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Aug. 15th, 2005 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaalaI have now seen not one but three uses of North American Indian[1] stereotypes in popular culture here, things that would have perhaps gone over in Canada about 25-30 years ago but would be painfully unacceptable (and possibly incite lawsuits) now. People don't seem to think it's offensive in the least. When I mentioned my discomfort with the first instance a while ago, I was asked why Australian stereotypes (and German, French, Scottish, etc.) are not offensive if Indian ones are. I dare say that my response about historical power inequalities and memories of colonial injustices (not to mention centuries of unfavourable Hollywood depiction) was received with a fair bit of skepticism.
It's an intriguing issue, the line when cultural stereotypes become offensive. It reminds me of the stand-up comics who make sweeping generalisations to poke fun at their own ethnic/religious/cultural/racial/sexual background or group. It's okay for Margaret Cho to make fun of her mother but if anybody who wasn't Korean(-American) did that accent as part of their act it would be massively offensive. Perhaps Margaret Cho[2] is a poor example; I don't think she bases her entire act on racial or cultural stereotypes, unlike some comics I've seen.
Is it that one is only allowed to parody one's own group? Or is it poking fun at outsiders, especially those who are disenfranchised--kicking them when they're down (or have historically been so), you might say--that is seen as mean? Or is it embarrassment for centuries of "white culture's" inaccurate or demeaning depictions of other ethnicities? Why do Shaun Majumder's [South Asian] Indian jokes make me more uncomfortable than his Newfoundlander jokes? Why don't the gay and German jokes in The Producers disturb me?
[1] And no, I'm not using that term out of insensitivity. As far as I can discern from my conversations with North American Indian people and my limited (but more extensive than some) exposure to books, television, plays and movies made about and by them, that's what a lot of people prefer to call themselves. "Indian" is less cumbersome than "Aboriginal", "First Nation" or "Native American". Still, no offense intended if someone prefers a different term.
[2] Disclaimer: what I've seen of Margaret Cho I have, in all honesty, found pretty damned hilarious. Just to let you know.
It's an intriguing issue, the line when cultural stereotypes become offensive. It reminds me of the stand-up comics who make sweeping generalisations to poke fun at their own ethnic/religious/cultural/racial/sexual background or group. It's okay for Margaret Cho to make fun of her mother but if anybody who wasn't Korean(-American) did that accent as part of their act it would be massively offensive. Perhaps Margaret Cho[2] is a poor example; I don't think she bases her entire act on racial or cultural stereotypes, unlike some comics I've seen.
Is it that one is only allowed to parody one's own group? Or is it poking fun at outsiders, especially those who are disenfranchised--kicking them when they're down (or have historically been so), you might say--that is seen as mean? Or is it embarrassment for centuries of "white culture's" inaccurate or demeaning depictions of other ethnicities? Why do Shaun Majumder's [South Asian] Indian jokes make me more uncomfortable than his Newfoundlander jokes? Why don't the gay and German jokes in The Producers disturb me?
[1] And no, I'm not using that term out of insensitivity. As far as I can discern from my conversations with North American Indian people and my limited (but more extensive than some) exposure to books, television, plays and movies made about and by them, that's what a lot of people prefer to call themselves. "Indian" is less cumbersome than "Aboriginal", "First Nation" or "Native American". Still, no offense intended if someone prefers a different term.
[2] Disclaimer: what I've seen of Margaret Cho I have, in all honesty, found pretty damned hilarious. Just to let you know.
