4 ms·

Spoilers: "Emotional Truths" means "bullshit" I've seen a couple of his specials... I think when your show becomes less traditional jokes and more "man this CR

by floren 3y ago

Spoilers: "Emotional Truths" means "bullshit" I've seen a couple of his specials... I think when your show becomes less traditional jokes and more "man this CRAAAAAZY thing happened to me, for real!", well, it's important that the crazy thing actually happened. A lot of his stories rang sorta "too good to be true" so this article confirms my pre-existing opinion, I guess. edit: good lord 'Minhaj also acknowledged to me that the threatening tweets displayed on the large screen during “The King’s Jester” were not authentic but, rather, heightened for comedic effect.'

kevinventullo 3y ago
Good comedians will often explicitly acknowledge that they’re making things up: “My girlfriend, who only exists for this joke, was calling me the other day…” When done well, this does not undercut the joke. In contrast, if Minhaj was upfront about his fabrications he would not elicit the same moral outrage that undergirds his popularity.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  "... who only exists for this joke..." is funny in and of itself. It doesn't undercut the joke, it adds another laugh line. (Not really a punch line, but a funny line that will draw a laugh.)
gretch 3y ago
Yeah these stories kinda read like socially engineered tales to confirm pre-conceived bias. When the alt-right tells these kinds of stories, it's usually like "Today I was persecuted for being a white christian ..." Same energy at least.
- 8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago
  "And then the whole bus clapped" tailored for your particular political tribe.
- boppo1 3y ago
  The unfortunate thing is I'm seeing a non-negligible amount of white people move further toward white-nationalistic ideas because of stuff like Minhaj's emotional truths. Lots of white kids I grew up with in the 90s, who were not racist then, are expressing frustration with the following phenomenon: 1. A PoC says white people are overwhelmingly & consciously/unconsciously racist & white supremacist. 2. White person listening or targeted has never identified with racism, was raised to believe strongly in content of character, etc. 3. PoC makes claim of racism that white person directly observed or later discovered was falsified or exaggerated 4. White person has intense reaction and begins to engage with racial distrust & legitimately racist generalizations. There are much worse things happening & it's not a crisis like those that many PoC face regularly. But nonetheless, I've seen a process like I've described take place even with individuals who strongly identify(ied) as progressive. I have no suggested solutions. It's just something I'm observing which was previously limited to extremely rare edge cases that I'm now noticing with some regularity.

by floren 3y ago

kevinventullo 3y ago

Good comedians will often explicitly acknowledge that they’re making things up: “My girlfriend, who only exists for this joke, was calling me the other day…” When done well, this does not undercut the joke. In contrast, if Minhaj was upfront about his fabrications he would not elicit the same moral outrage that undergirds his popularity.

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
"... who only exists for this joke..." is funny in and of itself. It doesn't undercut the joke, it adds another laugh line. (Not really a punch line, but a funny line that will draw a laugh.)

gretch 3y ago

Yeah these stories kinda read like socially engineered tales to confirm pre-conceived bias. When the alt-right tells these kinds of stories, it's usually like "Today I was persecuted for being a white christian ..." Same energy at least.

8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago
"And then the whole bus clapped" tailored for your particular political tribe.
boppo1 3y ago
The unfortunate thing is I'm seeing a non-negligible amount of white people move further toward white-nationalistic ideas because of stuff like Minhaj's emotional truths. Lots of white kids I grew up with in the 90s, who were not racist then, are expressing frustration with the following phenomenon: 1. A PoC says white people are overwhelmingly & consciously/unconsciously racist & white supremacist. 2. White person listening or targeted has never identified with racism, was raised to believe strongly in content of character, etc. 3. PoC makes claim of racism that white person directly observed or later discovered was falsified or exaggerated 4. White person has intense reaction and begins to engage with racial distrust & legitimately racist generalizations. There are much worse things happening & it's not a crisis like those that many PoC face regularly. But nonetheless, I've seen a process like I've described take place even with individuals who strongly identify(ied) as progressive. I have no suggested solutions. It's just something I'm observing which was previously limited to extremely rare edge cases that I'm now noticing with some regularity.