[A Notebook on Alyssa Rosenberg & Emily Nussbaum]
Our first group had spirited responses to Emily Nussbaum's “Color Commentary: the shape-shifting masterminds of ‘Key & Peele.” At one point Nussbaum observed that, “Key and Peele’s biracialism is central to
their comedy, but in a far different way than I’d imagined: it is
expansive, not constricting, a Golden Ticket to themes rarely explored
on television.”
How did Nussbaum’s observations about Key & Peele’s
biracialism relate to how you view or might view their
comedy?
6 comments:
Based upon Nussbaums observations it caused me to want to view the show as I have never seen it, based on what was said in the article if I were to ever watch the show it would cause me to pay particular attention to different jokes they may say that i would have probably thought offensive if they had not come from who it were coming from. Say if they were having an episode that was full of stereotypical black, Muslim or White jokes or something of the sort had I not read this article I may have never realized exactly how much when i am watching shows I pay attention to the racial aspects and think oh wow that was offensive were as if i heard it on this show i may not even realize what they said could have been offensive because of the way they have the show scripted.
Nussbaum's observation kind of coincided with how I view their comedy. The most interesting and relevant line in that article to me was when Nussbaum said they play characters that are beyond race. I think this is the huge difference between their comedy and others who have had similar comedy shows. Dave Chapelle, for example, always played characters that were satirical and directly related to his own race. This caused him major discomfort when analyzing what his audience was truly laughing at. Key and Peele, however, have placed no bonds on their comedy. Like Nussbaum said, this is what makes their comedy expansive and not constricting.
I agree with Nussbaum's perception of Key & Peele's biracialism being " a school of funny that in the wrong hands can be a mean trick, as with Amos and Andy doing blackface." If these two comedians were members of one race and making these jokes, people would undoubtedly be offended by their comedy. Our cultural norms, have established this belief that it is considered okay for one to make fun of people that have the same ethnicity as the comedian, but it is considered highly inappropriate to make fun of people of different ethnicity than that of the comedian.
I agree with Nussbaum that Key & Peele's comedy is expansive and not constricting. Because they are biracial, they have more leeway in terms of what they can make fun of on their show. They can explore different aspects of all races mostly without judgement or backlash. The way they go about performing their skits allows them to touch on topics that in almost any other setting would be considered racist.
I've always enjoyed Key & Peele's show and I never thought twice about them playing different races. Perhaps it's because of what Nussbaum said, because they're biracial they have more leeway. I agree with that to an extent; if they were all white then people would definitely react differently to their jokes. I also think a lot of has to do with how they act out these other races. Like Nussbaum said, they're not mocking them or doing it out of bad intentions and it doesn't feel like mocking when I'm watching it. In general, I agree that Key & Peele have a broad range of comedy that isn't constricting.
I have actually seen Key&Peele's show. I can agree with Nussbaum when she says their biracial background benefits them as comedians. Key and Peele unlike other comedians can get away with telling jokes about blacks and whites without it being offensive to their viewers. Why? Because they are both. As humans we believe it is ok for us to talk about ourselves (our own race), but if someone else does it we become offended.
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