Why Liberal Comedy Falls Flat: The Liberal Comedian to Conservative Pipeline

[@Semzi10]

As someone who is visibly Muslim and grew up in an ultraconservative white suburb in Texas post 9/11 (after living in a fairly liberal Philly Suburb until right before 9/11), this is SO accurate. The feeling in the pit of my stomach every time people made Borat jokes etc never went away.

[@CanalPSG]

That is sad. I truly hope things are better now for you.

[@sensid-iwnl-5201]

I feel the same as an ex muslim (closeted gay atheist) growing up in an ultraconservative muslim suburb in michigan, it's scary seeing how my brothers and family have been acting

[@CanalPSG]

@@sensid-iwnl-5201 So basically, living in ultraconservative suburbs in the USA is no fun when you are an outsider. I wish things will be good for you too.

[@connorhart7597]

When I was in high school I used to idolize that movie, and make jokes at the expense of Muslims, not realizing I was viewing the world through a propagandized, American exceptionalist viewpoint. I had been shown how 9/11 was this sucker punch nobody could've seen coming, etc. It really sucks to have to admit this kinda thing, but I realized through learning about the history of the middle from like 1900 onward, that if America had been content using their own oil, Osama bin laden would've likely stayed in construction. How many women were raped by American soldiers, marines, etc? How many women and children were killed, families torn apart, etc. Literally would have changed the course of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives if America didn't try to build colonies.all I can say is that I'm genuinely regretful for the way that I thought back then, but I wanted to mention this to assure you that we can learn and change as people, even when holding horrific views. Sorry if this was kinda rambley, it was off the dome.

[@protoprime4213]

You have pdfile for a prophet. Enough said

[@peachesandpoets]

They use popular social movements to boost their comedy, then as soon as they are called out for their own bigotry they decide to go to the side of people who won't bash them for their bigotry.

[@NIGHTGUYRYAN]

they use comedy to boost their comedy - and when its good and it lands it really doesnt matter what its about. the problem is when it DOESNT land - then they cry that people are too sensitive or too woke to laugh, unable to accept that they just arent that funny (jerry) - THEN they hitch their wagon to some social movement and cater to that usually dumber and niche audience who will laugh and clap despite the material not being that funny, which is fine because the dumb audience never gets the joke to begin with. theyre laughing because other people are laughing and the comedien gets worse and worse because they never develop without a critical audience. i think thats what happens.

[@wriptag3]

@@NIGHTGUYRYAN I think the classic of this was Chappal. He went out and told a bunch of "I identify as..." jokes and got beat up for it, why, because it wasn't funny. Later he came out with a joke about picking up trans woman in a club and it was funny as hell, and no one complained. Go figure.

[@IbnRushd-mv3fp]

People like you on this video (and frankly the woman who made the video) aren't meant to consume any form of comedy of entertainment, YOU were made to sit online in group forums complaining about what triggers you've experienced as a first world snowflake who can afford to get their panties in a bunch over perceived "bIgOtrY".

[@karlalan3806]

Comedy is essentially laughing at people. Maybe that's why the left sucks at it because you are too stuck up

[@zinjanthropus322]

Bigotry has a lot of comedic potential.

[@shukilevyandbrookesheildsl2638]

I'm surprised Bill Maher didn't get a single mention in this at all.

[@fitzytail896]

Probably because his so called comedy is Anti-PC and currently Anti-"woke". So he was never wearing any mask. He's basically the White Liberal Knight.

[@andiralosh2173]

In retrospect he was always something of a right-wing liberal. Ironically many of us have higher standards now as the the bar is in hell

[@joshthefunkdoc]

@@andiralosh2173 Frankly, Bill Maher only appeared to be on the left at all because the US mainstream had moved so far to the right throughout the 80s and then further with the death of the USSR (leading to constant "capitalism won" narratives). For all the ills of social media, it did help millions realize there was another world beyond Jon Stewart!

[@dickgrayson4325]

​@andiralosh2173 No, he isn't. He is 100 percent left wing liberal. Stop lying.

[@irishaarbear]

I wouldn't classify him as a comedian. He doesn't tell jokes to make people laugh, he tells "jokes" to make people clap and cheer that "he's so right!!!"

[@kimifw58]

One thing I hate about this sort of comedy, modern Family Guy in particular, is they bring back old stereotypes that no one under 40 cares about anymore just to "subvert" them. EDIT: added a word

[@kaasmeester5903]

I like Family Guy because everything is fair game to them, and they don't pull any punches. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but overall I find it entertaining. I'm not easily offended, though.

[@NIHIL_EGO]

@@kaasmeester5903 >and they don't pull any punches damn they got baby fist ig

[@FadzaiSimango]

The thing about Family Guy is that Seth and his team of writers generally only know how to make jokes (offensive or otherwise) that no one under 40 years old would even get. I don't know who they think is watching their show...

[@d_alistair-years]

Hated Glee for this very reason 😒

[@Kadaspala]

Aye, and the "subversions" themselves are often based upon well-tread unoriginal and decades old joke concepts at this point, so the "subversion" feels more like a shield they can point to to justify delving into even older more uninspired material related to old problematic stereotypes without being accused of bigotry instead of like, y'know, actually being subversive.

[@CynthiaBonacossa]

I'm a white middle class brazilian and I was very uncritical of the status quo and just believed liberals had the the right heart and if it wasn't for dumb right-wingers and CRAZY extreme leftists everything would be a meritocratic paradise in no time! So I trusted these comedians, I trusted that everything had a deeper meaning. Around 2016 I even leaned farther right and anti-sjw, I just trusted authority so deeply. I was recently radicalized (Bolsonaro, the pandemic and Lula being proved innocent did it) and now I watch with horror how so much of the media I consumed and thought was so SMART and sofisticated was just bigoted islamophobia, racism, patriarchy and bullshit. It's really weird to habe your worldview pivot so much because everything around you kind of comes tumbling down.

