an appreciation for the culture? Some of the sites tried to pass that off as the reason for its exsistance.

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho brought up a big point in her comedy act. The point she made is that pop culture has a certain look that they are chasing after. She was forced to go and change her physical appearance in order to appeal to the snobs on Hollywood. She did do it to some extent, but soon realized that destroying your individuality to fit in is not worth potentially dyeing over. She had a lot of strength to turn her back on them. She is a good role model for minorities in this country. She is an advocate of your rights to your own humanity. We should accept people for who they are and not be so hung up on conforming to a set "American" image. She wasn't even "Asian" enough at one point and had to see an Asian expert. Hollywood is ridiculous. They have just about everyone in the country caught in their game. It is unjust that all the fake people in Hollywood are the role models and images that most people look up to in this country. It's so fake. People should be celebrating themselves and discovering their own individuality and not trying to be the next anorexic movie star.

Margret Cho

I thought Margret Cho's stand up was interesting to watch. I felt like a lot of the experiences with stereotyping she talked about helped to make people aware of how ridiculous stereotypes sound. The fact that people assumed that Cho's native language was something other than English or that she only ate rice and fish because she is Asian seems silly. I thought that her skit pointed out how quick people can be to make assumptions about someone or link them to a certain stereotype. I could not believe when Cho told the story about someone being hired to teach her how to be more Asian. What standards does Cho need to meet in order to be Asian enough and whose to say what the standards are?

Ashley Allen, Post 11

Margret Cho

I enjoyed watching Margret Cho's stand up. She talked about a lot of funny things. How did I feel about her making fun of Asian Americans. I'm not sure. Clearly I thought the jokes were funny. But does me laughing that them just continue the stereotypes. I agreed with one class mate who said that is was okay for Margret to say those jokes, but not okay for someone who wasn't Asian American to say them. It made me wonder if these jokes were just making the stereotypes okay. And if Margret Cho was selling herself and her ethnicity short by using these jokes. Clearly she doesn't have to talk about being Asian American. There were tons of jokes that didn't involve ethnic stereotypes. However, she also used gay stereotypes as well. Are comedians like her only using stereotypes to make their skits funny? I was wondering what the rest of the class thought...

There is a story behind the laughter

I think today I could get a clearer picture of why Margaret Cho says what she does. Hearing her talk about how her life spun out of control during and after All American Girl, I think she realizes the complete absurdity of societal conventions like the "proper" way to be Asian, how thin women should be, and how everyone should be neatly folded into what the media wants us to be, no matter the cost. I think those ideas are very much aligned with societal ideas of race. There is always someone else telling us how to be us. There is something extremely wrong with this picture. Margaret Cho is the poster child for allowing an idiotic outside force like a television producer to drive her to alcoholism and eating disorders for the possibility of being accepted. So, if she can get people to laugh at the absurdity of her impression of her mother, maybe they can also shake off other things society has largely told us is wrong such as being at an average weight, being gay, and most of all, loving ourselves. Self-love seems to be the biggest sin in a country that makes the most money off of self-loathing. All ass jokes aside, Margaret Cho should be an example of someone who has been through hell and back, and found a person she loves inside of herself on the other side.

Funny or not.

I find it quite gross that people think that Margaret Cho is funny. Yeah, she says some hilarious stuff, but most of it can be taken the wrong way. I'm all for you being able to say whatever you want to who ever you want. I feel that what she does gives off the wrong impression and therefore allows for racial stereotyping to occur. We've been talking about how we have to push past racial stereotypes and accept people for who they are. If we continue to buy into these comedy acts and we keep repeating these jokes to people about other racial groups, then progressing toward a more tolerant nation can not occur. How is it okay for a comedian to say dumb stuff about lesbians, but if two white males were to say the same thing, the gay community would freak out. I guess its the underlying hypocrisy of our culture.

