Nikki Finke did a piece, full of "inside scoop" so mundane that a blind guy with a monkey could have seen it coming a mile away. ("L.A. Weekly has learned that Rock has earmarked a segment of his standup to joke about George W. Bush." I mean, really...) And as usual, she twists a story about something that everyone else has written to death into something about George Bush for some mysterious reason.
But what really struck me was the headline of the piece...
"Will Chris Rock Be Oscar Dyn-O-Mite?"
And she wants to say that the conservatives are dangerous!
Chris Rock's comedy is very stuck on being black in America. And it's funny. And sometimes, it is too much. But when the nice white lady from Brentwood who is trying to support your right to freedom of speech can't seem to help but to ghettoizre you by making a not-to-unclear comparison to the last great "ofay nigga" character on TV...
I don't think Nikki is a racist. I think she is, while quirky, a serious, sincere and warm individual.
But when L.A. Weekly is running headlines like that (and they may well have written it instead of her) and it sits there... it makes me wonder just how far we have come and whether Chris Rock is race obsessed enough.
I mean, what other subtect can on atribute to that headline?
I guess some tortured logic could be that the vast right wing conspiracy wants to bend black intellect Chris Rock into Jimmy "JJ" Walker... I guess. But they did hire the guy. And Nikki herself reports that he is not being restricted in any way. So where did the headline come from? And how can the undertone of racist, in the name of being clever, come so easily for a hard left publication?
I'm a little amazed.
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