[@amorpaz1]

You were smarter before your phony "awakening"

[@vlo4829]

Sounds like you're easily manipulated and attracted to the extremes

[@miaa7097]

I'm an afro-arab Canadian woman who wants to hug you, and it seems like you have a golden heart. Spread the word about Palestine. That's all we can do to spread awareness about the situation

[@amaruonyx390]

Why identify as white when you actually have a culture, country and language of origin? I am a black American, and Africa is a continent, so I don't have an origin country, culture or language outside of America. Hence I have no choice but to identify as black, so I always wondered why people choose to identify themselves by their skin color when they don't have to?

[@amaruonyx390]

​@@miaa7097Do you by any chance know what country your afro lineage comes from?

[@wallamide]

i can't get over the fact that borat was supposed to be mocking us culture bc i remember everyone in middle school talking about the movie and using it to be antisemitic, racist, xenophobic, and homophobic. borat reified these ideals to teens while sacha baron cohen made tons of money off of it and propelled his career. i didn't know he was jewish until i was an adult and borat 2 was in the works so i saw a bunch of promo stuff talking about his activism in congress. still don't vibe with his work bc i always just see my middle school peers repeating the bigoted shit in his work.

[@OscarOSullivan]

Surely his surname is a giveaway.

[@deeznutz8320]

You didnt know the guy named Cohen was Jewish? Fucking hell

[@genesiszine]

I've been having the exact same thoughts about the current state of the two-party system and the "choices" that we allegedly have. Someone on KZbin said that Dems should have 100% started pushing another candidate for president seeing the outcome of Biden's presidency and I agree, but know that no one wants to disrupt the status quo. And I think that's the problem. Lawmakers are so set on needing to keep the system intact that they're not realizing (or refuse to acknowledge) the system has been broken for decades and needs complete reform.

[@NIGHTGUYRYAN]

they know exactly what they are doing. both sides are paid off by the same corporate donors - theyre playing good cop bad cop, and they keep us fighting over asinine inconsequential things like comediens and celebeities to keep us distracted from the fact that we've all been played. theyve been doing this since ancient times.

[@Danielle-zq7kb]

The Democrats canceled primaries so we would only have Biden as our choice.

[@amazinggrapes3045]

They government doesn't want you to know this, but you don't have to vote for Democrats or Republicans. There are other parties. There are other candidates. You can even write one in!

[@corpsehandler5321]

what's the phrase, "you can't dismantle the master's house with the master's tools"?

[@LON009]

Really hate it when stand-up comedians turn into preachers, and the most bigoted kind of preachers. The only comedians I can stand these days are the ones that laugh at themselves, like Chris Fleming, making a show of the absurdity of his own upbringing.

[@lkeke35]

I agree. After eight years of the trauma of trump and friends, wholesome humor is all I have the emotional bandwidth for these days. Immediately goes to look up this comedian!

[@TimL-nr4hr]

I hate it when preachy leftist youtubers become nazis and act like zionism is a dirty word.

[@danielsutcliffe7876]

I'm black and 4years of biden has sent America to the 60s

[@dalekrenegade2596]

Try Bill Burr.

[@galahad6300]

Yeah, suddenly they’re no longer court jesters, they’re now “great philosophers”.

[@alienunicorn4178]

That the double edged sword of “satire”, you never know how people will take it. All in the family was a satire and Archie Bunker was supposed to show people how awful they look being bigoted. Unfortunately people took that the wrong way and use it as an flag to be openly bigoted

[@NotInMYName_AntiZionistJew]

Really, because Archie was always made to look like a total dumbass. That’s how I interpreted it.

[@devonmunn5728]

​@@NotInMYName_AntiZionistJew Yeah but just because a series is making a point doesn't mean everyone will do the same with the info presented

[@corpsehandler5321]

there's a reason aatf is part of the "wait, they were making fun of ME the whole time??" joke

[@anny_draws3023]

I think that a good example of liberal comedian is James Acaster. He manages to be funny without offending anyone and he even called out some of other comedians on their blatant transphobia (I know the bar is low but its comforting to see successful comedian standing up to those bullies) edit: also he doesn't exploit any of the misrepresented groups or minorities and his comedy is mostly based on absurdism and weird stories he gets himself into

[@ErutaniaRose]

When the bar is in hell, it's nice when someone lets us see the grass of earth. edit: grammar typo

[@Smeghead1312]

I like James Acaster.

[@anny_draws3023]

@@Smeghead1312 his Kettering town FC chant is iconic💅

[@zippyvegas8558]

Shouldnt acaster make the audience laugh to be considered a comedian .

[@acutecloudd7970]

He's really boring though. dafe yes, but he's not pushing the enevelope artistically in any way. I would say bo burnham is great example.

[@MistyMaize]

How hard is it to not make racist jokes?

[@alienunicorn4178]

Its hard when you got nothing else. Most comedians really aren’t funny they’re just mean

[@TimL-nr4hr]

How hard is it to not join a nazi movement that wants to exterminate jews? The second the nazis spout decolonization the lefties are all on board.

[@answerman9933]

@@alienunicorn4178 You sound soft to me. Or, am I just being mean?

[@dntthe88]

​@@answerman9933 You sound soft, in the head.

[@ErutaniaRose]

@@answerman9933 It's an observation. Too many comedians rely on racism to seem funny. The race of the person and the stereotypes are the punchline, that's the problem. You can make jokes about a lot of things and about a lot of minorities, the problem is when they are the punchline and you rely on stereotypes.

[@celondelon351]

Not to defend Louie, far from it but he makes jokes about Jewish people because he identifies as one, based on his grandfather being Hungarian Jewish. He was always right wing he was an Antony and Opie regular for years. Tina Fey has degraded black women in her comedy for years using all the tropes. But liberals overall are essentially centrists so it’s not a massive leap to go right wing.

[@fimdrums]

I'll probably eat my words since I'm only a few minutes into the video, but I've always thought Louis was open about his Jewish heritage and how a substantial chunk of his relatives were wiped out during the Holocaust, which led to his grandfather migrating and hiding the fact he is Jewish to avoid trouble. I'll check back though

[@TimL-nr4hr]

I'd rather have Louie jokes than scold yiutubers spewing blood libel.

[@waltonsmith7210]

​@@TimL-nr4hryou don't know what blood libel means

[@mperezmcfinn2511]

​@fimdrums That's right. His grandfather's family were Hungarian Jewish refugees. They weren't allowed into the US, so they fled to Mexico, then converted to Catholicism upon arrival.

