Monday, November 17, 2008

Racist Jell-o, Racist Puppets

I'm doing research on stand-up and situation comedy through the past century.  I mean, I'm YouTubing funny videos and downloading them onto my computer for presentation in class in a few weeks.  I'll be jazzing them up with museum-type titles and descriptions, but you get the idea.

Anyway, in the abyss of YouTube glory, I've discovered some classic James Earl Jones counting and reciting the alphabet (and subsequently a Sparta-remix of him saying the digits of π).  I've watched some Woody Allen and Abbot & Costello bits.  But this... I was not prepared for this.  It's real, and it's ridiculous.



Jay-Ee-Er-Er--OMG.

I will be quick to say that most of my comedy clips have some reference to race and class.  However, the emphases are different.  I don't think Jell-o meant for us to look at Chinese baby and think, "Gee, Jell-o is inclusive."  I imagine it was something more along the lines of, "Aw, Chinese people are cute and they talk so funny!  Imagine them trying to eat gelatin with their silly little chopsticks!"

What would Achmed the Dead Terrorist say about this?


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1 comment:

Rachel Cox said...

woooooow.... that's amazing. The jello video totally made my day.