Salon and Paton Oswalt spar...over Asian joke

Did I say others should be offended? No.

I'm pointing out how it is offensive, in my judgment, to allow this conversation to be based on racist stereotypes. You may think its cute that Patton Oswalt is getting back at KTVU for falling for a racist prank; but he's simply continuing the conversation perpetuating a racist stereotype.

You think this is simply PC at work? Go ahead. But never forget the roots of this; go back and watch Charlie Chan, Flower Drum Song, your lovable Shaq, they all used this offensive stereotype; a stereotype that was used to humiliate my grandfather in the 20's. No I'm not going to play along, I'm not going to say its okay.

 

Don't you think ridicule can be effective in pointing out idiocy? Maybe not in this case, but don't you think that's what Oswalt was going for?

 

No, because it continues the dialogue in the stereotype frame.

If he really cared about it, he'd change the conversation and point out the wrong without using the same stereotype.

 

The PC fanatics are offensive, too.
They keep the anxiety levels cranked up.

 

So let me get this straight: Your contention appears to be that making jokes because words in one language can sound funny in another language is racist and stereotyping? Really?

 

Was there anything involving another language here? It's all English. The racist and stereotyping part is the joke that those crazy Asians make their r's sound like l's.

 

Ah, my bad. I thought this was more about the made-up names of the pilots.

 

I know common usage disagrees, but I'm still fighting this one. Racially insensitive or offensive != racist.

 

Criminy, he's just a frickin COMEDIAN ...you know, the profession where guys get by making fart jokes for a living?

It's not his job to "point out the wrong", it's his job to get laughs. And that's all this was--a meaningless dumb little tweet that likely took about two seconds thought that he figured might get a chuckle or two, which was meant to offend nobody, and was utterly harmless to all but the "professionally offended" crowd that searches for meaningless shit like this to act all self-righteously outraged over. Nobody thought less of any Asian person for reading that tweet, the only people they might have thought less of were the poor saps at KTVU who the line was aimed at.

Every group gets occasionally ribbing. So you pick your battles. Words that are lighthearted and not not meant to harm (especially if said by comedians) are treated differently than those that are hateful or of racist intent. Honestly, in which bracket do you think Oswalt's tweet best fits?

 

Yeah, I think expecting a comedian to "change the conversation" in 140 characters might be asking a bit much...

 

Would there be such an uproar if Ken Jeong or Margaret Cho had tweeted the same thing?

 

Jeez, understand I'm not making a major protest over this. I'm voicing my displeasure that a historical stereotype that has been perpetuated for over 140 years continues to this day. You want to ignore my concerns, fine, that's your choice.

What I will not do is just let that slip by so that people think its acceptable.

Do I expect a comedian to do anything socially responsible? Take a stand? I never said that.

No one said anything for nearly 100 years and it became so ingrained it was part of major movies. What's important to get people to recognize that there is a stereotype at work here, and that's not acceptable; at least consider that there's an issue there. That's the point of making your voice heard.