[@darkshadowrule2952]

Literally just googled it because I see it all the time and I've never known the actual definition, and like, wow, you right, they are living in another reality, oof ​@@waltonsmith7210

[@kristinam.5629]

I hate how the only popular movies about my country are about how terrible it looks and is shit (the shots weren't even shot in my country) and the other about how you're gonna get murdered and tortured as soon as you come here. Once again the shots weren't even filmed here. The movie f-ed up the way plpl saw our country. They even invited the guy that made the movie on an all inclusive visit and he just refused.

[@amorpaz1]

womp womp

[@Ahmadabdal_]

There is no left in American politics. The faster you recognise this, the faster you’ll understand politics.

[@blank4227]

I want to live in your world lol sounds like a paradise

[@Redman8086]

Can you define "left wing" and "right wing"?

[@mikaela5938]

​@@blank4227all of Biden's policies are conservative

[@blank4227]

@@mikaela5938 open borders, trans rights, pro-choice, lol no

[@joeharris2659]

@@blank4227From a European perspective, the Democrats certainly count as centrist at best. It’s certainly not a paradise here in Europe but we’re still broadly holding out against some of the worst elements of US political culture.

[@morbidsearch]

It's ironic how The Dictator is portrayed as wanting to destroy Israel when Wadiya is situated in Eritrea, a country that has good relations with Israel despite being generally isolationist.

[@magickconchshell]

Hearing that someone as progressive and thoughtful as you was at one point a fan of Schumer, Cohen, C.K. is validating because I ha always thought of myself as a person on the morally correct side of politics. I identified as a liberal from elementary school until the mid 2010's. I removed myself from those spaces when I realized the injustice that liberals support and justify. The past few years have really opened my eyes to the misinformation as well as my own lack of effort in making the change I want to see. I look back on past choices or indulgences (South Park comes to mind) and I cringe at my younger self, but this is a good reminder that everyone can change and we are all *so* easily manipulated. It's not just a matter of intelligence or ethics. Anyway, mostly commenting to help with the algorithm and I'm struggling to articulate my thoughts, but your videos always make me think and I really appreciate the effort you put into them.

[@amorpaz1]

Holy shit, you used to enjoy SOUTH PARK????? What makes you think you deserve forgiveness? HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY THINK YOU DESERVE FORGIVENESS?????

[@loganmedia1142]

Last time I watched it South Park was still funny.

[@ElPresidenteMargz]

So you become more cringe , obnoxious and self important ?

[@NoNotThatPaul]

There is an American military meme which is a photo of a fighter jet in flight with a caption something like, our enemies are about to find out why we don't have free health care

[@aiyazawa7122]

Being a Kazakh myself, my heart aches so much at the sight of people using our country as a laughing stock and entertainment for the public. I wish we could do something about it, but our nation was overpowered for so many years, that we are used to this kind of attitude. Thank you for spreading useful information 🇰🇿🙏

[@Aishyo]

I've never got Sascha Baron Cohen humor since Ali G which was explained as a character that was Asian who was imitating Black Jamaican and hip hop culture

[@Mondomeyer]

He was supposed to be Asian?

[@Aishyo]

​@@MondomeyerI don't even know it was one of the many explanations I've heard about the character.

[@LON009]

Had to look that up, and no, the character is an English guy from Staines, west of London, who thinks he's black Jamaican. A sort of parody of white english rappers that fell flat.

[@gcopeland442]

@@MondomeyerYeah, a parody of South Asians who appropriate black Jamaican/UK (with a side of black US) culture. That’s what we understood him as straight away when the character came out. We found that shit HIGHLARIOUS in the 90s 🤦🏽‍♀️ and the younger of us didn’t call it out as brownface doing blackface. From someone just young enough to see it, but not old enough to partake: 90s rave/dance/youth culture was amazing before the Criminal Justice Act came in and killed it off, and we mostly first-gen immigrant and white British kids all mixed it up (can’t have that 😬) so of course tons of black, white and S Asian kids were wearing FUBU and blasting jungle, dancehall and hip hop (with some bhangra). Looking back, I think I see why he didn’t play the character as white pretending to be black - that would more easily been perceived as racist in the ‘PC’ 90s.

[@Mondomeyer]

@@gcopeland442 And this whole time, I thought he WAS supposed to be a white guy pretending to be black.

[@The_Varza]

I had to substitute "the left" with "liberals" or "Democrats" and after that this was actually excellent. Great work!

[@BAD7667]

I haven’t watched any of Louie CKs stuff since he fell out of the mainstream so when you said that was the joke, complaining about Jews in the Bible, I couldn’t believe it so I searched for the bit on KZbin. And thats not what that joke is about at all. You took an 11 minute joke, framed it as though he’s upset the Bible is full of Jewish people and made a clip to help push that framing. But that’s definitely not what the joke was at all. I can’t watch the rest of this video, a video I am positive I’d agree with, because I can’t be sure you haven’t used other clips to make your farming look accurate, when its not.

[@nw1750]

100% THIS!!! It's a disingenuous attempt to frame somebody just to further a thin premise. And trust me, the video doesn't get better. I made it almost 2/3 of the way through.

[@aloysiuswhiteboat2934]

This video is the kind of crying wolf shit that enables the Rogansphere

[@ribbetribbet]

great video! 👍👍👍👍 7:11 Amazon has ethical values??

[@michaelpadilla6316]

George Carlin is probably one of the very few comedians who is actually progressive and anti-establishment. I watched a lot of his standup when I was in high school and the stuff he talks about have either aged poorly or stood the test of time. The one thing that he said that has stuck to me was that "If you scratch a cynic, you will find a disappointed idealist." Sure, Carlin tends to lean left on many issues as he can be critical of liberals at times but he is often very critical of conservatives. There's not of lot of comedians like him these days unfortunately.

[@dickbandanaken]

Carlin loved punching down just as much as punching up. He made fun of disabled people all the time, and he hated the voters more than the politicians

[@deeznutz8320]

GOod cause he is heavily overrated, dude at the end of his career didnt even do comedy just ted talks tooting his own horn

[@nyanuwu4209]

Meanwhile, conservative comedy: 'HURHUR, LIBS DO BE WOKIN', AMIRITE??'

