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Seinfeld, Zimmerman and the Death of Philip Seymour Hoffman:…

Many comedians were discussing an interview done with Jerry Seinfeld this week, in which he seemed annoyed with a question concerning the lack of racial and gender diversity on his Internet show Comedians in Cars Drinking Coffee, or something like that. I watched the interview where he basically dismissed the question, probably because of a combination of being questioned at all and also the intimation that he might have gender or racial insensitivities or blind spots.  And Gawker, due to some combination of personal animosity towards Seinfeld and a Woodward & Bernstein-esque commitment to web clicks posted the shamefully misleading title “‘Who Cares’ About Diversity in Comedy Says Jerry Seinfeld”.  This was once again, in my opinion, for liberal web media to find a new villain, where we least expect it.  Wait a second – JERRY SEINFELD IS RACIST????  No, not really.  He might be a slightly ornery or dismissive, rich 60 year old white guy, but this was a ridiculous stretch.   There are a lot of nuanced points I would like to make regarding this, but it is not even worth it to me, if only because IT IS A SHOW IN HIS CAR.

But more significant to me in the we-are-not-a-post-racial-America were two other stories this week.  In one story, George Zimmerman will be boxing in a “celebrity” boxing match against the rapper DMX.  In another story I saw an outpouring of universal praise and sadness for the heroin-related death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The Zimmerman story is so obviously appalling on its face.  His celebrity stems from the shooting (murder) of an unarmed black male teenager.  From his subsequent run-ins with the law and his immediate weight loss and hair shaving since the trial should demonstrate that he took the judicial system for a ride.  Even if you are in the most hardcore defense of George Zimmerman you should acknowledge that this is offensively tasteless at best.   At worst it is a slap in the face of Trayvon Martin’s family and young black men everywhere who can rightfully view this as salt in the gun shot wound of Trayvon.  Are there any other killers (I am not saying murder since legally he was acquitted of the crime) of unarmed people that have parlayed their infamous act into an opportunity at celebrity? Maybe there are, but none are coming to mind for me.

However, the treatment of Philip Seymour Hoffman I found more subtly troubling.  He was a great actor with addiction problems.  There is no problem mourning his loss and I found the general lack of tasteless jokes refreshing.  However, when I learned that he had children and a substantial stockpile of heroin in his apartment I was reminded of the backlash I observed on social media after the death of Whitney Houston.  As great an actor as Hoffman was he was still not to American acting what Houston was to American singing.  And yet many more people were willing to post things like “Why are we mourning this irresponsible crack whore who wasted talent” or “she was a singer but we don’t care about the troops that are dying for our freedoms.”  I have yet to see any posts like these for Hoffman.  Why is that (obviously the NY Daily News posted a somewhat harsh cover for Hoffman, but I am just referring to the sample of my associates on social media – not scientific, but still worth noting the differing responses). And as The Black Guy Who Tips tweeted “Did anyone arrest Whitney Houston’s drug dealer?”

The point is, as the late, great Patrice O’Neal said, ” Black people are mad now because white people now have that racism that we can’t prove.”  But is there any way to articulate the reason for why Zimmerman can even be considered for a celebrity event or how Houston can be examined so critically versus Hoffman without at least a subconscious racial discrimination being at work?  If there is I would love to hear it.

So instead of picking apart Jerry Seinfeld to manufacture a racist villain we can just tackle the ones that are right in front of us.

For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic, iTunes and NOW on STITCHER. New Every Tuesday so subscribe on one or more platforms today – all for free!

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James Gandolfini and the 7 Ways Comedians React To…

James Gandolfini passed away shockingly yesterday at the age of 51.  He was known primarily for his iconic performance/character of Tony Soprano and for being the face of one television’s greatest, if not the greatest, shows (my pre-Game of Thrones list has it at #6 on my favorite shows of all time).  But with an untimely death comes the ritual of comedians taking to social media immediately to offer RIPs, jokes and other comments.  I was particularly disturbed after Whitney Houston’s death only because I thought her talent was so singularly spectacular that it would have been nice for people to reflect and appreciate it for a minute or too before offering half-baked jokes.  Plus, it is worth noting that I saw a lot of trashing of Whitney Houston (black) for her drug problem – sometimes in the form of “Why do we care about this crackhead whore who did this to herself when we have troops and other real heroes dying,” and yet interestingly enough I have seen no calls for similar reflection from America’s social media heroes in the wake of grieving and reflection for the obese Gandolfini (white).  But rather than make this my usual tone of judgment I thought I would just offer the casual comedy observer the different types of responses that now come from comedians in the wake of a tragedy.  Enjoy!

1) Standard RIP message – this is made to either show appreciation for the man or woman’s work, but just as likely to let everyone know that you have heard the news and are hopefully either informing them, which makes you cool, or that you are feeling something profound, which makes you look warm.

2) Hack Joke – for example if you mentioned the ending of The Sopranos or Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ you need your comedy license revoked.  These always seem to happen so quickly to the point that you see 8 comedians with the same joke, and they are all Facebook friends sharing the same wall, but they still failed to realize that the joke was dead on arrival.

3) Video Clip and/or Photo RIP – I like these actually. The person is known for something so it makes sense to share.  Which is why I will share Kim and Ray J’s tape when Ray J dies.

4) Actually Funny Joke – after a day or more of respectful time usually, you can just go to www.Facebook.com/JLCauvin for these 🙂 but seriously folks… every so often someone posts something that manages to be a little gallows humor, but not too disrespectful and actually funny (or disrespectful, but really funny).  But if they do that and then spend the next 2 minutes telling you how good that joke was you are watching Anthony Jeselnick.  This is a great blog post people…

5) Unbelievable Emotional Post – This is the horsesh*t extension of #1 where someone with no emotional connection has a heartbreaking message.  99 out of 100 I don’t buy it, but just know that if Bryan Cranston meets an untimely death, my tears will be real.

6) We were friends post – You met the celebrity twice, but you refer to them as your friend, your spirit, your buddy, your dear friend or any other such nonsense.

7) Fake Moral Outrage post – These are the folk who either take a celebrity’s death as a time to remind us about the troops or breast cancer or any other important thing, but they only do it on that day.  There were no posts about honor or important causes the day before.  They are like the Westboro Baptist Church – they show up to a social media mourning and then try to shame you with stuff they don’t care about most days, but become morally indignant just to fu*k with your appreciation.  Or they point out that the death was not a surprise or that they deserved it.  Hey – if the celebrity did not harm to others and they were talented it is OK to reflect on their skills and gifts without being told about the causes you rarely discuss during non celebrity mourning social media time.

For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday!