December 15, 2006
Far be it from me to come to the defense of Rosie O'Donnell but this latest round of acquiescence to the politically correct crowd borders on the ridiculous. On a recent edition of “The View” Rosie made reference to the diminutive Danny DeVito's drunken appearance on the show. She predicted it would make international news. “You know, you can imagine,” she said, “in China it's like, ‘ching chong, ching chong chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong chong chong, drunk, The View, ching chong'”
She may as well have called Barbra Streisand a harlot. The lefties went nuts. The Asian American Journalists Association (who even knew there was such a thing) demanded an apology, among others. After a couple of days of hemming and hawing, they got it. “I'm sorry for those people who felt hurt,” Rosie finally said. She said she sympathized with Asian Americans who were teased for their ancestral language while growing up.
That wasn't good enough for some in the Asian community . “She's sorry Asians are so sensitive and actually complaining instead of sitting, smiling and nodding because we don't understand or don't want to cause waves,” said one who claimed offense. Well, Rosie has helped make this politically correct soup. Now she has to drink a cup. Since she's been hogtied by her own politics, I'll say it for her.
Yes, these Asians who complained are too sensitive. What Rosie was demonstrating in a humorous way was what Chinese sounds like to us. I'm sure English sounds like “blah, blah, blah” to the Chinese. Is there anything wrong with that? No! Is there anything wrong with someone doing a French accent or a German accent? Of course not. At least, not yet. It's only a matter of time before Inspector Clouseau is taboo.
I'm going to say something else that may cause a gasp in PC community. Stereotypical humor is funny! There, I've said it. You know it and I know it but they don't want to acknowledge it. I'm not talking about cruel or demeaning humor directed at any race or ethnic group. I'm talking about stereotypes that are exaggerated for the sole purpose of making you laugh. For instance, what's the difference between and Baptist and a Methodist? Methodists speak to each other in the liquor store. I'm Baptist and my wife is Methodist so I can say that. But it's funny, no matter who you are. Why? Because there's some stereotypical truth to it. That's why Jewish jokes are funny. That's why Southern jokes are funny. They're funny because we can all relate.
Oh, but we're exploiting people for the sake of comedy. Please. Rosie's joke didn't exploit anyone. If you're Chinese you probably didn't understand her. If you're not Chinese you related. Therein lies the humor. The fact that we all related made us chuckle.
Don Rickles was a master at stereotypical humor. He made fun of everyone, including himself. His acerbic rants rank up there with some of the funniest moments in television history yet Rickles and his humor have been relegated to the ash heap of comedic history.
I caught a re-run of All In The Family recently and was almost shocked by the humor on that program. It really made me mad. Not at Norman Lear or Carroll O'Conner but at the politically correct crowd that has attempted, and to a large degree has succeeded in controlling our language. We've allowed that to happen.
To those offended by Rosie O'Donnell's comments, lighten up. Or, if you're the Asian American Journalists Association, righten up. And let's all learn to laugh again.