That was my thought. It’s definitely racist. Probably sexist, too. But it just isn’t funny. At all.
This is a more difficult question than I expected. It’s complicated. I, individually, would feel better about him if he apologized. It’s the sort of behavior that one hopes to see in mature, reasoning adults. If one makes an error in judgment, one accepts responsibility for it. Ideally, it is not repeated, and through iteration we all learn and improve. There are also individuals and groups far more impacted by his actions than I am, however. I would like to know what they want as well.
It’s a terrible joke and there’s no “probably” about the sexist.
…most of the apologies we’ve heard since #metoo started have been pretty bullshit.
But one of them was not. Dan Harmon did some pretty nasty shit to one of the people who worked for him while he was showrunner for Community. So one day on twitter she called him out for it. And Harmon got defensive. Then he pulled back. And he listened. And after a few days he did this.
In response, Ganz said this:
On the 4th of June 2002 the-then Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt Hon Helen Clark made this apology to the people of Samoa.
The day after that apology my dad took me and my brother aside and told us about our granddad that I talked about earlier in the thread. He had never talked about any of this before with us. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he had been given permission to speak.
Apologies are important. Apologies hold power. And I know that it seems to be a difficult concept for you to understand, but its entirely possible to offer a good apology that doesn’t involve grovelling and doesn’t demand ritual suicide.
But I don’t demand an apology from Noah. This is a pitting about how he chose to respond when he got called out for a racist-as-fuck joke. Noah has chosen not to say sorry and I’m fine with him not saying sorry and I’m free to judge him for choosing not to apologise. This isn’t about “appeasement.” Because an apology given with an intent to “appease” is not a genuine apology at all. That’s the fucking point you are missing.
…oh for fucks sakes.
Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux are on a tour down-under. They spoke in Australia yesterday. Here is a twitter thread about what happened.
These bastards are coming to New Zealand next.
This is the normalisation of the acceptance of this sort of trash. We excuse Noah. We ignore Southern and Molyneux. “Why the outrage?” You cry. This is why. Molyneux mocks Aboriginal origin myths, and everyone is laughing along. Noah mocks Aboriginal women and everyone is laughing along.
I’m over the fucking laughing.
I’ve changed my mind.
I watched the clips again, and I think Noah should apologize. I don’t think he meant to be a dick, but he was an accidental asshole. It happens. The right thing to do is to apologize and move on.
Having said that, I think it’s clear he wasn’t trying to be a douchebag. Comedians have routines, and sometimes they end up off the rails. Of all people, Noah understands the ugliness of racism. I don’t believe he meant the joke as an attack on aboriginals but I think he might have assumed - improperly - that they were a ‘safe’ example to use as his humor in that context.
And my apologies to Banquet Bear. I made assumptions about you that were incorrect.
…all good bro. 
When I said just a few posts ago “apologies have power”, I just thought I’d let you know that your apology has made my shitty day all of a sudden a lot less shitty and I genuinely thank you for it.
Well, peak white American privilege.
You’re an indigenous New Zealander? Huh. Didn’t know that. Do you have a link to a primer on the topic? I say “The topic” because I don’t have the background to know whether Aborigine is an offensive word, or whom exactly it applies to. For example.
That aside, you should care about how white American liberals ability to manage the Trump age. Because if we don’t stop this GOP administration’s emulation of Putin’s Russia, the effects will spillover across borders. But yes, this is a hijack.
apparently it’s ok to harass people endlessly over things they said when they were 17, so yes, it appears some think people should be unemployable if they’ve ever said anything untoward in their lives. But I guess that’s worth it so someone can win their insignificant little battle.
…a whole lot of people decided that because of “ethics in games journalism” that it was perfectly acceptable to make the lives of many high-profile women in the video-games (and related field) industry a living hell. So it appears that some people think that women should be unemployable because they want to stand up for social justice.
And you know what?
Thats got fuck-all to do with this thread. So take your shitty take on your shitty baseball player and take it to a thread where what you say is remotely relevant. Your cite says that he got booed. Your cite does not say he was unemployable. Your cite does not say that he has been endlessly harassed. And Trevor Noah is not unemployable. And he hasn’t been endlessly harassed. But if he travels to Australia and if he chooses not to apologise then Noah might get booed as well. And I would be perfectly fine with that.
I’m no “expert” just because of the colour of my skin. But I am good with the google.
Of course I fucking care. Have you never read any of my posts on this board? I talk about Trump all the time.
The world is already dealing with the spillover across the borders. Trust me we are dealing with it. Look at what I posted just before about the Southern and Molyneux tour. You guys are literally exporting the hate across the world and we are having to deal with this shit. You think Trump’s immigration policy on the borders is problematic? Have you heard what the Australian government have done at Nauru? The offshore immigration detention facilities?