[@TheMalarz1989]

Hi there! Very interesting essay. I am not an American, I am Polish, living in Poland. I find interesting how differently we see Borat and Sasha Baron Cohen in general. When I watched his shows, I never see him making fun of minorities, brown people, non-Americans. I have always clearly saw his humor as mockery of American culture and society. I also think that author intention is one thing, and the impact of his work is another - death of the author and so. Satire is hard, and it seems to me it fails a lot. When he played that Israeli soldier and made fun of American politicians, I have seen him making fun of America, its gun madness, its unquestioning support of everything Israel does, its homophobia and so on. I have not seen it as making anything of Israelis. It wasn't about them. It was detached from Israel reality, because it was about Americans and their worldview. But then, what if you have different perspective than me? Can it be seen as demonizing Israelis, again? In very specific conditions, yes, it can, I guess. When I watched Borat touring a camera crew around his "home village" I have not seen it as making fun of Eastern Europe, everyone should know that it was an unreal image, right? It was making fun of those who would believe it was a real case. The conclusion of the joke require you to watch the entire movie tho. It is very easy to just cut those scenes and use them separately. What if you are one of those who do not see the absurdity of it in the first place, and you skip the rest of the movie? How would it work on you? If you miss the irony there, it will reinforce your racist point of view, right? It is a mainstream movie, and they openly laugh at those stupid foreigners, so it must be ok to do so. Similar effect can be seen with movie Space Troopers (loved by all sorts of fascist), Dune books (loved by religious fanatics and authoritarians), or game Helldivers 2 (again, snake pit full of neo-nazi). All of this was supposed to be satire. Each one of those works became loved by the satired. Is there a way to use satire in an intelligent, responsible way? The only example I can point to, as a satire done right in recent memory, is Jojo Rabbit - I have never seen a fascist liking the movie, or misinterpreting it in any way.

[@christianmiller9934]

Satire is usually a double edged sword if your not part of the in group and don’t get it you’re probably gonna believe it job rabbit didn’t get used by facists because it goes out of its way to be ridiculous

[@OscarOSullivan]

Joe joe rabbitt is very much like Johnathan Swift’s writing in terms of farce.

[@nicholasrodinos4701]

I feel like part of the problem is that liberalism doesn't meaningfully challenge conservatism's (specifically American conservatism's) principles of capitalism, colonialism, traditional gender roles, cis-heteronormativity, racism, or patriarchy. While many liberals are fine with immigration, they don't challenge the American colonialism that exploits foreign nations. Neoliberal capitalism still requires a lower-class, because capitalism requires a lower-class. So many 'liberal' shows I've seen acknowledge some form of bigotry but don't meaningfully challenge the reasons it exists, they can address white Christian cis-heteronormative patriarchy, and how it harms people, however so many refuse to question how some forms of bigotry are going to be baked into a religion if they're not properly addressed. I like the show 'The Great North', and it has several 'liberal' elements. Beef is a very accepting father to his children who are queer, neuro-divergent, and in inter-racial relationships, Wolf the oldest son is engaged to a black woman, Honeybee and the two are a sweet couple, Ham is gay and ends up in an interracial relationship with his boyfriend Crispin Cienfuegos, Judy is a proud feminist, and Moon is revealed to have OCD. The show repeatedly makes jokes about white colonizers being buffoons, but it feels very 'racism bad' and not meaningfully saying anything beyond a quick joke about it. One episode features Kima, Judy's First Nations friend and they do kinda acknowledge some Native struggles but they don't meaningfully call out Alaska and Canada's long history of colonizing and stealing Native land, there's a Land Back poster in the background of one episode in a brief scene where Judy visits Kima's family. There's an episode 'The High Expectations Adventure' where Kima is expected to give a speech about Native history, and she uses it to call out an anti-Native politician but that's about it. There's this one episode from Season 4, 'The Aunt Misbehavin' Adventure' in which the family meets their long-lost great aunt Dirtrude Tobin, a lesbian who hid in a bunker since the 1960s believing that America had been conquered by Communists. The show points out how things have gotten better for queer people, however while it engages in Red Scare stories, it forgets to acknowledge all the horrors Americans caused each other in their fear of Communism, especially how queer people were impacted. One part of the Red Scare that gets left out of the history books, is the Lavender Scare, a culture war that said that queer people were more sympathetic to Communism because of how poorly Americans were treating them, and this panic was used to ruin the lives of many queer people.

[@peachesandpoets]

Uh huh. What are progressives doing about that? What actionable steps do they propose? Because it's giving MAGA noise of complaining with no actionable solutions

[@kaasmeester5903]

I feel that part of the problem with the liberal movement is that so many liberals expect you to support them on ALL issues. If you are a liberal, you are supposed to be against capitalism and traditional gender roles. You are not supposed to say anything in support of Israel. And you are supposed to be all for socialism, the most extreme version of LGBT rights, if not you are not a liberal, you are evil and should be ignored or cancelled. This is exactly the sort of nonsense that people like Bill Maher are trying to fight. (disclaimer: I'm mostly conservative leaning on economic issues, and mostly liberal on civil rights issues)

[@nimrodery]

@@peachesandpoets You're accusing socialists of not proposing actionable solutions? 'Alyssa Battistoni tackles the relationship between socialism and environmentalism. The solution to our economic woes is not green jobs; overproduction and overconsumption will remain rampant even if we’re producing solar heaters instead of cars. What’s more, the overconsumption problem is not borne equally throughout society (as we’re often led to believe); rather, it’s predominantly the fault of the wealthy. She quotes Princeton’s Stephen Pacala: “the rich are really spectacular emitters… the top 500 million people (about 8 percent of humanity) emit half the greenhouse emissions.' During the pandemic we met or exceeded our emissions goals. You just don't want to experience solutions, you like the problems.

[@SamuelSEdme]

As a fan of The Great North, you bring up some valid points I never thought about. Not to excuse the aforementioned shortcomings, but I would attribute the superfical libralism due to the show being more of a generally light-hearted situational comedy than a topical or satirical one. I will admit Aunt Dirt's anti-Communism is pretty ironic with historical context. It would be funny if an episode acknowledged that even jokingly, but it's hard for me to imagine The Great North addressing this without looking heavy handed for its overall tone.

