Is the rioting in France really that ha-ha funny?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

Jon Stewart does ten minutes on it & now Colbert
follows up. I HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, ALL RIGHT!?!?
but it seems like what's going on over there is terrifying
& horrible & could get worse & could happen here & peels back the
whole rich-poor split & racism & all, doesnt it? Just seems
like with/in the humor there could be SOME recognition of the
gravity of the riots & their underlying etc.

[brokensymmetry]

1. Think whistling past the graveyard.

You're right about the dangerous implications; but people aren't ready to think about all that.

Hey, it couldn't happen here, right? :sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

2. One thing it illuminates-France's Fed. Response is like Jr's--none/delayed

[A-Schwarzenegger]

14. That may be the closest to it.

Just a buncha burning cars, ha ha.

[neebob]

29. I saw the car joke in a teaser while flipping channels last night

and thought, "Damn, that's tacky." Then I flipped on over to Fox News, where some talking head I'd never seen before was going on about the riots and the bottom of the screen read, "Why are Muslims turning against the French government?" I didn't bother listening, but flipped back two or three times just to see if the message was still there, and of course it was. Suddenly Jon Stewart's joke didn't seem so bad.

Edit: Jon, not John.

[Chovexani]

3. Gallows humor

:shrug:

[nine23]

4. It's interesting you'd bring this up.

I'm a little torn/ambivalent about this myself. I appreciate good comedy as much as the next guy, esp. Stewart/Colbert et al., but let's face it. When habitual/generic/garden-variety American French-bashing finds it's way into situations where, for example, the elderly are getting doused with petrol on suburban buses, I just don't see the humour in it. And to be honest...I expected a bit more class from Stewart/Colbert.

I suppose, an analogy would be if EVERY SINGLE French stand-up comic, TV personality, and prime time comedian made fun of - AD NAUSEUM - the tragedy in New Orleans/Gulf Coast over the weeks it unfolded. And TRUST ME on this, it certainly didn't happen...

Let's face it: if the French were as OBSESSED with Yank-bashing as Americans are with French-bashing (and I'm talking on-air/in print media, etc.), they'd have a fucking WEALTH of material to draw on. They just couldn't be bothered. That's not to say Yank-bashing doesn't exist, ie. in bars and on the street, etc. They're just not CONSUMED with it in their media.

To me, it actually speaks volumes about both countries.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

17. You know, I dont watch it very often, but I was just struck by the

idiocy of the humor. I think he's been very funny
when I've seen him before (Stewart I mean, I can't take
a halfhour of Colbert), but this was just, I don't know,
starting in its deliberate gutless ignorance of what's going
on over there & what it means. I guess I expected more from
the guy on a subject like this that begs for ruthless satire
on the reality of the situation, not simpleminded Franceitis.
My bad.

[Kagemusha]

5. We should be thankful the riots haven't hurt more people.

I mean, there's a huge ton of property damage but, not mass slayings. So maybe we can still laugh about it a little.. until the government snaps and sends the army in, perhaps? Who knows.

[TorchTheWitch]

27. Oh sure, laugh it up

Why not when all that property damage and people afraid to leave there homes doesn't hurt anyone, right? How about you have some rioters blow up your car and you stay in the house for fear of getting caught in the crossfire of a molitov cocktail and we'll see how funny you find it then, mmm kay? After all, a ton of property damage and fear that doesn't involve YOU or anyone YOU care about is just fucking hysterical.

Anyone finding the riots in France the least bit AMUSING is one sick damn puppy.

[951-Riverside]

6. Personally I think racism in this case is an excuse not a cause....

These boys and young men are allowed to roam around and do what they will while the french authorities do very little or nothing at all and someone has to make up an excuse for this senseless behavior racism just happens to be the most convenient. Until these "kids" are enslaved,hanged,bitten by dogs,sprayed with hoses,beaten by nightsticks,tazed for not putting away a cellphone,tazered to death,shot in the back multiple times for carring a cell phone,pulled over because of the color of their skin, issued traffic citations when "others" are let off with warnings,sentenced to life while "others" get probation,not allowed to a fair trial,innocently executed,starved for a week after a major hurricane and so on they have no business to complaining about their luxury life in france others have it worst right here in America.

[julianer]

7. Why do you feel

so strongly about something you are, apparently, almost completely ignorant of?

[951-Riverside]

9. Why do you feel...

the need to insult and flame me without good reason?

[Chovexani]

11. Here's a wild guess

Maybe because your post was almost hilariously ignorant of the reality of the situation?

Reading, try it some time, you might just like it.

[countryjake]

10. The displacement of some of these people to France...

and their subsequent treatment afterward, is actually comparable to what has happened in NOLA. The difference is that they were forced to abandon their homes long ago, and their pleas to "FEMA".......... (ie. the French Establishment) still have never been answered.


WHY IS FRANCE BURNING?
The rebellion of a lost generation
November 06, 2005

http://direland.typepad.com/

[A-Schwarzenegger]

15. "their luxury life in france"

Holy shit, pal, what world do you live in.

[Swamp Rat]

8. No. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Question...

With all of the serious topics that JS has covered, why is it this one that draws this post?

Sometimes, I find that the humor falls flat or is not too appropriate, but it is a COMEDY show. I am so puzzled why some here act as if this is a real news show? Yes, it does peel away at the MSM bullshit, but it is still a comedy show; thus, no "hard hitting" question times, no "in-depth" analysis, etc.

What about all the jokes made about Katrina, Rita, Wilma...and other disasters? Are they not as serious?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

13. I rarely watch it.

I'm not acting as if it's a real news show. Did you read my post?
This isn't a hurricane. It isn't an act of God. It's an uprising of the poor in the middle of Europe. Jesus.

