I love Russell Peters because his comedy is unintentionally undermining; it highlights the relationships between communities of colour. In spite of the fact that he could be criticised for making racist comedy, I tend to justify why I love him. Then the other night I sat down and watched Russell Peter’s latest video “ Russell Peter’s 2010” and I had noticed that Russell seems to have lost his punch line. The video gave me a lot to think about. The video proceeds with his imitating of Spanish and Indian accent. I guess people, including me love his Spanish and Indian accent but one tends to become attached to this idea and stereotype and have difficulty in accepting new ideas. Stereotypes are not meant to represent a population that we want to identify. It is necessary to evaluate people on individual basis.
Stereotypes reflect the differences in status, religion, dialect etc. These differences are evident in all races but cannot identify one specific group of people. It is important to not have a narrow perspective and immature reactions to such issues. Stereotypes do have a degree of truth in them but this certain bit of truth cannot characterize an entire culture or an individual. Non verbal communication is one of the important aspects of communication In the video one can see how Russell Peters again talks about the Indian gesture of nodding which is a silent way of an affirmative gesture. These kinds of stereotypes he uses are to some extent negative and these images are juxtaposed in the minds of a viewer. This causes barriers to intercultural communication.
This is not even just racist but also just plain bad comedy. He’s just beginning to base his comedy and jokes on inaccuracy. He has become all lazy and that’s why racist, sexist , etc jokes aren’t funny anymore. He tries to make fun of a race intelligently which tends to lead to unfairly exaggerated jokes.
Since people all the over world do watch Russell Peter's videos a large population is being imperialised and psychologically. People base their thoughts and opinions according to their senses.
Russell Peter should try and make brilliant comedy, do something new with the monotonous accent. People who encourage him solely for his stereotypes are missing the pure and capable genius of his performances. I still believe you can come back !
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Gob-VoRKQ
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I agree that we tend to place people in boxes so that it is easier for us to identify who they are when all we did was categorizing them based on their race or how they behave. Which in a way, isn't very nice. As for Russell Peter, if all he got was racist jokes..then he is a comedian without any substance.
ReplyDeleteI have only watched Russell Peter's show once. I mean I find it funny as well but after a little while it gets boring. If you think about it everything gets boring after you repeat it and especially with comedy theres only so many times that you can repeat the same kind of comedy before people get it and move on. I mean I think he does use stereotypes and exaggerates them to make the audience laugh but its not that funny anymore. He should just sit back and do comedy like he used to. He should stop using the same stereotypes because after a while it's not funny and no one cares anymore. Theres a time period for everything.
ReplyDeleteYumna
I agree with you completely! I mean after his !xobile video everything just went downhill from there. Even his Red, White and Brown wasn't funny either. Racism is only funny if it's done with class. Russell Peters should take a leaf out of Ricky Gervais's book.
ReplyDeleteHey... Your blogs are very interesting. I like the way you have tried to connect various topics to different things( politics, movies, entertainment, social topics) Coming to this comment.i to some extent do agree with what you have to say . His jokes arent funny anymmore. I think it has to do with him being too overconfident. Things get boring if they tend to become monotonous!. It gets boring and dull and since the majority of people who watched thee vidoes are teenagers. They get greatky influenced which leads to serious md deep rooted topics and issues like racism
ReplyDeleteRusel peters is something i do watch on a regular basis, just to lift me up. As long as the things he says arent taken to heart, they are pretty funny, but sometimes the things he says are repeated and they get rather annoying.
ReplyDeleteAnd true, lately he has lost quality but he focuses more on quantity. i think shorter, but funnier videos would be more appreciated. he also needs to move out of his 'racial' zone.. i mean come on, every country has their own accent, as well as people have their own way of saying things. him repeating their flaws over and over again not only makes him a racial commedian but also boring at times.
If you are a fan of Russell Peters, you will love him. And if you are a huge fan of Russell Peters, you would know what his jokes mean. I LOVE RUSSELL PETERS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HIS JOKES! :)
ReplyDeletehan han- Its true, we tend to judge a person too critically at times, but it isn’t nice if we go to an extreme. Russell Peter does have a lot of potential and substance all he needs is to think outside the box and get his act straighten out.
ReplyDeleteYumna- That’s true, The same jokes do get monotonous over time. Over a certain time the jokes get boring and the stereotypes that seemed funny , are just weird and repetitive over time.
ReplyDeleteCandice- I know. The quality of his jokes were deteriorating. Racism is only funny until a certain limit. I admit that I do laugh at his jokes, but too much of it and the repetition of it , exerts a negative impact
ReplyDeleteAkash- Thank You .. That’s true , overconfidence could be another reason. Yea its probably these over-hyped stereotypes that lead to such major topics like racism
ReplyDeleteAnonymous- Exactly my point!! His constant exaggeration and stereotypes are not entertaining any more. He can do a lot better..
ReplyDeleteNisa- HAHAHAHA I do like Russell Peters!!!.. I just think that he is capable of being a better comedian . His lack of new jokes shows his lack of versatility as a performer I think he is a great comedian, but has the scope of doing a lot better!
ReplyDeleteI second your view.
ReplyDeleteRussell has gained massive popularity with his international jokes. However very subtly, he is infiltrating false ideas and perceptions about the different race groups. I've had friends who base their views of a certain type of race on what Russell has said about them.
They tend to think that all Chinese are calculative people, Blacks are not very intelligent and are only good for one thing, The Indians, computer geniuses but socially inapt.
There is a danger in that if people are not well traveled or exposed. I believe that is why his shows are not for minors.
I do agree with what you have to say. His old videos are really funny , but now they have become stereotypes and are boring. His jokes just revolve around racism which isnt even funny anymore.
ReplyDeletei Dont really argee with your view as its true his jokes revolve primarily around racism , however , it is that what got him popular in the first place. Although i Dont find his latest video up to the mark, he is still doing what he has been for all his acts
ReplyDeleteI dont really agree with your view as it is true that his jokes revolve primarily around racism however it is that what got him popular in the first place.Although i dont find his latest video up to the mark he is stil doing what he has been for all his acts
ReplyDeleteKarin- Well dats the whole point.You admit it that his videos are not as good as they were before, whats the point at the end of it, he's just hurting people.
ReplyDelete