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wadamday t1_j07idhc wrote

Reply to comment by ArrestDeathSantis in Adam Sandler wins the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by ZylonBane

I'm a pretty big fan of Mark Twain and Tina Fey. I like the self deprecating misdirection of the joke. I don't necessarily agree with the criticism of Mark Twain but at the same time if someone wrote a satirical n***** Jim character today it would not be well received. It's also interesting that Fey made that comment in 2010 and roughly 10 years later several black face scenes from her show 30 Rock have been pulled from streaming services. Some of those scenes I think most people would agree were in bad taste.

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ArrestDeathSantis t1_j07oa8g wrote

I'm not really familiar with Tina Fey's work to be honest, but is she using her work in a politically engaged manner like Mark Twain?

Because that's specifically why I'm defending Mark Twain, he was using his work for equality. He didn't used these words to diminish black people like black faces were used, he used them to promote black people, he used his work that contained some measure of racism to advocate for our rights.

That's completely different than say a modern right wing humorist who makes racist jokes to appeal to a specific audience or to promote a bigoted ideology.

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wadamday t1_j07rqrj wrote

From her sitcom 30 Rock and her time at SNL I would say her political engagement is minor, mostly due to the format of those shows. They often make fun of right leaning people/beliefs but it's not very deep. The comedy style is silly and absurd.

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