[@billybobbobson]

@@nimrodery Tbf how is that a solution to problems regarding emissions? That's just an observation, gesturing towards a problem without any actionable (and realistic) plans for a remedy. So, aren't you doing the same thing? Imo, generally speaking, I feel like leftists love to lecture everybody who's different than them nonstop about what they should or shouldn't be doing even though they as a group haven't even achieved much themselves. They're a circular firing squad that's way too antsy to tear down anybody who doesn't think like them, including liberals and even themselves. Tbh I don't even understand why the (American) left should be taken seriously anymore, seems this generation of it has outlived it's purpose.

[@eddue12345]

im confused. is the bible not about Jewish people?

[@nw1750]

It absolutely is. Using that clip - TOTALLY OUT OF CONTEXT - is cheap and disingenuous.

[@dickbandanaken]

literally everything is offensive because in the real world all things are connected therefore all topics are connected to injustice

[@tenchimuyo69]

One thing I had noticed about standup comics in particular, is that despite being competitors, they tend to stick up for each other more than most I have seen, regardless of if they actually like each other, regardless of if they politically agree with each other, they will form strong bonds with each other over their career and defend it quite strongly. Like the number of comics who stick by Chapelle despite disagreeing with him or the defense of Chris Rock when he got hit on stage (fair enough imo). Or the fact that most comics across the political spectrum will still generally hold a negative opinion of cancel culture. To be honest, I kind of admire this about them in some ways though. I wish more people could do this... though depending on the context.

[@MattEldritchHorror]

From my perspective, that attitude feels reminiscent of cops siding with another cop who's been caught committing an act of police brutality.

[@tenchimuyo69]

@@MattEldritchHorror Sadly... kind of. Uncritical co-operation may not be the way.

[@MaggaraMarine]

​@@MattEldritchHorror No it's not. One is about violence, the other is about (the principle of) free speech. These two things are not comparable. You cannot compare police brutality to comedy (no matter how much you disagree with the joke) - that's just dumb. It would only be comparable if they defended one another over doing questionable stuff like sexual harassment. But in this case, the defense has to do with free speech. Most comedians understand the importance of free speech, because comedians tend to say controversial stuff that almost necessarily upsets someone. Tenacious D were recently cancelled because of a joke they made about the Trump assassination attempt (they had to cancel their tour, and actually at the moment it isn't certain whether they will ever perform again). It's not like cancel culture is only a thing on one side. And this is why it is a great thing that comedians are willing to defend one another regardless of their political views. Cancel culture exists everywhere, so we need people on all sides to speak out against it, regardless of our political differences. It is one thing to criticize a joke made in bad taste. (I think the joke Tenacious D made about Trump was pretty tasteless, even though I think Trump is an idiot, and it's totally fair to criticize them for making that joke.) It's another thing to try to destroy a comedian's career because their joke was offensive.

[@ARMADILLOARMADILLO]

I'm a subscriber since the eyeball zone shout out and it has been so great to watch your channel grow, and this is perhaps your best video yet

[@kimberlygaray7860]

Gotta say I live the illustrations in this video great work 👏

[@analago3101]

Hiiii!!! ❤ I love your watching videos and feeling smarter

[@lizb7271]

The sad thing about Ricky Gervais is that his anti-trans jokes can be dunked on by the same James Acaster bit from half a decade ago.

[@MISSMADISONMEDIA]

5:50 When I was a teen, I used to laugh at Borat, not because it was funny, but because I thought I was supposed to. It was a meme (tbh I don't find most of the cult classics of the 2000s funny at all, with the exception of Napoleon Dynamite and some of the Scary Movie series)... But anyway, I met a guy in my math class freshman year of high school, and he told me that he is from Kazakhstan. I said, "like Borat!". He didn't laugh or even crack a smile. Immediately knew I was the asshole. It was at that exact moment that I decided to stand in my truth that these movies actually suck and are harmful to innocent people. I knew it all along, but tried to fit in. Such a lame, embarrassing memory on my part

[@shadowpriest3359]

This whole video just screams that you don't know what the definition of Liberal is lol. Nobody's going to listen to your arguments if you strawman what the other side thinks instead of presenting actual points.

[@klpthefinest]

Louis CK is of Jewish decent, how was the joke antisemitic? The clip you showed was an accurate joke..

[@sartolo]

It is confusing because he has talked about his Jewish side of the family a lot (They were catholic converts to fit Mexican values but still that follows you) But even if you don't know that people in the US clock him as Jewish right away, which is the confusing part.

[@sartolo]

I like this channel really I do but it seems like gong by the references that the only new formed thought out of all the literature cited was the Louis CK stuff

[@klpthefinest]

@@sartolo she either didn't do her research or purposely was gaslighting to fit her "narrative".. really sickening, misleading, and manipulative; especially because the joke is true and it wasn't mean or in malice. And if the nit picking bar is that low of a level.. then she should be sourcing a lot more comedians on the right on antisemitism.. and many other subjects: homophobia, racism, vegan/vegetarians, body shaming, Islamophobia, Asian hate, list goes on.. Jeff Dunham, Tony Hinchcliff, Brendan Schaub, Adam Corolla, Steven Crowder soon so forth. Calling out both sides doesn't fit her propaganda

[@Dinkster69]

I hate the "Gotta get that bag" line of thinking because it leads (in my mind) to this sort of thing. When you start out it makes sense, you gotta make rent. When you become more successful, however, you have the privilege to choose what products and stances you introduce to your audience. That is a huge amount of power to hold over people, but if all you care about is "getting that bag" you pick whatever is easier.

[@squattycoati931]

Liberals are definitely not leftist

[@spaceygemini]

i'm 20 so sacha baron cohen's heyday was long over by the time i found out who he was, but i always vaguely knew that his whole shtick was imitating central asian people, and i assumed that he was doing the 2010s asian comedian thing of mocking thejr parents' accents to get a laugh out of white people. but then i found out he's a WHITE BRITISH MAN and i was like ???? ok so this is just racism

[@TexanFord]

He has made multiple British related movies It's dark humor nothing serious

[@OscarOSullivan]

Granted he is Jewish so I don’t think the likes of the EDL very much like him.

