On the way back from Cobbs on a rainy Saturday Night, I saw 2 guys wearing leather jackets and t-shirts. "Your ridiculous little opinion has been noted," and a pre-Anti-Valentine's one: "I think, therefore I'm single!" Food for thought as the limos zoomed past pedestrians in North Beach.
I reflected on the ridiculous popularity of these "comedians" from the Sarah Silverman Show who flew in from LA for a 2-night gig to adoring fans. Sarah Silverman and cohorts are abrasive, offensive, obscene, vulgar and this is the sad part: not very funny. Form, structure, and informed intelligence in Sarah's "act" are sorely lacking. She deals in shakily-constructed puppy vignettes and tired cliches/stereotypes about Jews, blacks, Asians, Mexicans, gays and lesbians. And she doesn't know when a guitar is in tune! Maybe I'm an old fogey or possibly seen to many authentic comedians/comediennes in my time. I must confess I was disappointed but the predominantly under-30 sitcom/MTV/sound bite kids clapped for more.
Here's the rub. A.O.Scott in his recent NY Times review: " her act is the latest evidence that mocking political correctness has become a form of political correctness in its own right....She depends on the assumption that only someone secure in his or her lack of racism would dare to make, or to laugh at, a racist joke, the telling of which thus becomes a way of making fun simultaneously of racism and of racial hypersensitivity...in short, she seems naughty but in reality is playing it safe." On some level, she gets it because she admits she feels "gross" after her act (is that her conscience?). I know I felt queasy. Here's a sampling of a hostile act by a 36-year old who channels an immature Valley girl 20-something demographic. The same crowd who worships Sacha Baron Cohen's BORAT.
If you get Aids make lemonade.
Kabala comes from inside US Weekly.
It's dangerous to get pregnant when you're over 30. Best time? When a black teenager.
She wants to adopt a boy in China (she heard girls are useless).
Palestinians and Jews hate each other: Who can tell the difference?
Dated a guy who's one-half black. Calls herself a loser: Why not half-white?
SONG: I love you more than bears love honey/I love you more than Jews love money/
I love you more than Jews driving German cars...
A joke about blowing a Mexican and getting diarrhea for a week!.
SONG: I wish every child had a mother/I wish we could love one another/If I had one wish I'd wish the retarded were smarted!
My wish for Sarah: get "resmarted", girl, hire intelligent writers who crack the spine of a book occasionally, and puh-lease learn how to finger a few more chords on the guitar: basic C, F, G are not enough to satisfy this old soul! It takes guts to get up and make a boozy crowd laugh, and I applaud her for trying. To many, she killed! I sat up front and saw how nervous and insecure she was & in my book, she bombed! Good luck, Sarah, in your future endeavours and The Sarah Silverman Show: does it put the mean back in funny or is it just not funny? May you regain your conscience, dim though it may be now, and moral sanity!
And here's my RIDDLE of the day: What's orange and beds four? A Caltrans truck? A Los Angeleno?
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