Nabobs are nattering about the dearth of jokes featuring Obama, linking the scarcity to him being African-American and most of the comedians, writers, and audience being Caucasian. As if the only possibly funny topic about him were his race! This is like saying jokes about McCain are rare because his time as a POW in Hanoi is off-limits. Instead, there's McCain's involvement in the Savings and Loan scandal, and his anger, and his (advanced) age, which young comics also feel free to joke about. Even if limited to looks, what about the fact that Obama looks like an earnest, precocious high schooler? That may be defanged by his own jokes about same. What about Obama's politics?
The New Yorker sparked a controversy by parodying the whisper campaign suggesting that Obama is a secret Muslim. Their cover shows Obama fist-bumping wife Michelle, revealed as a Black Panther, with the American flag burning in the fireplace and a picture of bin Laden over the mantle. Not very inventive and certainly not subtle, but funny and hopefully effective once the shock wears off. No, I think the lack of jokes are due to the fact that he is admirable and cool. We want to be his friend, we want him to be our president (and savior, if truth be told), and we are not yet comfortable enough with him to risk friendship with jokes.
Posts
