I Know I'm Not Supposed to Laugh...

But I can't help it!



Introducing, Carlos Mencia...



I love to laugh, and I love stand-up comedy. I also come from a family of irreverent people, where we laugh at everything, from bad fashion sense to pizza sauce made from ketchup. In my stay in Purdue, I have come across many different stand up comedians; Carlos Mencia is only one, but I found myself laughing at his spiels. The problem is: nearly every single routine that he has will focus on the misdemeanors of a race, or the stereotypes of it. Perhaps the good thing about Mencia is that he does not single out any one race, and goes from Mexicans, to Whites, to African-Americans, and to Asians, without putting anyone on a pedestal or completely dissing any one race. The Mexicans in his routines are often clumsy and silly, high on testosterone and often coping with their lives as illegal immigrants. The Whites are racist, but do not have a sense of their own culture. African-Americans can do crazy things and can dance well and sing well, but not have a stable job. Asians will be smart, but will often be impractical. Even mentally challenged children find their way into his routines, and surprisingly, he performed these routines at a hospital for mentally challenged or retarded children. In his opinion, Mencia says, if you can't tell a joke in front of the people that the joke pokes fun at, then you don't have the right to tell the joke at all.



It is perhaps this aspect of Mencia that is his saving grace, despite the fact that he focuses on racial stereotypes. He has the courage to speak out about his observations - White people will go after wild animals on TV, but will never go to Oakland because of African Americans? - and to poke fun at people of different ethnicities in front of those people. When I first saw him on TV, it disturbed me that I was laughing so hard. Was I racist? Was I agreeing with his claims? I was even laughing at his jokes about Filipinos. Did that make me unpatriotic? As I kept on listening, however, and watching his show, I realized that he was speaking in front of a diverse audience, and introducing them to the strange things that made up their individual races. He wasn't afraid to make a joke - I wasn't afraid to laugh. It seemed that I wasn't afraid to lighten up.




In a multicultural world, we can do the right thing in accepting differences and celebrating them - but we can also go overboard in thinking that anything that we say can be taken against us, and that we must constantly tread on eggshells every time we open our mouths. Sometimes, we can take things all too seriously and lose the chance to not only have a good laugh, but let go of the tension that we feel inside as well. In watching Mencia, I realized that I was looking at an act: true, he said a lot of things that would appear offensive to some races, and I know that by the power of mass media, he can shut up if told to do so - and people can stop listening to him or watching him if they choose to. I realized that I am not racist - I had the courage to laugh and lighten up, and to know when things were said in jest. In fact, I learned something from watching Mencia: we cannot be race or color blind, and we all have our own idiosyncrasies, as related to race. If we all can learn to laugh at these idiosyncrasies, then perhaps we have yet another commonality to celebrate.



Of course, I don't like all the cursing - but I welcome an hour of lightening up all the same. In fact, Mencia might have taught me one of two things. First, I may be racist, and the laughing is actually a sign that my subconscious is calling out for help. Or second, he might be revealing just how racist America really is - and how people just won't admit it.