Margaret Cho

Okay, so after watching the Margaret Cho DVD, I thought it was hilarious. But I have to think...as students all learning about negative racial stereotypes and jokes made about different ethnicities, why is it okay for us to laugh at it? Should we have all been sitting there with furrowed brows, shaking our heads? Is it because Cho is a Korean-American woman making fun of her Korean-American mother, and in the same sort of a vein, because she is a bisexual woman making jokes about the gay community? For example, if I, as a White straight woman were to make the same jokes it would be seen as both racist and homophobic. I think it's just interesting that there is such a thick line between what is okay, and what isn't. But who gets to make these rules? Do those who have experienced racism and homophobia get to stamp a seal of approval on these things? Or as a culture have we defined what is okay by first labeling what is definitely not okay.

I see Margaret Cho as a very proud Korean-American bisexual woman who is proud of her body, her heritage, and her sexuality. And I think that pride is a beautiful thing to see. I just think all of the standards for humor surrounding her subjects are completely confusing. Maybe we should just stop trying to make rules, and instead focus on making connections. I'm sure a straight White male Republican politician could relate to Cho's discussion of her parents or some other facet of her life. We are all interconnected regardless of where we come from, who we love, and what we believe. I think if we forget dividers and focus on connectors, so much of the hate and misconception could be erased from the world.

Asain Americans

In the Marger reading, there was one part of Chapter Nine that really was unsettling. There was a National Survey that was taken in 2001. This survey showed how much prejudice there was in the United States against Asian Americans. This survey bothered me because over half of the individuals who took this survey felt that too many Asian Americans were working in the technology buisness. These people don't want too many Asian Americans working in technology because they believe Asian Americans are sending information to China. This just baffled me on how ignorant some people in our country can be. Just because one ethnicity can exceed the dominant group in a certain topic, doesn't mean that ethnic group is doing something bad with their advancements. It is as if the dominant group has to always find something wrong, just so that they can keep the heirarchy. It really grinds my gears. Also, other issue I have with this survey is that the general public who took this survey automatically believed that every Asain American that works in technology was Chinese and that is why they would be sinding information to China. It just goes to show you how little people know about Asian Americans.

Common sense

Marger, Chapter 9
I know of some very educated, very intelligent folks that insist Asians are superior to Americans in every way and will argue anyone into the ground about it. It’s rather comical just listening to them go on about their theories. To hear them talk, you would think that Asians were born with a special ‘smart’ gene or something. I often wonder how they managed to get so far in life without a lick of common sense! However, such ignorance pervades our western society’s idea of what is considered a well-rounded education.
Americans aren’t born with an ignorant gene. Asians aren’t born with a smart gene. There are no hidden secrets. No unsolvable mystery. What the Asians do possess over us, as do other nations, is good ole common sense and the forethought to actually apply it. Take a look at their educational system. Children at primary level are immersed in languages, math, and science. The US doesn’t require language until High School level. What’s wrong with that picture? How many times have you heard someone say “I had 3 or 4 years of blank language in HS and I don’t remember a thing?” That’s mostly because it is implemented at the worst possible time in our educational lives. Consider my personal dilemma: In the late 60’s my HS had 4 diploma programs (academic, commercial, general, & vocational). Depending on which program you were assigned you may be allowed to take a language. There was another catch; you also had to have been in honor classes throughout elementary and middle school. The outcome; only a handful of students were able to take a language. Their only choices though, were French, German, Italian, & Latin. If by chance Spanish was offered, it was Castilian.
So, I didn’t have a language in HS. Now, to graduate from SUNY Fredonia I’m required to have at least one semester of language. Tell me, what is wrong with that picture? How will that round out my education? Yes, it’s great to learn other languages for all the reasons that I’m certain you can come up with. But, in my case, how will forcing me to take one semester of a language going to help me in any way? My money will be better spent to invest in Rosetta Stone. This is exactly what I plan to do.
Another sad and neglected area of our educational system is money. Wasn’t the Lottery supposedly created to bolster educational cost? Well, we have created lots of millionaires while education continues to suffer and endure program cuts. Add to that, the fact that we still just cannot seem to get our curriculum priorities in order!
So, are Asians innately superior? Of course not! Are they innately more sensible? Most definitely!
S. Ramos, Post #11