What You Laughin At?

Okay:

So, seeing as how I'm on vacation, I had the opportunity to watch The Jeffersons the other day, as well as two episodes of Sanford & Son. I was, for the first time, simultaneously amused and disturbed. I don't remember being too much of either when I was younger.

That is, I love syndicated seventies sit coms just as much as the next person, but I've never found them laugh-out-loud funny. Just moderately entertaining in a nostalgic sense.

But the other night I found myself guffawing. The first was Sanford & Son. Lamont and Rollo had a few honies at the apartment. They had laid out some chips and dips and bought a bottle of nice French wine. When Lamont offers the ladies some snacks they bark, "Say man! Where the real food at? This the kind of stuff you feed to animals at the zoo."

Then Rollo offers them some of the French wine. They take sips and spit it out immediately, slap-stick style. "What is this?!! Where is the Ripple?!!"

So, the date is pretty much a bust until Fred shows up unannounced with a crock pot of onion stew and a bottle of Ripple in his coat pocket. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" they say. "Your daddy sho' knows how to party."

Hilarious! I almost fell off the couch.

Then it was The Jeffersons. George comes home holding his bowling ball bag. He sits it on the dining room table and tells Weezy to put it in the refrigerator. To which she replies, "George, why do you want me to put your bowling ball in the refrigerator?"

"Not the bowling ball," he says, "This." Then he pulls a big green watermelon out of the bag.

"Why did you put a watermelon in your bowling ball bag, George?" she asks.

"Because I didn't want whitey to see me with it," he replies.

At this point I think I may have been lying on my back with tears rolling down the sides of my face.

The kicker was, a minute later, Lionel comes in and starts quoting H.L. Mencken. Which is what prompted me to take a deeper look into what I was watching. Sanford & Son ran from '72 to '77. The Jeffersons were on the air from '75 to '85 (the longest running black sit com in television history).

These shows haven't remained in syndication for all these years because black people love them so much. That's never the case with anything. These shows still have an audience because they've achieved cult-classic status, which means young white people are watching them. But when they watch, what exactly is it that they're laughing at?

Are they laughing because of the brilliant simplicity of the comedy or are they getting their rocks off watching the ignorant buffoons confirm every silly misconception they have about black people? This was Dave Chappelle's dilemma, no?

This disturbs me. I personally like watermelon. And I don't think I should have to feel guilty about it. If I go to a restaurant I think I should be able to order Hennessy if I want, and my date should be able to order a white zinfandel if she wants, without wondering whether or not the waiter is saying quietly to himself, "Wow, no surprises here."

I enjoy being black. Even when I know it's painfully stereotypical. I just don't think we should have to worry about how we're being perceived or whether or not we're being exploited ALL THE TIME.

When I get off vacation, I'm gonna go up to my boss's office. He's a real white guy, who keeps privately telling everyone that he's voting for Obama. "Listen, white boy," I'm going to say, "I like fried chicken and watermelon. And if it's cooked properly, I bet you do too. I also like malt liquor and Newports. I'm not married to my daughter's mother. I don't own a home and I drive a car I can't afford. I listen to gangsta rap and I have almost thirty pairs of sneakers. Now you know," I'll continue, "so you don't have to wonder."

Tell a white person how you feel today. Let's start something.


Thanks for reading.

GOBAMA!

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http://www.blackbroadway-online.com

Factoid: The Jeffersons had a short-lived spin-off called Checking In starring Florence, the maid. It lasted only four-episodes before it was cancelled without any notice from the studio. Sherman Hemsley apparently read about the cancellation in the newspaper.