Homophobia in Stand-up Comedy
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Who out there does not enjoy stand-up comedy routines? I do, I always have... Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby... these were all some of the best comedians ever to set foot on a stage.
This morning, I decided that I would check out what was available to view
"On Demand" and came across the second season reruns of HBO's "Bad Boys of Comedy" which is a show of up and coming comedians which was created by P. Diddy. I started it up, thinking to myself that I'd get a good laugh out of it since I typically enjoy stand-up routines. I mean the opening announcement from Diddy himself was that he was searching the country for the next best comedians.
The first guy was pretty funny, made us laugh a little. Raw, sexually explicit, but overall a funny guy.
The second comedian got up and almost immediately he started the verbal gay bashing routine. It was awful, about how gays have too many rights and a straight guy should be able to beat a gay guy’s ass without going to jail for committing a hate crime.
This pissed me off. I am a gay female. People in my community are abused, beaten and even killed simply for living their lives. For being gay. How the hell is this funny? I almost changed the channel, but then another guy came on stage, so I decided to give him a chance. He entered the stage with a gay routine. Ugh... are you serious? Another one!
I decided that I'd watch another episode, thinking that it's a coincidence that two out of three comedians so far, used anti-gay rhetoric in their acts, and that there are plenty of creative people out there who don't need to stoop to the levels of degrading people in order to be funny. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up watching five episodes in hopes of finding some good content. Out of these five episodes, there were only two or three comedians who did not make fun of, degrade, or down-right HATE on gays or lesbians as one of the main focal points of their acts.
I'm not sure what bothered me more, the fact that the crowd roared with laughter the loudest when the gay jokes were made, or the actual jokes themselves. I know one thing's for sure, I wouldn't have wanted to be in that audience. Why is it that people think it's funny to target groups of people with the specific intention of degrading them? What's happened to comedy? When did it stop being funny and get so mean?
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People are afraid of the gay inside of themselves. You make a difference by writing. Wishing you the best! c
Well said.
so true, and sad. You notice that noone really jokes about the Amish? That is why I wrote my proposal for the gay and lesbian community. We have to change the game, and we can. It's too easy. I don't like being the butt of anyones sick jokes, and you're right: too many people laugh at that jiberish. As a community, we can rise above on our own.
Tina P 5 years ago
I have to agree with you... I don't mind them playing to stereotypes as a small part of a joke or something like that... but when they are standing there trying to get the audience to agree that homosexuals have "too many rights" and should be beaten this only pepetuates the hatred towards gays that already exists.
It seemed like every time their act started to bomb they turned on the gay jokes... losers. None of the comedy legends had to resort to this crap comedy. That's why we will never hear from these loser "up and comers" again.
To hell with them and P. Diddy for not discouraging it on his show.