You know many blacks who behave the way Ruckas does? I think he is an over the top character that clowns the black people who are self loathing. I don’t know if that is what you are saying, but if so, I agree.
I think it is the rare mainstream cartoon/strip that was often done with a black audience in mind. If you are IN the black community, you realize the jokes are on SOME PEOPLE in that community and lots of people outside our community. Harder to see it as clearly if you aren’t in the black community. But that is just my opinion. I certainly do not speak for all black people and I can’t claim to really know what is in McGruder’s head. Just opining.
I’m not sure if I’d go that far. Out of North American comics I would guess Russell Peters more popular. But you are right, Dunham is very popular there.
I think the comic strip started out wonderfully when it first debuted in the mid-late 90s. Loved it, bought the books, recommended the strip to people, etc.
The TV show not so much. The admittedly very few episodes that I’ve seen careen back and forth across the line between being a satire and being the thing that it seems to think it’s satirizing and end up failing to present their argument well. (I also failed to find them even remotely funny.)
My impression of the comic strip (I’ve never seen the animated show) is that the author is skewering the more toxic elements of African-American culture. His absolute contempt for BET or thug-glorification for example.
I remember quite some time ago reading that McGruder had announced his intention to take a year off from drawing the strip. It was my expectation that he would be returning to it one day.
Has he made a subsequent announcement that, no, he was gone for good, after all? 'Cos if he did, I missed it.
I don’t know that anything I’ve seen is smoking-gun racist, but I did get a vibe. For one thing, he’s got a puppet that is a ‘dead terrorist’. I didn’t see him state the obvious joke on the notorious racist meme that “the only good [ethnic] is a dead one.” But if I’m to infer that he means ‘terrorist’ instead of the terrorist’s race, then the message is muddled. Of course, ‘terrorist’ is already a pejorative, so why invoke this joke that is saddled with racist baggage? The joke is clearer if you assume he does in fact mean the terrorist’s race, so the association with dehumanizing racism is intended.
A lot of comics suffer when translated to animation or live action because of the difference in how it’s presented. Animation/live action suffers a bit from how it lacks the comic strip’s advantage of the space between panels and the time between installments, which is where the reader is to be allowed to think and process what just went on; you can’t have “dead” time/space so you get continuity filler that can sometimes distract. It also takes away the reader’s freedom to give the characters their own voice and intonation.
Because of this thread, I decided to head to YouTube and watch a couple of episodes. (I’d only caught snippets from commercials etc.) I watched “The Itis” and “The Black President” (I think this was the name of it) and “The Color Ruckus”.
I have never been a fan of “nigga” even though I recognize it as different from “nigger”. I suppose I can blame my “good girl” upbringing, I dunno. Also, don’t care for all the profanity, even though sometimes it added to the humor. So it wasn’t an easy watching experience for me.
But I do like the cultural inside jokes. Everything about “The Itis” was a hoot. Uncle Ruckus is so over-the-top hateful that it is impossible to take him seriously. I like Riley and Huey, maybe because I love Regina King.
At least from this small sample, I can see why someone would feel like the image of black people takes a beating on the show. However, I’m guessing that fans of the show are sophisticated enough to know that, like all cartoons, the show is a crazy funhouse mirror. Of course no one comes out looking good.
I have watched Dunham’s performances.
Thanks for jumping to conclusions.
Be careful of the fall that it can allow you to take.
Here are some reviews and critiques of Dunham’s “act’:
In the New York Times story Dunham himself states that he does NOT make fun of fundamentalist Christians like himself as "he does concede that he’s extra-sensitive to one of his largest constituencies: the conservative “country crowd.” “That’s why I don’t pick on basic Christian-values stuff,” he told me. “Well, I also don’t like to, because that’s the way I was brought up.” He then stopped himself short and said: “Oh, boy. I’m walking into something here.”
Doesn’t sound like an openminded non-racist to me.
Sounds like a jerk.
Who also happens to be a racist.
I disagree totally! He’s an equal opportunity offender:
Achmed: Muslims
Bubba J: White trash hillbillies
Walter: Old white men
Earlier in this thread I had meant to explain where I heard he was the second most popular comic in the Middle East. Here’s that anecdote:
Gabriel Iglesias did a show in Saudi Arabia. He wondered how such s closed society had heard about him. His handler told him he was #2 comic in region. When he asked who’s #1, he was told Jeff Dunham was, the guy even quoted Achmed’s catchphrase.
Never heard of him but youtubed his act after this post. Among his puppets like Sweet Daddy Dee, Jose Jalapeno, and Achmed the Dead Terrorist, there’s also Bubba J, who is a white redneck caricature.
