As everyone from Ted Danson to Rachel Dolezal has realized, "blacking up" or pretending to be black is considered offensive and degrading.
Danson turned up at party alongside Whoopi Goldberg, and his "blackface" was a scandal. Dolezal, apparently spending a little too much time in a tanning salon, tried to pass for a black woman and even got a job that somehow involved being a spokeswoman for the rights of black people. She got fired when the truth came out.
Rachel still doesn't get it, but the rest of the sane planet doesn't want it. Today, she's in the news for being banned...which is what CBS should be doing with Corden.
The Baltimore Book Festival invites people to come and enjoy themselves, but not at the expense of another race, religion or gender, and CBS should feel the same way, and tell Corden to stop his insulting portrayals of women.
Once considered to have the greatest voice in popular music, Al Jolson is almost unknown now, because he sang (sincerely) such songs as "Old Black Joe" and "Mammy."
In fact, "ethnic humor," especially if you are NOT a member of the group, is NOT acceptable. Guillermo on Jimmy Kimmel's show, si. Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez, NO. Does it matter that Bill Dana's performances had none of the ugly stereotyping that you'll find with quite a few Latino comedians who happily do jokes about being fat and drunk?
Blacks, Jews, Muslims, Gays, Latinos, Asians, Women...they've all said "Enough is ENOUGH" with unflattering and stereotypical depictions.
Then there's JAMES CORDEN.
CORDEN thinks it's HEEEEEEEE-LARIOUS to dress up as a SHE. We're not talking about RuPaul and his "Drag Race," where the idea is to closely resemble a female. We're not talking about the transvestite who needs to gratify a sexual urge. JAMES CORDEN does this to get LAUGHS. In other words, to make fun of women.
TO MAKE FUN OF WOMEN.
Why doesn't he dress up as a Muslim? Wouldn't that be a hoot?
How about an Asian? You mean, James, that the days of Warner Oland as Charlie Chan are OVER? Gosh. You think?
Why not a Latino? You mean, James, you believe that it's offensive if a non-Latino (such as Bill Dana) puts on an accent? We're talking about an ACCENT, James. Bill Dana didn't wear a sombrero or a big mustache, and much on Fritos.
How about a Jew, James?
Let's take a look at this photo:
It's our favorite puffy, pudgy, effeminate talk show host pointing to Seth Rogan in Jew drag.
Seth Rogan is not an Orthodox Jew. But hey, Orthodox Jews ARE funny looking, right? At least, if a Jew is dressing up as one?
You want to explain, Mr. Corden, why YOU didn't Jew it up in the picture? And have never put on the garb of an Orthodox Jew? Or an Orthodox Greek? Or a Muslim?
Why isn't that HEEEEEEE-LARIOUS? You only know SHEEEEEE-LARIOUS?
This James Corden guy seems to think that wearing a bra is funny. Not a yarmulke? Or a burqa? Something's funny about women wearing bras in their daily lives, but you wouldn't pose wearing a yarmulke? Or a turban?
There he goes again. And again. And again. And again.
James Corden's sidekick, Reggie Watts? Come now, James. The huge Afro? Isn't THAT heeeeee-larious?
Hmmm. Maybe that's OFFENSIVE. Putting on an Afro wig would be OFFENSIVE. Trying to be REGGIE WATTS would be perceived as offensive, especially if you did it in front of him.
James Corden would instantly reject a writer's idea for him to dress up in blackface and sing "Mammy" or "Swanee."
Why isn't THAT heeeeeee-larious, James?
A better question remains, why is it that every minority, every racial group, every religious group, every sexual group, gets respect but not women?
A big, long, loud discussion would involve ANY comedian doing gags about Muslims, Blacks, Gays, Lesbians, Asians, etc. etc. But James Corden goes for the cheap laugh again and again and again.
He insists he is not a homosexual, and he insists he is not a transvestite or crossdresser, whose sexual need for dress up would be protected from ridicule. Corden wouldn't dress up as Caitlyn Jenner, the transsexual. That would be...CRUEL?
But women?
Corden is the only comedian who thinks wearing a bra is hilarious. He's the only comedian who thinks being a woman is a great visual joke.
Nobody watches Milton Berle anymore. His drag comedy is as insultingly stupid as Eddie Cantor's blackface. Joe Besser couldn't get away with a "sissy" act now. TV stations shy away from running Peter Seller as an Indian in "The Party," and a film such as "Gunga Din," which praised a heroic Indian (played by a Jewish actor) and cautioned against religious extremists, is practically unknown to anyone under 50.
The antics of "Amos and Andy" or "Cohen on the Telephone" are unknown now not because the jokes aren't funny, but because the ethnic and religious characters are considered offensive.
Some things are dated, and in the 21st Century, making fun of women should be done sparingly, and with wit, and James Corden fails on both counts.
There aren't many men who bother with drag anymore, but the ones who did (such as the Monty Python members) were satirizing a particular type of woman. Jimmy Fallon satirizes Millennial girls in a way similar to the old drag parodies of Valley Girls. The half-retired "Dame Edna" is an empowering figure who says things as a woman that are devastatingly sharp and satirical, and not intended to demean women at all. "Dame Edna" doesn't walk around in a bra for a laugh.
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