General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: No Tina Fey, you weren't "funny" [View all]JCanete
(5,272 posts)does. it is supposed to tell the truth. I think Tina Fay's skit does just that. Her skit lampoons that couch sitting white liberal who isn't actually out there marching with protesters or putting energy into a cause when people of color are literally dying. I am certainly guilty of that myself. For some people, like me, that might have stung, and should, because it hits close to home. It should make us reconsider our privileged ability to sit at home without direct consequence.
Granted, it has the other effect of making people feel like they are not alone in their underwhelming activism, and that might undercut some people's shame for not doing something. One thing is certain though, this generates a conversation about what we think is acceptable behavior of ourselves, particularly once we know the stakes, and I don't think anybody misconstrues the skit as suggesting that somehow sitting on your ass and eating cake is helpful.
Sometimes the purpose of humor is to cope with reality as well as to lay it bare. If Dave Chapelle does a skit about a KKK member, well those who aren't confused about whether the KKK is a vile hate group can still laugh at the send-up of that ass-backwards shit. Sending up white people who are too insulated to lift a finger is drawing attention to a fact that other people already know about and are frustrated about. Sometimes that can result in a cathartic laugh for people seeing it.
So while I get the concern that Fey might be somehow enabling this behavior, and I do think the skit might have done more to drive the cognitive dissonance home, I still see pointing this out as better than saying nothing. Sometimes people need this stuff to sneak into their personal narratives. It can be how they get disrupted.