Bad Jokes & Ebonics

[Henry M]

To the extent that Major Marvy is a lampoon, b/2 works for me just
fine. No, it's not a hearty laugh, but Marvy is a cartoon villain. I
believe that a b/2 reaction is THE AUTHOR'S INTENT,  and so do not
brand P a racist for having a negative racist character behave in a
racist fashion. Seems like a win/win situation to me.

> Date:          Wed, 19 Feb 1997 12:53:25 -0500 (EST)
> From:          Joe Varo <vjvaro at erie.net>
> On Wed, 19 Feb 1997, Henry M wrote:
> 
> > A test: When Major Marvy says "Ooga-booga," do you
> > a. laugh with him
> > b. laugh at him
> > c. both of the above
> > d. none of the above
> 
> I guess this is a test to determine if one is racist or not. 
> Personally, I think it's a trick question:
> 
> 1) If you answer "a. laugh with him" then you're pretty obviously a
>    racist.
> 
> 2) If you answer "b. laugh at him" then you might still possibly be
> a
>    racist, due to the fact that you're laughing at all. Perhaps
>    you're a "closet" racist, the sort who stereotypicly says, "Some
>    of my best friends are <insert ethnicity of choice>."
> 
> 3) If you answer "c. both of the above" then you're a racist (since
> "a" is
>    implied) who, for some reason, also finds Marvy to be a pathetic
>    character.  Anyone who chooses "c" is probably pretty confused.
> 
> 4) If you answer "d. none of the above", you've chosen the "safe"
> answer,
>    showing that you find Marvy so disgusting that you can't laugh at
>    all. This choice may also show you to be a humorless boob.
> 
> It seems to be a no-win situation.  Maybe this was Henry's point.
> 
> Joe

AsB4
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