Barack Obama had a fundraiser in Chicago last Friday night. (Actually he had several, this one was at the Hyatt Regency). The opening act at this $2300 a person event was Bernie Mac, the comedian. Bernie did a ten minute set. Towards the end of a set he did a joke that went something like this. (Please note that I am paraphrasing as I was not actually at the event but I believe you will get the gist of the joke.)
-My little nephew came to me and he said, "Uncle, what's the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?" "I said, 'I don't know, but,' I said, 'go upstairs and ask your mother if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000." He came back and said, "She said she would make love to the mailman or anyone else for $50,000". Then I told him to go ask his sister if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000. He came back and said, "She said she would make love to the mailman or anyone else for $50,000." So I told him, "Hypothetically we would have $100,000 but realistically we live with a couple of ho's."-
Ba da bum. (That's the blog equivalent of a drum rim shot) Apparently the audience got upset at this joke because it was "offensive to women". This was after Bernie's set included jokes about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity. Okay, so when I heard the joke, I didn't think it was offensive. So I told it to my mom and she laughed, a lot. (Maybe I just tell it better than Bernie?) So then she had me tell my bother and Val and my grandma. And they laughed, a lot. So apparently, the joke was funny to them and not offensive. To people ranging from their thirties to their eighties. Most of whom were women. Granted, we are a small sample, but a pretty good one in my opinion.
Then Barack came on to make his speech (it was his fundraiser after all) and then made this comment.
"We can't afford to be divided by race. We can't afford to be divided by region or by class, and we can't afford to be divided by gender, which, by the way, that means, Bernie, you've got to clean up your act next time," Obama said. "This is a family affair. By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."
An Obama spokesperson later said "Sen. Obama told Bernie Mac that he doesn't condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate."
Inappropriate? Has Senator Obama seen Bernie Mac before? His entire act could be deemed inappropriate, depending on who was in the audience. He's not Mr. Rogers and I find it hard to believe that no one who organized this event knew that Bernie was going to use crude language and crude humor. I also find it hard to believe that there were many children in the audience of a $2300 per person evening event. And crude humor will offend some people, no matter what. That's just how it is. So don't blame Bernie for doing what he does, that's why you hired him. Blame yourself for not booking a 'cleaner' comedian.
Look, I'm all for the Obama campaign showing us their values, heck, how else are we going to get to know the candidate? But part of that is showing is also using your judgement and acknowledging some personal responsibility. Don't hire Bernie Mac if you don't want Bernie Mac style humor. Pretty simple. There a plenty of other comics out there. But they wanted the appeal of Bernie Mac. (He has a huge following both as a comic and as an actor.) They hired Bernie Mac. Bernie Mac delivered. Then they ripped on Bernie Mac. Not cool, not cool at all. If it was truly a 'family affair', why book Bernie Mac?
He told a joke. Some people thought it was funny, other people didn't. Hey, that's comedy. But to hire that type of comic, then disavow his style of comedy just because it offends a few people? I guess that's politics.
3 comments:
What's that old saying? You can never please all of the people all of the time? I thought the joke was so-so, and as a woman I suppose I could be offended by it but I think it was pretty tame for a sexist joke. I think what bothers me about it is that you would never hear it told in reverse, where the father and brother would sleep with anyone for the money. And would they be called whatever the male equivalent of 'ho' would be? Probably not.
But you are absolutely right in that Obama and his staff should not have dissed Bernie. If they didn't bother to tell him that they only wanted 'unoffensive' jokes, then they have no one to blame but themselves. And it would be rare to find a comedian who doesn't offend someone in one way or another. It's a good thing they didn't hire Andrew Dice Clay or Martin Lawrence!
See, I think that joke totally works if you substitute guys and you don't need a male word for ho because most men would sleep with a woman, period. But guys would never laugh at themselves the way women do!
Yeah, when I watched the Kings of Comedy I couldn't believe Bernie Mac was that R rated because I watched his sitcom. But I agree, Bernie Mac is not a comic to hire for a thousand dollar dinner. Most of those people are so stuffy anyway, they probably never heard of Bernie Mac. ;-)
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