In a time when the U.S. is trying to come together to vote for a president to represent them as a whole for the next four years, racism and intolerance seem to be problems that continue to separate a nation.
Hit music-makers, No Doubt, were recently attacked for their new music video, Looking Hot. Viewers found the storyline of Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal wearing Native American attire battling cowboys to be racist.
The band immediately pulled the video amid apologies for their unintentional offense. However, they did explain that in creating the video, they consulted with Native American studies experts at the University of California, along with Native American friends. So if the video was designed with this expert knowledge, is U of C now racist too?
In 1989, religious communities were up in arms about Madonna’s Like a Prayer video.
The Material Girl lost endorsements and some stations refused to play the video. But she stood by her “art.” It’s now considered another one of the best videos of that generation.
Meanwhile, actress Marlee Matlin has now slammed Saturday Night Live for last weekend’s skit that parodied NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his sign language interpreter Lydia Callis. The deaf actress felt that the show made fun of sign language.
But did it? Comedian Cecily Strong portrayed Callis using American Sign Language mixed with fake ones for comedic effect and apparently, that was all right. Then Nasim Pedrad appeared as NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s interpreter, miming a Jersey attitude instead of ASL. This is what offended Matlin.
And I would be too – if it happened at an actual press conference. But this is SNL. Matlin compared it to mocking other languages like fake Spanish or Japanese. However, SNL has done just that.
John Belushi’s Samurai and his “Hamburger, hamburger, cheeseburger” skits did just that. No one reacted because it’s a comedy show. Its job is to poke fun at people. And language has been a prime target for decades.
I grew up with The Muppets mocking my ancestors. The Swedish chef was a favourite with his sweet disposition and his “Swenglish.” But the language wasn’t the sole target. And we laughed at the hapless chef who was tied up by a gang of Mexican lobsters who came to save their crustaceous friend from the cooking pot. The Mexican community also failed to be offended at the time.
Isn’t the point of comedy to find humour in ourselves? SNL was mocking the New Jersey ‘tude – which is almost a language in itself. Was it funny? That’s debatable. SNL has always been rather hit-and-miss in its caricatures. But was it an intended insult to the hearing-impaired community?
Art, whether it’s a music video or a comedic skit, is always going to cause mixed reactions. That’s the best kind. But how will America ever come together if they’re constantly looking for the next personal slight?