You guys are fucking amateurs at this shit. Australia’s detainees have been killing themselves, setting themselves on fire, sewing their eyelids, their mouths shut. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Families separated. They live in squalor. Laws changed to make it illegal/difficult to report on it. Its a disgrace. The biggest irony is that President Obama stepped up to the plate to offer freedom for many of the detainees. Because Obama actually gives a damn. And his agreement to resettle up to 1,250 people from the detention centres remains one of the greatest things he did during his presidency that nobody seems to know about. (And it hilariously pissed off Trump when he found out about it because “what did America get out of the deal?”)
The world is a big fucking place. And America is a dumpster fire right now.
Trust me. We know.
But we’ve got our own shit we need to deal with as well. So for the next two years we are going to ignore America and do our best to mitigate the damage and we are going to hope that enough of you guys get out there and do the right thing. Because if you don’t then shit is really going to get real. We will have to stop ignoring you and start to make plans on how to live in the world without The United States at its centre. We aren’t the ones who have to worry. You guys will be the ones that are cut off from the rest of the world.
Thank you. I’m good with google too: part of being good at it is knowing when you lack sufficient contextual knowledge to evaluate your sources. Anyway, thanks for signing off on wiki - no snark intended.
Apropos nothing, I circled back to look at your posts in this thread. Clicked your links. Good job.
With respect to the rest of the world and IMHO, you need to think about that now. Because the US isn’t a reliable partner, even if we topple the current Republican administration. No, I wouldn’t have typed that 2,4,8, or 16 years ago.
I very strongly suspect the issue here was not so much, “guy said racist things as a teenager,” so much as “guy plays for rival sports franchise.” Philly fans once booed Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs. I don’t think that’s a valid gauge for the nations attitude towards Father Christmas at the time.
You’re not the only one. But I’m wired that way. Mind you I’m a very white American woman, I didn’t know who Trevor Noah was until this thread, and it’s hard to describe how little I care about what happens to him or what he thinks is attractive. I have to take people’s word that there was any discernable humor in the thing, like I’ll take your word that it is also racist as well as sexist, insulting, and gross.
Southern and Molyneux are Canadian. They’re trading on an intercontinental fear of immigrants and a rise in right-wingnuttery and they focus on Muslims a lot. I agree that this country is a dumpster fire, but honestly some things are being incubated elsewhere.
Okay, so the tactics of how to respond to this is a legitimate question. How to respond to someone on your side doing something wrong (but not so wrong as to warrant immediate expulsion) is tricky, especially if they’re not going to apologize about it or are going to downplay it. I don’t have a good answer for this. I just know that Maher’s answer - “pretend nothing happened and grow a thicker skin” - undermines the entire premise that we’re the good guys.
Yeah. I can. I am not the DNC. Bit of a silly question, really.
Interestingly enough, y’know which comedian has been absolutely on fire lately? John Mulaney. And one thing I keep noticing about his material - none of it is offensive for shock value. It’s all silly personal anecdotes, mostly harmless, almost none of it even a little offensive. I think the most offensive thing he has is where he puts on “black voice” to sound like Ice T or a Def Jam comic. And he’s incredibly funny! You don’t need shock value to make a cute little story about screwing with a jukebox at a restaurant one of the funniest things you’ll ever hear.
I dunno, just thought I’d throw that out there. John Mulaney is the tits.
…good call, I’ve seen a couple of his skits, I may seek out a few more.
Another one is Hannah Gadsby, who I mentioned before. Nanette was hilarious! Until of course the crying started.
All good, all good indeed.
Thanks for clarifying.
I agree, as it stands, while not knowing the full context of the routine, it’s a god awful joke with very ugly assumptions and implications.
Who said some horrible things about indigenous Australians.
I tend to agree with this. Although the bit seems downright horrible on its own, I’m willing to concede there may well be a leadup or followup that somehow makes it less offensive. Say if it were intended to satirize racist attitudes. Without knowing the full context, I wouldn’t like to lean to hard one way or the other.
Still, regardless of whether there is any redeeming context, it’s important to recognize that that type of humour can be hurtful, even when it hits it’s mark, and Noah’s response leaves a lot to be desired. People who are offended by this joke are rightly offended.
Maybe some context will emerge or Noah will return with a more satisfactory response that will assuage the offence, but it seems disingenuous to tell people “don’t be offended by this offensive thing.”
(Not you CarnalK, but that seems to be the gist of what some other posters are suggesting.)
Wtf!?
WTF!!??
Wot Th Fug!!!???
Sweet baby Jesus that is just . . . Gah!
That is just saddening.
And they style themselves as comedians?
What kind of sad fuckers go to get their jollies at that kind of vileness?