South Park addresses the N Word

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvLUhuo52w


The show South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, gets a lot of criticism for the material they show on television. As a huge fan of their work, I believe they do a great job of addressing pop culture and social issues. The scene above is from the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" where the character Randy says the 'N' word on public television. The rest of the episode displays Randy attempting to make up for his mistake, while that is going on Randy's son Stan is trying to explain to his black friend that it is not a big deal. The whole argument between Stan and his friend "Token" (yes the one black kid in the show is named Token) is based around Stan trying to understand why the word is so offensive to him. By the end Stan realizes that, as a white person, he will never understand why Token is so upset by the word.

After the episode aired there was not a lot of media scrutiny. Many groups and organizations praised the episode. Even the organization Abolish the "N" Word, which is linked to the NAACP, called it a great example of how it felt to be called that word. They said, "This show, in its own comedic way, is helping people to educate the power of this word, and how it can feel to have hate language directed at you." Personally I believe it is hard to address the issue from the outside looking in. Since Stone and Parker are white, they don't actually know from first hand experiences what the effect of the word feels like.

With the discussions of race in class last week it really had me thinking about this issue. With such a touchy subject in terms of a racial slur, it is hard to address the issue in a productive, non offensive manor. Although if South Park wasn't offending someone then it wasn't doing its job, they tend to make great points (by using satire) about social issues. Travis Fickett, a writer for IGN, rated the episode a 10/10. He even went on to say, "There's really no other way to explain how this show remains not only brilliantly funny, but more relevant and insightful than anything else on television." Thats a pretty bold statement right there, saying that there is nothing more relevant and insightful on TV than South Park. As a white male, I am privileged to not have a racial slur that is extremely offensive about myself. In a way I can never really understand why the word is so offensive and thats where South Park hit the nail on the head.

In conclusion, I believe that South Park did a great job addresses this racial issue. If you can't understand the satire behind the show and the real points they are making than I just feel sorry for you. 

Peace, Love, Lax brahhhhhh

Tim 

Lil Dicky: "I'm just a regular dude"

So earlier in our Facebook group I posted a link to a rapper by the name of Lil Dicky. It was during the conversations of fake white rappers and I was just exposed to his music earlier that week so I thought it was fitting to post one of his videos to the group. Ever since I have been super intrigued with his music and videos.

Arguably his most relevant video is "White Dude" which throughout the whole song he just talks about how he loves being a white male. While this immediately reflects the concept of intersectionality because he is discusses being White and a Male, I thought it could also be related to our discussions on class.

You can find the video here:
Lil Dicky-White Dude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rnFlQAvk8U

In an interview that he did where he discussed why he does what he does(comedic rap) he stated,
 "There just hasn't been a voice for that normal dude when it comes to rap...I think a lot of rap is just escalated to a place that many people can't relate to... My niche is that I’m relatable. I don’t rap about going to the club and popping bottles."

He states that he is a "normal dude", but what makes him a normal dude? The fact that he is upper middle class? That his dad is a lawyer? That he "eats at when he's high where they eat at to survive(food chains)". Dr. C pointed that out in her response to the video and his statements and it really had me re-evaluating his messages.

Ever since discovering his videos(in which I personally think are hilarious) I have proceeded to show them to my friends who also think he is hilarious. The interesting thing is I would say that the majority of my friends and myself are middle class, and throughout asking everyone what they thought of him they constantly said "Its so funny because its so true." In reality, my friends and I aren't popping bottles in the club, selling drugs, or doing any other activity that is portrayed in a large amount(not all though) of rap music. We can relate a lot better to a song about wanting to stay in on a saturday night(see his song "Staying In"). To be honest, I really don't know what to make out of him because he isn't super famous or anything so its hard to gauge his message or image because he doesn't have a super amount of success.

I think overall if you watch all of his videos, he reflects a lot of material that we have discussed (intersectionality, privilege, masculinity, class, and more) and he could be an interesting topic of discussion.

PEACE, LOVE, LAXXXXXXXXXXDLKGJHD:LKGHJKSDL:KJGDL:KJ
Tim