7 responses to “Racial Equity Anti Hero: Tina Fey”

1. 

   Rebecca Behar

   April 12, 2021

   None of those references, or jokes are funny. They turn my stomach. They sanction the patriarchy, objectify human beings. Dehumanize. Reduce. Dimiss. Disregard. To trivialize rape of a minor who was a black slave girl is beyond callous. I have little patience for television as I become more aware. It’s a wasteland. The more my eyes are opened, the less I am able to watch television. I don’t miss it, either.

2. 

   Emily Holzknecht

   February 19, 2021

   I am thinking of a headline from a satirical digital media company that is something along the lines of “Woman takes half-hour break from feminism to enjoy TV show.” I am thinking about how most entertainment is not created with marginalized people in mind. It is for those that fit into the dominant groups, so in order to use entertainment to relax and enjoy, some people from marginalized groups might choose to/be able to a degree push aside temporarily harm to themselves to enjoy and not have to avoid or put emotional labor into almost everything all the time. It is different if someone who benefits from the harm of the entertainment pushes aside harm in order to enjoy or not put emotional labor into disagreeing with the things they benefit from.

3. 

   Emily Holzknecht

   February 19, 2021

   Thank you for this insider perspective. I see what you’re saying about how the comedian can easily have the feeling that they are at the mercy of the audience, but the comedian is the one with the mic and really the audience is at the mercy of the comedian. I was rewatching a documentary recently about how “Hollywood” (entertainment in general) teaches people how to respond to marginalized groups, and often just one influential movie or TV moment can cause ripple effects where many many following movie and TV moments reinforce that way of responding to that marginalized group so that that becomes the norm for responding to that situation. And that it’s really hard to break out of that conditioned harmful response.

4. 

   isa hopkins

   February 18, 2021

   As a former comedian, the entire world of comedy is… a mess. A whole mess of white supremacist patriarchy. As many comedians ostensibly align themselves against it, stand-up in particular is such an exercise in individualism and control — it can feel revolutionary to be the one at the mic but there’s always just one mic in the room.

   There’s a strange deception in comedy where it can feel risky and vulnerable when really the whole point is control. The whole language of comedy is so violent — you kill or you bomb or you crush; there’s no gentle language about, like, “I really connected with that audience.” It’s all about aggression and hierarchy.

   I’m still unpacking a lot (a lot) about my experiences in standup and sketch comedy. A decade ago I thought it was a way to engage with truth. But really it’s mostly just a way to evade it.

5. 

   Rebecca McClinton

   February 17, 2021

   Laughter is such a beautiful thing, but all to easily humor can be so incredibly violent and abusive. I always tense when watching a comic because I know it will likely lead to some tense and tough conversations with people around me about people that are being harmed in that process. As I wrote that, though I’m seeing how centered that sounds and is on my own discomfort. A little discomfort for me standing my ground is nothing compared to those being victimized personally by their words and calling it humor. That’s the least I can do.

6. 

   Emily Holzknecht

   February 17, 2021

   I am not a particularly humorous person. I don’t laugh easily, and I don’t joke easily. Even so, I know I can and do participate in harmful humor. I know I have in the past, and sometimes I have recognized it and sometimes deeply regretted it and I carry some of those moments from my past around with me. They are in the front of my mind now. And there were other times when I am sure that I participated and didn’t recognize the harm I was participating in and so those times don’t come into my mind now.

   I suppose because these white supremacist jokes of Fey’s are related to rape, I am thinking also about the sexual assault scene in Bridgerton and how some people know exactly what that scene is and many people have no idea what that is referring too. They didn’t see sexual assault. Because we are so naive about rape culture? Because the victim was a man? Because the victim was a Black man? Because they were married? Because the show encouraged viewers to sympathize with the perpetrator? Probably all of the above.

   Whether we’re talking about rape culture or racism and especially if we’re talking about both, like Fey was in her jokes above, white supremacy and the patriarchy both are baked so deeply into us, that we are likely to participate in harmful entertainment. Laughing makes us comfortable so that we don’t see the violence. Appeals for sympathy encourage us to align ourselves with the oppressor. I must be rigorous about my internal work so that my eyes are open to the harm. I must speak up to bring attention to harm caused by entertainment.

7. 

   Julie Helwege

   February 16, 2021

   Oof, just oof. There is so much oppression, harm and violence in humor.

   And joking about rape… it desensitizes sexual abuse and violence that is rampant. Not okay. It’s not a laughing matter. Racism and supremacy isn’t to be laughed about either.

   How do my words and *jokes* desensitize violent abuse and harm? How do they perpetuate racism and supremacy? This includes when I laugh at a joke too.

   And how does a joke about rape pander to men at the top of the hierarchy too – white men and women holding power in particular? How do I pander?

   I don’t need to ease anyone’s conscious in supremacy, racism and in this example, rape. It should always bring discomfort until it is eradicated. And I’ve even used language like that’s inappropriate or in poor taste.

   Nope, it’s perpetuating harm and oppression. It’s violent.

   In pivoting to race, if I really think about jokes and “teasing” almost all of it is at the expense of someone. And it’s absolutely a way to both directly and indirectly perpetuate oppression and harm to BIPOC.

   I’m thinking of my own nature to make light of a situation and joke, “too soon?” Or how I’ve minimized someone’s culture and heritage by laughing or sarcastically discussing it because it’s uncomfortable. And that awkward or uncomfortable laugh too. I absolutely have the privilege to think and act that way. It needs to be interrogated. I will hold myself accountable and weed, root and then weed, root some more.

   Tina Fey has made me laugh, but she needs this community and some “washing up” time in course correction. Same as me in how I evaluate my own humor and laughter moving forward.