[@vlo4829]

You can't say that you don't believe that Progressive Comedy needs to be "Oppression Olympics" while also claiming that every joke is something that the comedian needs to "take accountability for" and that jokes shouldn't be told about anything that doesn't relate to you. Of course that means that you need to compete in the "Oppression Olympics" in order to have the freedom to tell jokes. Progressives are always looking to attack people and knock them down (they say "hold them accoutable" to feel better about being monsters), so it's only a matter of time for any "Progressive" comedian to try and find an audience that just wants a laugh. It doesn't have to be "conservative", but it can't be Progressives. Progressives are toxic.

[@goopygonch]

i honestly had no idea who is cohen guy was until he started speaking and hearing his accent just makes so much more sense

[@young__blacksmith]

Everybody progressive till its inconvenient

[@VultureSkins]

So the conclusion is “we cannot and should not become apathetic,” and I agree, but how do we do that? The conclusion isn’t really actionable (not that it always needs to be)

[@elena_1776]

It's like they'd do anything before just admitting they were wrong about something. Like they'd rather go hard in the other direction than even consider the possibility that they could've been wrong about something.

[@MaxIronsThird]

Leftist comedians becoming republicans is not a thing, maybe you're just becoming more leftist. That's just my opinion though.

[@kiernanbauman]

I think this video gets the vast majority right, but I feel there's a bit of a conflation of "liberalism" with "leftism" (another poorly defined term). You often say these comedians are "supposedly liberal" or "acting liberal", I disagree, this is the essence of liberalism. They are perfectly liberal. Why? Because they do not critique capitalism as being a fundamentally flawed system, being the material basis for the vast majority of social/economic/etc ills, and while they might have harsh critiques of capitalism, they ultimately have no class understanding of material reality, and thus cannot accept any alternative to it. They may ape progressive sounding language, but ultimately they see no possibility beyond it. Thus, they are liberals. Those who do analyze material reality in terms of classes, who see capitalism as the root of the vast majority of issues in the world, who understand the only just world is one in which those who produce the world's wealth also manage and control it, are the socialists (or if we're being honest, the communists). So we can conclude that anyone who claims to support progressive struggles but who supports capitalism is a liberal, and thus, the enemy of progress.

[@Kyle-g5u]

My problem with humor these days is that i dont find it funny to make fun of other people anymore, but where do we go, its hard to find humor in someone tripping over a banana peel, or Chaplin, or the stooges, or even someone smashing a watermelon on a piano......i dont know what's gonna tickle my funny bone next, but im ready for it

[@joshthefunkdoc]

Gen Z's main answer to this question thus far appears to be absurdist stories from their daily lives, meta-irony, and acting really stupid (even when they aren't). i get a lot of clips from live streams on my feed where i'll see stuff like, say, a young woman telling her male audience not to pee outside in freezing weather because the pee will get frozen right away and stick to them. That stuff can hit for me, idk

[@Kyle-g5u]

​@@joshthefunkdocI can rewatch those please don't destroy videos every now and again, yeah I guess people being silly can always be funny to some

[@1mclv]

33:40 "without acknowledging that a few bad apples spoil the bunch", can this be said about any group? or just cops?

[@alexandergowriluk1687]

Susan Sarandon with an Apu patch sums up a lot of this video.

[@Keirnoth]

Have you ever thought, Cheyenne, that you might be in your own little echo chamber as well? Think really hard about that.

[@hbeachley]

C.K. Broke my heart, too.

[@anthonymock9717]

Weird idea. It kind of seems like comedians move more right after they do something wrong and get called out or caught for it. There's also a laundry list of conservative pundits who are failed actrs and screenwriters.

[@ishuboshi]

oh man this'll be good. I didn't even know some of these people went down the pipeline

[@deenoekuekinjuhuujahaa1804]

Thank you for the video! I really liked the art you used to illustrate the points made in your video a lot!

[@Yupthatsme_7D]

Another great video! Thank you so much for ALL of your work!

[@EM_vi_ix]

Rudy Giuliani was great in Borat 2 though.

[@thetoxicfanbase4756]

Thank you, this video is really good and informative!

[@EzaneeGires]

Some of my fav podcasts are from west coast comedians (not youtube i mean like traditional audio). I always feel bad when i see what their political leanings are

[@gooeydude574]

Now I have another reason to hate Amy Schumer

[@GhostIntoTheFog]

I’ll give you yet another reason. She’s wildly ableist (just the latest example being how she hired Michael Cera to play her Autistic husband on “Life & Beth,” despite the fact that he’s never identified as Autistic).

[@SHRBJHD]

After the JC video, I wondered if my subscription to your content delivery system would be a mistake. Nope.

[@merelymayhem]

didn't have the stomach to watch this when it came out great work as usual

[@mehlover]

As much as I loved 30 Rock, when you watch it back, some of the morals or takeaways of the episode are very neoliberal or conservative, too. Love your work and take on this!

[@briancason6579]

So is no one really going to talk about how the phrase is “self-depreCATing not “self-depreCIATing”? Also, if that’s the harshest criticism anyone can come up with for the video, I’d say that’s some pretty solid content.

[@milkflavored]

I'm over celebrities and comedians. I miss empathy.

[@xs10shul]

Thanks for this Cheyenne. Comedy aside, almost no one gets the political candidates they prefer. I haven't been able to vote for my preferred candidate for U.S. President since I was able to vote. However, I still vote for the candidate that is more likely to do what I like and less likely to do what I don't like. You don't get more progressive candidates by letting Donald Trump or his ilk win. You defeat Trump, and then keep fighting. You keep fighting by winning 20% of what you want instead of 0%.

[@ROBYNMARKOW]

True; Cheyenne doesn't live here so unfortunately, she doesn't have to deal w/ what a quandary this country is in. She's intelligent & definitely has a right to speak her mind, but ultimately ,even if she votes by absentee ballot,she's still on the outside looking in...

