The Hashtag Controversy

[Zalyn]

I think we need a thread to talk about the current issue of activists being angry at Colbert for a supposedly racist tweet.  This is a very heated issue, and has potential to get explosive, so I ask that we do our best to be measured in the discussion and generous when considering other perspectives.

Background articles:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/03/28/stephen-colbert-was-making-fun-of-dan-snyder-not-asians-and-asian-americans/

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/03/29/stephen-colbert-racism-and-the-weaponized-hashtag/

Issues of racism and sexism are very serious, and as someone who teaches at the university level on these types of issues, I feel that we should always be sincere in recognizing someone's feelings of being offended. That said, it is also important to recognize the context in which a statement was made and to avoid misinterpretations.

In Colbert's case, this was very deliberate and clear satire in the context of the show that was missed by second- and third-hand observers.  But this isn't just a lack of context; I have noticed that we are losing, as a society, an ability to recognize irony, satire, and parody.  I don't know exactly why this is; I suspect that the lack of liberal arts education in general as well as a lack of critical engagement with issues has something to do with it.

For example, I brought up the movie, Miss Congeniality, to some students, and most interpreted it straight rather than as the satire it is supposed to be.  I had to take some time to explain what satire is and how it is presented, as well as ways to read it.

Likewise, there seem to still be people who think Colbert is actually playing straight as a right-wing extremist; I think they genuinely don't identify signs of satire.

I am a bit disappointed to see this becoming such an issue.  I think that new media, like Twitter, has amazingly positive potential (see: Tahrir Square) for social good.  But there is a need to supplement it with other relevant information to make sure messages don't get misinterpreted.

* Disclosure: I am 3/4 East Asian and while it is not sufficient to counter others' offense at this, I feel that Colbert's sketches help to raise awareness of racism, especially for East Asians, who are often ignored in these discussions. 

[b2H]

 

I have noticed that we are losing, as a society, an ability to recognize irony, satire, and parody.

We are all so concerned about not hurting anyone's feelings, along with searching for that 'gotcha' moment, that satire will soon be a lost cause in this country.

Sadly, Friday night at 7 eastern, there should've been re-broadcasts for both Daily Show and Colbert Report.  Instead, they showed endless repeats of Tosh 2.0.  Have to wonder where this will go in the interest of smoothing the ruffled feathers.

[Zalyn]

Oh yeah, because Tosh 2.0 isn't offensive at all...

Maybe this is showing my age, but I'm actually glad that Stephen used East Asian slurs to make them visible - there is some concern that issues of race get boiled down too easily into "Black vs. White people" and other groups get left out.  East Asians especially tend to become invisible because of the whole "model minority" stuff. 

I was quite impressed with my parents when they urged me to see Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (they sometimes are more hip to movies than me); it opened up some great conversations about racism towards both East and South Asian people that often times are not visible to people not of those groups. Of course, whether something is satire or just offensive could be debateable at times, but that debate should at least happen.

I wonder if satire requires more context to be understood, and that it's easier to clip that context in current social media.  That's no excuse; it's just as easy to include a link to the full clip.  There is something that sticks in my craw when activists focus more on the meta-game (getting attention) than on their issue; I used to do activist/political work, so I appreciate messaging, but don't shoot your own allies.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Zalyn

[snowcrash]

I missed most of this when it happened, but I agree with large swathes of this Jezebel article:

http://jezebel.com/what-we-can-learn-from-the-embarrassing-cancelcolbert-1553680450

It's a bit long, but it's totally worth getting to the end. 

[Zalyn]

Overall, the Jez article addresses the controversy well.  Some of the comment threads... oy. 

One thing that baffled me was when someone argued that they can't be expected to know the larger context surrounding the Tweet sent out.  I'm not a Twitter user, but I thought that you subscribed to people you were interested in, i.e. if it's a TV show, you'd watch it regularly.  Or is that old fogey "git off mah lawn" talk? 

I brought this up in class today to use as a illustration for 1) how to identify satire and 2) how to engage with people who are offended.  It's tough to find a way to talk with people without resorting to "calm down, you shouldn't be offended", even if, as in this case, there are some things that need to be unpacked.

Some thing he'll be issuing an apology tonight... it'll be interesting to see what happens on that.

And hearing that some Colbert fans were attacking the protestors with violent threats makes me sad.

[TooMuchCoffee]

I love Colbert. I missed the episode when it first aired so I read about the shitstorm before I saw the remark in context. When I watched the show I played that segment back a few times. I thought it was a perfect way to show not only the offensive use of language but the addition of insult to injury by people that either don't get it or don't give a crap. The best barb in the segment was the story of the backhoe that was only partially donated.

I'm not much of a writer but I certainly recognize satire. Colbert uses it very effectively but, like his Word segments, sometimes even a transcript doesn't tell the real story.

I'm disappointed in the rude Colbert defenders.

[TooMuchCoffee]

 I thought that the response on the 3/31/14 episode was perfect. It was one of the funniest bits ever.

And Michelle Malkin really did write a book "In Defense of Internment".  Oh myyyy.

[Zalyn]

I just watched Stephen's response, and I agree that it was terrifically done.  The extra zing about how no one was talking about the Redskins foundation was also perfect. 

[Zalyn]

Good commentary on the larger issue of interpreting and understanding satire and offense: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/azhar-majeed/cancel-colbert-satire_b_5051810.html

There is a valuable connection drawn to intellectual freedom and current issues in universities where professors are being attacked for trying to teach students about uncomfortable topics like racism and sexism.

[A Boston Gal]

I loved how he handled the "apology", but would've loved even more to have been a fly on the wall over the weekend. Just how did Stephen and Jon deal with Comedy Central honchos over this? Was the person who sent out the unauthorized @TheColbertReport tweet  canned?

Edited April 2, 2014 by A Boston Gal