The Other Side of the Ralphie May Spectrum?

It was mentioned in class that viewing Chris Rock's stand up would be like viewing the opposite of Ralphie May's racial commentary, but it didn't quite seem that way to me.

First, a caveat: I recognize that my liking Chris Rock's comedy definitely tints the way that I view these pieces. However, I still think there are some striking differences that deserve attention. Also, I wholeheartedly believe Ralphie May should be able to tell whatever jokes he wants; I'm very supportive of free speech. Just don't expect me to laugh.

1) The audience- Ralphie May's absolutely blatant (and to me disturbing) singling out of the one black woman in the audience was very different from Chris Rock's interactivity with audience. I recognize that some light-hearted ribbing of the audience is part of stand up

culture. However, when Chris Rock makes fun of the white women who are trying to explain to their (presumably white) husbands why they laughed at the joke about sex with black men, he's not singling them out individually (partially because there's more than one to single out--another striking difference from Ralphie May's distinctly racially solidified audience).

2) The point- While Ralphie May later explains that he wants to push his audience to the edge of the line of decency and question their own sense of humor, he makes no such disclaimer before telling the joke about the black theater. The point of that joke, to me, seems to be that he knows a secret about this subculture that his white audience does not. They are having this other world illuminated by listening to Ralphie explain ghetto hair cuts and stereotype black accents. He perpetuates difference and separation through this dichotomy. Chris Rock, on the other hand, is talking to a diverse crowd, and much of his humor centers around the interaction between the two (or more) cultures. While his discussion of the n-word (which I choose not to use for complicated and probably not interesting reasons, though I do not object to its use by others; words, after all, are only words), certainly pushes the same line of decency that Ralphie refers to, the effects are entirely different. Chris Rock focuses on interaction; Ralphie May centers on separation.

3) Race of the speaker- We discussed in class that it is often more acceptable for the minority to make fun of the majority, but not the other way around. This makes sense to me--especially when the majority has used its power for centuries to degrade the minority in every categorical way possible. This doesn't just apply to race, and it's also true of groups that are making fun of themselves. When Jeff Foxworthy makes fun of "rednecks," many find it funny. If a Wall Street executive made the same jokes, they wouldn't. So, when Ralphie May, as a white man, makes fun of black people it has a different effect than Chris Rock, a black man, making fun of white people (which again, in the skit we watched, I'm not convinced he did--he more made fun of the interaction between white and black culture than white culture itself).