[@kaasmeester5903]

@@ROBYNMARKOW Pretty much everyone in the world has an interest in who wins the US presidency, one way or another. I'm not an American but I'm still very much interested in what is going on. And yeah, neither candidate stands out as particularly strong or capable. My only advice would be: at least don't vote for the candidate who puts US democracy itself in jeopardy. Better pick "harmless and boring" over "dangerous and unpredictable"

[@GhostIntoTheFog]

@xs10shul So, as a Jewish American, I should vote for the man who goes on TV and says he’s helping Netanyahu and the IDF commit genocide to make me safe? There is absolutely nothing you could say to motivate me to vote for Biden. Nothing.

[@GhostIntoTheFog]

@kaasmeester5903 Ask those running for their lives in Gaza if they see Biden as “harmless and boring.”

[@lexp6099]

@@GhostIntoTheFog I don't like Biden either, but what do you think happens if 45 is president again? Will it be easier to organize and protest? Will our government stop supporting the genocide? Will it be easier to support Palestine? We can't help if we're dead, too.

[@slivovitz1683]

I think I see the disconnect here. The reason people find Borat funny is they have a sense of humor and they don't filter what they see through an external checklist to determine if it contains political faux pas. Humor is visceral, but some people never really laugh, they choose to laugh. When you genuinely laugh at something funny you don't stop to think "they're on our side" or "do my friends think this is funny." The bigger issue is how shitty a lot of this comedy is. "Liberal comedy" should be less concerned with punching up or down or sideways or whatever politics and more concerned with the fundamentals of comedy. Constant referential "sooo that's a thing" bs is ruining comedy. You know what SNL sketch was great? Chris Farley flipping out over being lied to about his coffee actually being coffee crystals. I'd love to hear an explanation of how that's punching up or making some sort of statement

[@kimifw58]

20:49 I've heard Sri Lankans defending that accent because it's accurate to how they speak, at least when it's coming out of King Julien.

[@eduardoestebanmartinezdele2219]

One thing we should all take into account is that, if a given "progressive" limits their advocacy to JUST their own struggles (like Schumer and her feminist and anti-anti-semitism(?) commentaries), well, they aren't really that progressive. Like, certainly, everyone needs to put effort into learning the theory of their liberatory struggle (feminism, anti-racism, anti-ableism...), but it's just more natural to do that when it's your own struggle, and if you don't put even MORE effort into learning the theory of others' struggle, you're still going to be sexist/racist/ableist... And more often than not, these people are shallow, and will practically align end up aligning with the right. If we want to end oppression, we need to unite as a class, and the only way to do that is to destroy these divisions by self-criticizing ourselves and rooting out our own sexism, racism, ableism... And people like Schumer won't do that. I don't hold in high standard the feminism of these kind of people.

[@Bruinschuss]

Years ago, when I was in Romania and traveled through the village where Borat was shot. It is a Gypsy village which was significantly more impoverished than the surrounding areas likely for socio/ethnic discrimination. Which is to say, it was targeted for ridicule because of the impoverishment, and used to depict the Kazakh culture which it little resembles. I have to say, I've lived for nearly a decade in Eastern Europe as an American because of family connections through marriage. It almost goes without saying that the average Balkan (I know Romania isn't Balkan but bear with me) etc is far more educated and culturally sensitive than the average American. People in this part of the world are commonly literate, nuanced, and very very real in terms of world politics and their disadvantages. Obviously this opinion doesn't apply to the whole but man. The arrogance and xenophobic portrayal in Borat is truly offensive. It makes me offended for Eastern Europeans and it makes me offended for Kazakhs whose own actual ethnicity is erased because it's all the same right? Over There.

[@Bruinschuss]

Just a hard example, because I get frustrated with this stuff. I've been studying Serbian for years now to improve myself. I work out of an old language textbook with my instructor and one of the example texts was about how well educated a Libyan woman was, and her various interests. It didn't make a point about it to be "inclusive." It was just an account as a given from a cosmopolitan worldview and culture. F Borat.

[@TexanFord]

Borat is about making fun of the USA not Romania or Kazakhstan

[@edsand9498]

i honestly got so annoyed at first bc i saw 'why liberal comedy falls flat' and (as an american) thought you were right wing bc america likes to use liberal and leftist interchangeably. but you're talking about the actual liberals

[@AlexaSmith]

ur videos always connect so many dots for me

[@Anon26535]

Comedy is inherently hierarchical. For there to be a joke someone has to be the butt of it. There's no getting away from it.

[@Ravenmcbain]

Commenting to hopefully boost this video

[@spiritsfollow4976]

3:13 HARD AGREE.

[@aaronkassie3997]

Idk if Louis should be here if Liberal comedy falls flat as he’s still regarded by comics as one of the best and people who make video essays about Louis always addresses the fact that they were fans and thought his comedy was funny. I think he belongs in a different realm to criticize because I don’t think his political ideals have changed since and he was progressive, I think one of the only few who were progressive for that time period. I think the Snl joke was one of the worst jokes not because of the racial constructs of the joke ( I’m black I know what it feels like to be always the but of a bad racist joke) but of how boring it was. I think people need to do a better job when criticizing him. I think bill burr might fit in better with the title of this video and with the choices of the comedians chose.

[@Leftismforever69]

This video was amazing full stop 🙃

[@alexandramaclachlan7597]

Always enjoy your uploads, and this is especially well made. Appreciate your thoughts, and how you articulated them. You're a greater writer Cheyenne :)

[@sarahmichellegellarseviltwin]

you clocked them so bad

[@jonathansimis661]

As someone on the other side who genuinely found a lot of this video insightful, it seems to me like the reason boils down to this: there are far too many taboo subjects on the left and even 1 slip up puts you on the outs. On the right there are far fewer taboo subjects and they're far more excusable. The left seems to be driving these people right because the position as a left leaning comedian is so untenable. Why would you pander to a group that will turn on you at the drop of a hat? Dave Chappelle is a prime example, he's pretty liberal in most things he says and conservatives still find humor in it. He is conservative in just 1 thing and all the liberals turn it off.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Thank goodness for Sam Seder + pals.

[@Waterlogged_Ricefield]

We need this video to reach more peoples

[@pennylane1093]

Liberalism is a conservative ideology. Therefore, liberal comedy is inherently going to uphold the status quo...

[@Paul-nn9oj]

"I used t wear my heart o my sleave, but i grew out of it." is true advice i was given in my younger years.

