Class: It's Not a Laughing Matter

As mentioned in class, it is common for our society to use humor to cover up the severity of an issue. We see the media doing this by creating “ghetto sitcoms”. These shows take low class citizens and all their troubles and present it to us as a half hour long of comedy. Some sitcoms that use this exact strategy were the Beverly Hillbillies and Blue Collar TV as mentioned in the video. For my student activity I analyzed an episode of Chelsea Lately. I noticed many jokes about class related stereotypes. Not only do the guests on the show constantly make these types of jokes but they go as far as using Chelsea’s sidekick Chuy, a Mexican midget, strictly for our entertainment. The few times throughout an episode that the cast actually interacts with Chuy it can nearly be promised he will respond with some off the wall remark. His random poorly constructed comments gives the viewer the impression people of his height and race are uneducated and scatter brained. This idea of humor covering up these class issues is represented each and every day in our media whether it’s in a magazine article, TV, or movie. There comes a point when we should ask ourselves if all this laughing is really accomplishing anything for our society. It’s time we consider getting our comic relief elsewhere and focus on changing these not so funny social issues.

The class video raises another question of blame. The media is always being told they are the ones to blame for portraying minorities as the working class. If we take a look at statistics they prove the media does not deserve this blame. In the video it stated in 2000 70% of inmates were non-whites. When statistics are this high is it fair for us to blame the media for continuously using minorities characters as criminals on TV, or is it important to look at the facts before pointing the finger in the wrong direction? One professor mentioned in the video it is time for people to own up to their responsibilities including the crimes they commit. The expert even went on to say "black poor are poor because of their own behavior." I must agree, if one wants their culture to be portrayed differently they need to make the change. Change starts with you, and if a culture came together and agreed to work towards making a change there is no doubt these statistics would be much lower.