[Behind the Aegis]

16. I read your post.

That is why I asked a question rather than accusing you of anything! It isn't a hurricane...what about his jokes about Iraq? That is not a natural disaster, either. The illegal war in Iraq is only an act of G-d if you believe that Shrub talks to Him.

Is it really an uprising of the poor in middle (western) Europe? Or, could it be that it is just an excuse for some to wreak havoc? Goddess!

[A-Schwarzenegger]

18. Well, did you laugh?

Because that's what counts.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. As I said...

...sometimes the humor falls flat. While I didn't find it "roll on the floor" funny, I did find some insight in it. What about u?

On edit: I did laugh at the "French" report.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

20. No, I didn't think that segment was funny at all.

It wasnt just that it was so weirdly ... OFF, to me,
in terms of how really scary it is over there, but
I didnt come close to laughing. That was the genesis of
my post. If I HAD laughed, whether it was off to me or not,
I wouldnt have posted because, well, it would have been funny.
Now I do have a pretty offkilter sense of humor, so ...

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Humor

Humor takes so many forms...dark, funny, even, ironic. I say ironic because I see your user name and wonder...do you think it is "funny" what A. Schwarzenegger is doing to CA? Somehow, I doubt you do. I think you chose the name as a form of irony.

We all have different sensibilities, but what makes us (real liberals and progressives) able to survive is to discuss it...as you and I have. You took my initial post as an "attack." I could have attacked back, but I chose to discuss it, as you have done in the subsequent posts (although, I did use sarcasm in my first response to you).

So, you didn't find it funny. I only really found the "French" reporter (translation) funny. So who is wrong? Maybe we both are wrong; maybe, we are both right; that is the nature of humor.

Off topic...some people find "dead baby" jokes funny, some do not. Are they "funny" jokes or not?

You said you don't often watch either program; therefore, the original post seems to be lop-sided, IMO. You posted about something you have little experience with on a daily basis. It doesn't mean you aren't entitled to your opinion, but perhaps, you don't have the whole story. The Daily Show is a comedy production, but, unfortunately, often has more truth than MSM. The Colbert Report is a satire of right-wing shows. Both shows are forms of humor presented in different ways.

What one person finds funny, another will not. It applies here too...what one finds as a "good" candidate, others will not. Thus, the wheel keeps spinning.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

24. Yes, we cooled down, thanks.

I'm familiar enough with Jon to know I like him &
think much of what he does is funny. I think for me with Stewart,
and with Maher even moreso, is that I want them to come from a
left perspective ALL the time, which they don't, obviously, so
therefore I get myself disappointed by them a-plenty. In this
story, to me, the essence is that a bunch of poor, angry,
disenfranchised, unemployed, oppressed people are doing
lots of damage and it seems to be uncontained so far,
and it's scary, it's alarming, and the root of it, to me, is
socioeconomic, so I want some of that in the humor. You suggest
it's maybe just guys out to do the damage, right? So, then, if
that's right, then mocking those guys (Approx: "Come on, guys,
burning cars wont get you a job, unless it's a job as an arsonist")
is going to come off as funnier than it would if you have my
perspective. And couldnt it happen here, across the nation,
as a result of Repube policies? I dont think he'd joke then.
This is getting very less and less funny. But
anyway, thanks for talking, yeah, I'm glad we didnt go off on
each other. I deleted an escalating post and just asked if you
thought it was funny instead. Peace.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Hmm...

>but it seems like what's going on over there is terrifying
>& horrible

Indeed it is. The French treatment of their immigrant communities is horrible. The response of those communities has been terrifying, but not exactly unexpected.

>& could get worse

Or it could get better. Nobody knows. The rioters don't exactly have a lot of support in their own communities. The primary question is "what happens after the riots end?"

>& could happen here

Highly unlikely. Immigrants are treated far, far better in the US than France, Germany, or the Netherlands.

>& peels back the whole rich-poor split

It's not just about rich and poor. It's about cultural isolation. These people are not just jobless, they are socially and politicall unempowered. That is the primary difference between immigrant communities in France and the US. Hell, the average middle-class white French are less empowered than the average middle-class white American.

>& racism

I think it's difficult for people from the US to truly understand this situation. I see everyone attempting to view this situation through the lens of the situation in the US. It is NOT the same. France imposes a level of cultural oppression on their minority communities that simply does not exist in the US. Again, it's not the racism or the joblessness - it's the system and the culture which engenders the racism and joblessness.

I'm not going to comment on the JS bits because I don't live in the US and therefore don't have access to all of his material.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. cultural isolation

Is this a self-imposed or governmental cultural isolation? If the latter, how do you know this? Is it the same in the UK?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

28. It is imposed by the government and the culture-at-large.

It is imposed by the government because the government choses to ghettoize immigrant communities by concentrating support resources in poor, isolated locations and making it extremely difficult to get out of the poor suburbs. It is imposed by French society at large because France is one of the most racist societies in Western Europe.

It's not exactly the same in the UK, because the UK model for immigrants is closer to the US model (i.e. multiculturalism) When immigrants come to France, they are expected to completely ignore their former culture and adapt culturally to France. It is a much higher demand than the US, which essentially lets you do whatever you want as long as you pay your taxes and learn to speak English as a second language.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

25. Thanks for the corrective analysis.

I was going on just a few interviews with young men
themselves, and, yes, I did see it through white American eyes.
I don't mean white eyes, I mean ... Thanks.

[brmdp3123]

26. Very sensible post.