`Race is the new sex’ in today’s pop culture
October 1, 2006
Sep. 30, 2006. 01:00 AM
Pop culture today pushes the envelope of race and ethnicity to a degree that would make Archie Bunker blush. And teenagers are loving it.African American comedian David Chappelle satirizes black culture, while Jewish comic Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Borat sings a song about throwing Jews down a well. Even Survivor is divided along racial lines and one of the Asian team members tries to be entertaining by making jokes about his ethnicity. “Race is the new sex,” says Ryan Hearst, 19, from Etobicoke. “A few years ago, talking about masturbation and sex was shocking to people. Now, they’ve all gotten used to it.” The irony is that this generation of multicultural youth, raised on inclusiveness and integration, is mocking these conventions.”We, as a society, seem to tiptoe around anything that could be taken as racist,” Ryan says. “We’re afraid to offend everyone, so these comedians use that to their advantage.” Ryan says he and his friends will often make racist jokes towards one another. “A black friend of mine will take my keys or something and poke fun at himself for stealing,” Ryan says. His Asian roommate is also fair game. “If penis talk comes up, we might bring up the stereotype that Asians have smaller penises than whites and poke fun at him or something.”Laughing at each other just shows how close and comfortable they all are, Ryan says.”We couldn’t go to people we don’t know and make those kind of jokes, because who knows how people will react? There always has to be lines. Without lines and rules, there’s chaos.”
`Right now, Borat is the big funny….It’s comedic genius, that’s what it is’Chime Lazerna, 17, from Mississauga |
Teens want humour that pushes those lines, as is the case with Borat, a character Cohen plays on Da Ali G Show. As a fictitious reporter from Kazakhstan, Borat uncovers the prejudices of real people.”Right now, Borat is the big funny,” says Chime Lazerna, 17, from Mississauga. “His humour is to unmask everything about society, like racism. It’s comedic genius, that’s what it is.”Briana Milman, 17, from the area of University Ave. and Dundas St., thinks being able to laugh at yourself and others is liberating. “I love non-politically-correct humour,” she says. “PC gets so tired after awhile. You can really expand your boundaries by going beyond.”Laughter is often more effective than taking a more serious moral high ground. “Dave Chappelle makes fun of blacks to bring attention to (racism),” Brianna says.But her roommate Desmond Mok, 18, an Asian student, rejects racist humour. “It seems like creativity has nothing to do with humour anymore but they’ve got to pick on one group of people and make fun of them in the most idiotic fashion possible.” Desmond doesn’t like Borat or the message he sends implying that immigrants are ignorant. “I find it offensive because I’m also a foreign student or a foreign being,” he says. “It’s just, like, `Oh, they’re making fun of foreign people — those assholes.'”Radu Palivan, 18, from East York, believes that humour targeting ethnic groups has become a problem. He talks of websites where you can look up jokes according to ethnicity. “Youth are becoming more racist,” he says. “Now that you have groups of kids who are racist, others want to feel accepted, so they try to blend in by acquiring these negative traits.”He believes that someone who tells a racist joke betrays how they really feel. “The only reason someone would say a joke is if they think it is funny. And if it’s a racial joke, then they support the joke and don’t think that the joke is a bad thing.”