Thursday, April 12, 2007
Imus Isn't Funny, He Also Isn't Criminal
MSNBC has decided to stop airing Imus in the morning. This will disrupt my daily routine not at all.
Don Imus is sort-of the grandfather of shock jocks, known for being abrasively funny and politically incorrect before Howard Stern was even in radio. He has said a number of blatantly stupid and insulting things over the years. His recent remarks were not even close to being the worst.
In a recent airing of his show - which went out live on CBS radio and MSNBC - Imus described members of the Rutger's university women's basket ball team (consisting of a mix of black and white students) as being "nappy headed hos". He laughed as he said it. Clearly, he was joking. The incident can be viewed here, in a clip that includes enough of the show to give context for the 'joke'.
I think we learn two things from watching the clip in it's entirety:
1) Don Imus, whether he is personally racist or not, is not hesitant about using racial stereotypes as the basis for humour.
2) Don Imus is not funny.
Imus could very well be fired. CBS has done it before, for pretty much exactly the same reason. But they'll be firing him for the wrong reasons. He shouldn't be fired for saying something "offensive". He should be fired for saying something "not funny."
I mean, c'mon! You decide it's okay to do racial humour, and the best you can come up with is "nappy headed hos"? Why no Jungle Bunny jokes? No Spearchuckers? You didn't mention fried chicken and watermelon ONCE, you hack!
Let me give you an example of how unfunny Imus is. One of his first big "classic" bits was to call up a restaurant and order 1200 hamburgers. And then... laugh about it. That's the whole bit! Calling up some poor shmuck who's trying to make a living in the zero-margin world of burger flipping and ruin his day. Get this: Imus loved this bit so much HE NAMED A FUCKING RECORD AFTER IT.
Let shock-jocks be shocking. But don't let them be banal. Fire Imus.
Oh, and Whoopi Goldberg should go to hell, the hypocrite.
Don Imus is sort-of the grandfather of shock jocks, known for being abrasively funny and politically incorrect before Howard Stern was even in radio. He has said a number of blatantly stupid and insulting things over the years. His recent remarks were not even close to being the worst.
In a recent airing of his show - which went out live on CBS radio and MSNBC - Imus described members of the Rutger's university women's basket ball team (consisting of a mix of black and white students) as being "nappy headed hos". He laughed as he said it. Clearly, he was joking. The incident can be viewed here, in a clip that includes enough of the show to give context for the 'joke'.
I think we learn two things from watching the clip in it's entirety:
1) Don Imus, whether he is personally racist or not, is not hesitant about using racial stereotypes as the basis for humour.
2) Don Imus is not funny.
Imus could very well be fired. CBS has done it before, for pretty much exactly the same reason. But they'll be firing him for the wrong reasons. He shouldn't be fired for saying something "offensive". He should be fired for saying something "not funny."
I mean, c'mon! You decide it's okay to do racial humour, and the best you can come up with is "nappy headed hos"? Why no Jungle Bunny jokes? No Spearchuckers? You didn't mention fried chicken and watermelon ONCE, you hack!
Let me give you an example of how unfunny Imus is. One of his first big "classic" bits was to call up a restaurant and order 1200 hamburgers. And then... laugh about it. That's the whole bit! Calling up some poor shmuck who's trying to make a living in the zero-margin world of burger flipping and ruin his day. Get this: Imus loved this bit so much HE NAMED A FUCKING RECORD AFTER IT.
Let shock-jocks be shocking. But don't let them be banal. Fire Imus.
Oh, and Whoopi Goldberg should go to hell, the hypocrite.
# posted by Bill Poulin @ 1:33 PM 
