Finally she was back with a new show, and she took some time to yet again explain and APOLOGIZE for calling a feckless cunt a feckless cunt. After all, if it's the President's daughter. You know, the one who was doing a publicity photo with a child while Daddy ignores kids who are in poverty, need better education, can use proper health care, and in some cases should not be kicked out America on a technicality.
It turns out, that Lady Samantha's tiger growl, which has dissolved into pussy apologies, was all because...get this...she was trying to "reclaim" the word CUNT.
She says she uses CUNT a lot, apparently for the same reason comedians Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney used NIGGER a lot. To show that the word has no power, and to get a cheap laugh.
By this logic, black female comedians should be strutting around talking about their Nigger Cunts. Only, is that funny?
Let's continue this after the reality break (where the actual quotes are displayed).
In the world of "performance art" I recall one woman who repeated the word CUNT about 40 times in the course of two screechy minutes. She started timorously. "Cuh-cuh...cuh...cuh..." and then courageously came up with "CUNT," which she then squealed, howled, and roared. She had reclaimed "CUNT." For herself and the 6 or 7 people in the audience who now had a headache and crumbles of ear wax tumbling down into their laps.
Of course, we must understand. Some people are more entitled to want words banished than others. Nobody is DEMANDING that the Cleveland Indians change their name. Native Americans are NOT from India, which is where Columbus thought he'd landed. They are proudly Native American. But they're getting nowhere with both the Cleveland Indians name, and the Washington Redskins name. Do they reclaim it and call themselves REDSKINS? Or do they just go about their business, and ignore the word?
You may remember Judge Joseph Wapner, who was replaced by an irritating loud and rude female named "Judge Judy" (shouldn't women want to have the dignity of using a LAST name?). Wapner told many an indignant, self-entitled defendant, "words are not a battery. You don't attack somebody for saying words. You walk away."
Fact is, if said with just the right amount of contempt, the "correct" word can be offensive. Ask any JEW.
Men of course, being a horrible majority (in terms of power; there are actually more women on the planet than men) don't give a fuck, or a shit, if you call 'em PRICKS. Or DICKHEADS. Because they're insensitive? Or because they know they can say the word right back, or something else. Meaning, if a woman is called a CUNT because she's acting CUNTY, she can say, "Well, you're a PRICK." Even?
Taking back "cunt" or "nigger" by saying it over and over again doesn't make much sense. These words will remain offensive to many, and the people who routinely refer to a woman or a Black with that term, are too ignorant and/or hostile to ever change. They have mother issues perhaps (don't point out "cunt" also refers to "your mother," as they probably have her pieces in the cellar). They might make exceptions (if a Black guy hits a home run for their team, then he's ok. If he's make a chef at Waffle House, fine, he knows his place.)
Then we have odd situations like "cunt" being an insult to men as well as women in England. Over there, ANYONE can be called a cunt. A cunt, in slang, is a "fanny." And rather than "fanny," the slang word for ass in England is "Boris Johnson."
Some Black people (who used to be African-American or Afro-American or Negro, or Colored People, which is now ok if it's "people of color") decided it would be real cool to simply change NIGGER to NIGGA.
[Blacks also changed BITCH to "Beee-atch." A lot of newspapers now say "the B-word" because some women don't like BITCH, even though "female dog" is in the dictionary.]
A lot of Blacks don't appreciate either word. They also don't appreciate it the euphemism "the N word" since we all know what it is, and bringing it up is just as annoying.
HOWEVER, this could be a solution. If NIGGER can become NIGGA, then CUNT can become...CUND.
That's right. CUND. Let's not go all TWAT about this. Let's get CLOSE ENOUGH. CUND.
Instead of "reclaiming" CUNT (as if the CUNT was in the lost baggage department of the airport) be inventive, Lady Samantha. Glide like a tiger over to...CUND.
Don't wear a pussy hat. Wear a tiger hat, with CUND on it. Then maybe YOU can reclaim Elton John's "Lady Samantha" song and say it's about you.
Lastly, let's acknowledge that comedy is about timing, and so are BAD WORDS. Black comedian Larry Wilmore greeted President Obama with a happy, "You DID it, MY NIGGA." Obama claimed that he wasn't offended.
Samantha Bee's use of CUNT is on her own show. You know what you're getting when you tune in Samantha Bee, just as you knew what you were getting when you paid your ticket for Lenny Bruce or Sam Kinison. It's not like she said CUNT during the Emmy Awards telecast.
I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating. I once asked Steve Allen if there was any topic that was off-limits. If there was anything, as Poe wrote, "of which no jest can be made." Steve said, "No, you can make a joke about anything. The question is whether you should." Comedians, and people in general, should know enough to keep a foot out of the mouth. They should have some inner restraint and common sense. They should be confident, and NOT have to hang their heads and mutter, "I went too far."
This is especially true of comedians who are being paid very well for going too far. Tony Hendra's book was titled "Going too Far" for a reason. Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, "Dice" Clay, Sam Kinison, Joan Rivers and even David Letterman, were urged to be EDGIER. They all ended up in trouble for it or apologizing for it, or both. This, in the "land of the free," where people fight censorship.
In other words, something that appeared in SCREW or might appear in HUSTLER belongs there, and shouldn't be compared to something that appears in LADIES HOME JOURNAL. A dirty word that appears on Samantha Bee's show belongs there, while rightly should not be on the Nightly News.
Should anyone be allowed to shout "FIRE" in a crowded movie theater? Assuming they can be heard above the crunch of popcorn and the blabber of people on cell phones and the wisecracks people shout at the screen?
Should Samantha Bee shout "CUNT" in a crowded movie theater and would that be as bad?
Gays reclaimed QUEER. They're HERE and they're QUEER.
But in this case, there IS a compromise available.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you CUND.
No comments:
Post a Comment