[@RhiannonSenpai]

7:31 You forgot to mention the Roma/Gitanos minority (can't use the other G word in English on yt) and the discrimination us Eastern European Romanians felt after Borat. Sacha Baron Cohen didn't only offend Muslims and Central Asians/Kazah people but also the Roma minority and the Romanians. Cohen mixed a mishmash of cultures, no wonder people don't take a few seconds to Google that the Roma/Gitanos are originally not from Eastern Europe but from India, from the lowest Hindu caste, the Dalits. They have been migrating to Europe to escape conquest from Mohammed followers in Northern India. Even if the Gitanos spread to all of Europe, only Romania and Bulgaria are singled out as being countries where the Roma came from, even if the Roma who didn't genetically mixed with Europeans maintained their Indian brown phenotype and don't look like Eastern Europeans (Romanians and Bulgarians). Romania is called after the ancient Romans conquered ancient Dacia (now Romania), it's not called after the Roma people. But people like Sacha Baron Cohen like to muddy the waters. It's appalling how European Romanians are treated by other Europeans, both in Europe and in America, thinking we are Indian Gitanos and not fellow Europeans. People like Sacha Baron Cohen helped to stoke the fire of hate against us Romanians but you never once mentioned it in your video.

[@TheLyricsAnalyst]

It’s a satire. The whole point of the film is that he’s not showing the real Kazakhstan- he’s making it so unbelievable and silly to make fun of how countries like Kazakhstan aren’t acknowledged by the west. The whole movie is making fun of the ignorance of Americans.

[@TexanFord]

I'm muslim and found him very funny It's comedy

[@gadgettop23]

really good breakdown, I enjoyed hearing your thoughts!

[@ErutaniaRose]

It's really obvious to see that Liberals are still conservative in a lot of ways--they are closer together than Leftists to Liberals. And leftists see that, but a lot of liberals don't and think it's "woke" to just not like the overtly fascist things while ignoring all the steps that come before that. An example? Saying slavery is/was wrong...but not understanding any racial micro aggressions or systemic racism, or more subtle forms of racism. Unless the bigotry is right in their face without trying to hide anything, they don't get it. That's why they can think, Genocide is bad while also parroting zionist lies and claiming what is going on is not a genocide. It just feels like liberals don't use critical thinking, or only care when it makes them look good. They fear being called out or seen as bad so much that instead of doing the hard internal work to get better they would rather take twenty-thousand steps backwards. It's frustrating. Edit: In terms of the steps before that, I mean not taking things like, as we see today, disabled, trans, indigenous, black people (and frankly any other minority) are all treated--and not doing anything or saying anything until there are actual fascist movements that lead to higher rates of violence, denying covid and covid safety, and police brutality. Not saying or doing anything until it's already too late and at our doorstep--and even then for many, still not doing anything because "things will work out". Not to mention liberals caring for only a short time--like how they all forget that covid is still a problem and disabled people are still treated like shit. Like they don't care how "back to normal" for them means "back to major obstacles and more oppression" for others. Like how they somehow think policing isn't a systemic problem it's just some "bad apples". Just infuriating tbh.

[@alenbacco7613]

It's strange that people think that Kazakhstan is in the Middle East. They were part of the soviet union. That's where their space agency was. Russia still lunches from there.

[@gazpod2223]

All Eyes On Rafah 🇵🇸

[@360shadowmoon]

Sacha Baron Cohen/Borat, Louis CK, and Amy Shumer always annoyed me and now I feel vindicated.

[@alexandredesouza3692]

This is just purity politics, honestly. I mean, one of the first critiques of SBC is against him criticizing conservatives for being bigoted instead of liberals for being hypocrites. It's so telling that you think that openly bigoted right wingers are less deserving of criticism and ridicule than sometimes hypocritical and problematic liberals and centrists.

[@stylishrodent]

Spot on as usual!

[@itsROMPERS...]

Tell us you don't understand parody without saying you don't understand...

[@TheXavier20000]

The funniest part about Borat is the Kazakhs are Asian not Arab

[@cpussandfudgy]

The least funny generation in history lecturing to the rest of us about comedy.

[@pinksnake8001]

I agree with you 100%. But also, Borat is one of the funniest movies ever made.

[@ubermut1379]

Usually, I really like your content and with your description on liberals who turn to the right wing, you are definitely describing something very true. But, even while horrible things are happening in Gaza - You can’t compare industrialized killing in gas chambers of political activists, gay and trans people, Romani and sinti people and Jewish people and their forced labour and imprisonment in concentration camps to what is happening in Gaza. If you want to describe a genocide, say genocide. But not second holocaust. This isn’t meant to downplay the huge scale of suffering in Gaza right now. But there are different kinds of genocide (I’m not saying that there is some kind of scale of human suffering which puts certain kinds of suffering above others) and you can’t use holocaust and genocide as synonyms.

[@cam9913]

They literally made a concentration camp for Palestinians. What the fuck are you on.

[@tylerd.5694]

This is a pretty poorly written video. I hope that you can become a more resilient, wiser, person.

[@davidbouchard8963]

I fell out of love with comedians after October 7th. I mean, I do love humor and laughing and all that, but… Too many comics that I adored just came out as horrible people.

[@odynobodie]

Thank you 🙏

[@kinolibby6580]

Baron Cohen started his career on British television with a character called Ali-G. Ali-G embodied all the negative racial stereotypes of a young black man you can imagine, Cohen only just stopped short of blacking up. The character wasn't actually meant to be black but a white youth who was a bit delusional. His nane was Ali because Baron Cohen wanted something which sounds a bit Muslim but has the plausible deniability of being short Alister. So Baron Cohen as Ali-G interviewed various right wing political figures in the U.K who were polite to him at the start but become progressively more annoyed as Baron Cohen says more and more stupid things until they snap at which point he would say his catchphrase 'is it cos I is black?' It's shitty for a lot of reasons but the main one for me is taking the piss out of people's better instincts, like being polite to a stranger and taking what they say about their own ethnicity at face value. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of legitimate criticisms of these people but making fun of someone for being polite isn't going to help them do better.

[@crystallynne2663]

SOMEBODY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND SATIRE

[@miladeseitan]

SOMEBODY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ANALYSIS .