Comedian Jerry Seinfeld made Internet waves recently with an observation regarding comedians and colleges, wherein he observed that college kids today are too politically correct, too attached to making declarations they don’t fully understand, and that many comics say “don’t perform at colleges” as a result. Certainly, Seinfeld’s someone who has established that he knows comedy, and as certainly, such an observation, even from one as established as Seinfeld, is expected to draw outrage, offense and rebuttal.
Self-described “student and Huffington Post campus editor-at-large” Anthony Berteaux offered a smugly self-important rebuttal. In his open letter, he deigned to acknowledge Seinfeld’s observation, but dismissed it by demonstrating that it is possible to be provocative, sexist, racist, etc while putting forth a good, proper, and (most importantly) correct message. He cites comedian Amy Schumer’s telling rape jokes while delivering the message that a rape culture exists in high school football, comedian Louis C.K. telling jokes about how he loves being white while delivering the message of white male privilege, gives a generalized nod to George Carlin because he was usually offending the right people, and paraphrased a message by another comic who asserted that comics who shy away from offensive humor don’t have the guts to use humor to advance social messages.
Commenters jumped all over this, of course. The article proves Seinfeld correct, in that the student asserts veto power over comics’ material. Berteaux goes further by offering a “we will call out” rather than a “I shall comment,” implying not only that he speaks for the student population at large but that the student population at large is homogeneous in its views. In doing so, Berteaux asserts that his opinion matters enough to serve as a content mandate. Berteaux says he wants provocation, but the only provocation he wants is that which validates his beliefs. Getting on a stage in a San Francisco comedy club and telling jokes mocking George W. Bush isn’t likely to provoke or offend many, and telling jokes that pick on safe targets (white male privilege) or validate liberal memes (high school football rape culture) is provocative only in the sense that it allows the perpetually aggrieved to feign outrage while nodding at the validating subtext. In other words, Berteaux doesn’t actually want to be provoked.
What he really wants is to censor, to lay out rules and restrictions on what he’ll have to endure by (a) deigning to allow a comedian on campus and (b) deigning to attend the comedian’s performance. He doesn’t seem to consider the possibility that others might have different comedic tastes than he does, or that provocative comedy that sends a message other than one he deems proper serves a vital purpose in a society that values liberty and the free exchange of ideas, or that dirty jokes don’t need to carry a social message to be funny. John Valby, a comic that goes by the moniker Dr. Dirty, plays a piano and sings incredibly vulgar rewrites of popular songs. Virtually all his material is vulgar, some is incredibly offensive, and no one looks for social commentary in his song lyrics. Nevertheless, he draws howls of laughter from his audience. If people like Mr. Berteaux do not approve, however, we might presume that they’d petition their schools to disallow Valby performing on their campuses. Since they don’t like that humor, no one else is allowed to enjoy it.
The comments posted under Berteaux’s column make some keen observations. These include the fact that he mentions only white comics as examples, and didn’t respond to Chris Rock making a very similar observation months earlier. Many state that Berteaux clearly proved Seinfeld correct even as he was trying to show him wrong, and one commenter noted that the taking of offense for many of these students is about the public demonstration of taking offense. In other words, look at me, see me being offended, and know that I’m of a “correct” mindset.” Preening narcissism, self importance and peer-group validation – traits also demonstrated in his statements about their “job as learners” and their “duty to be actively engaged and educated about issues of sexism, racism and prejudice.” How burdensome, how wearying it must be to be “on duty” at all times, even while watching a comedian perform!
I’ve listened to many comedians discuss their craft on the radio and on podcasts. A common thread in discussion of crowd reactions is a disdain for audience members who make noises that are not laughter or laughter-related. In any given comedy performance, it’s likely that someone will either not find something funny or find something offensive. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s everything wrong with expressing either of those responses to the rest of the audience. The people in the club are there to see the comedian, not to receive critical commentary from an audience member. The latter is an unjustified display of entitlement and the demonstration of a belief that one’s role as an audience member is participatory rather than merely spectating.
Mr. Berteaux has the right to seek out entertainment that pleases him, and to that end there is no shortage of comics who will toe the line of political correctness, who will offend the proper targets, and whose material will contain the proper social contexts and admonitions. However, his expectation that all comedians who play at colleges denies that right to others. In a nation whose origin includes the words “all men are created equal,” Mr. Berteaux’s open letter carries an implication that some are more equal than others. Perhaps Mr. Berteaux needs to read some Orwell.
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First to comment. 😉 Please don’t mark this one s – p – a – m !