Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Don't Rape
April 22, 2015 11:24 AM Subscribe
"But, Coach—we play football!" Inside Amy Schumer does a parody of Friday Night Lights and certain aspects of football culture.
Everything about this is amazing and I love it.
posted by Librarypt at 11:42 AM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Librarypt at 11:42 AM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Proof positive to the "we must be free to joke about anything" crew that the problem isn't jokes about rape, but bad, lazy, offensive-for-their-own-sake jokes about rape.
This is such a great piece of comedy that I'm definitely seeking this show (that I've never seen before) out now.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:47 AM on April 22, 2015 [48 favorites]
This is such a great piece of comedy that I'm definitely seeking this show (that I've never seen before) out now.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:47 AM on April 22, 2015 [48 favorites]
The woman just keeps topping herself. This is exactly the kind of topical, hysterical, biting, relevant, daring humor that makes so much else look weak and limp in comparison. I just saw her live a couple weeks ago in L.A. and she absolutely destroyed.
posted by The Gooch at 11:55 AM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Gooch at 11:55 AM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Amy Schumer is brilliant and this show just keeps getting better.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:56 AM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by doctor_negative at 11:56 AM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
"But what if she changes her mind later, like some kind of crazy person?"
Hilarious.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 11:58 AM on April 22, 2015 [15 favorites]
Hilarious.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 11:58 AM on April 22, 2015 [15 favorites]
Amazingly, when the target of the comedy is rape culture, rape jokes work.
It's like somebody has actually demonstrated what feminist critics of rape comedy have been saying for what now feels like a thousand years.
posted by maxsparber at 12:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [35 favorites]
It's like somebody has actually demonstrated what feminist critics of rape comedy have been saying for what now feels like a thousand years.
posted by maxsparber at 12:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [35 favorites]
I haven't watched Amy Schumer's show yet, but just today I've seen two really great clips that make me want to check her out. This and Broad City make me pretty excited.
Contrast that to the hype behind Lena Dunham that built her up to be the voice of her generation when she only had one indie movie film to her credit...
posted by maggiemaggie at 12:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
Contrast that to the hype behind Lena Dunham that built her up to be the voice of her generation when she only had one indie movie film to her credit...
posted by maggiemaggie at 12:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
Contrast that to the hype behind Lena Dunham that built her up to be the voice of her generation
A line was put into the mouth a character specifically written to be privileged and unlikable who many writers conflate with Dunham herself. Women in comedy is not a horse race. Art of any kind is not a horse race.
posted by edbles at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [61 favorites]
A line was put into the mouth a character specifically written to be privileged and unlikable who many writers conflate with Dunham herself. Women in comedy is not a horse race. Art of any kind is not a horse race.
posted by edbles at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [61 favorites]
Contrast that to the hype behind Lena Dunham that built her up to be the voice of her generation when she only had one indie movie film to her credit...
...a TV show where Dunham wrote a pretty great, funny, memorable recurring part for one Amy Schumer.
posted by The Gooch at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
...a TV show where Dunham wrote a pretty great, funny, memorable recurring part for one Amy Schumer.
posted by The Gooch at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
As a Friday Night lights fan, I just gotta say this totally nails the characters. Well played!
posted by cccorlew at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by cccorlew at 12:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
I met Amy Schumer in an elevator before her show in Portland a few weeks ago. She made fun of me for wearing headphones around my neck, and I was delighted.
posted by chrchr at 12:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 12:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
Sexy ladybug?
posted by bibliowench at 12:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by bibliowench at 12:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
The entire episode was really strong from beginning to end. I thought the last season was really good but this one promises to be amazing.
posted by cazoo at 12:23 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by cazoo at 12:23 PM on April 22, 2015
Amy Schumer's Compliments ...the secret code of women revealed!
Also a good Slate introduction to her feminist comedy.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:24 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Also a good Slate introduction to her feminist comedy.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:24 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
As a Friday Night lights fan, I just gotta say this totally nails the characters.
Yeah, it's pretty wonderfully doting. Characters, soundtrack, cinematographic vibe. Amy Shumer's take on Connie Britton's character is great.
posted by cortex at 12:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
Yeah, it's pretty wonderfully doting. Characters, soundtrack, cinematographic vibe. Amy Shumer's take on Connie Britton's character is great.
posted by cortex at 12:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is really fantastic. It's a good thing I'm alone in this hall at work today because I am making guffawing noises.
posted by rtha at 12:30 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by rtha at 12:30 PM on April 22, 2015
Yep, the satire was really on point.
So, on Friday Night Lights was the coach's wife fond of her vino...?
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 12:35 PM on April 22, 2015
So, on Friday Night Lights was the coach's wife fond of her vino...?
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 12:35 PM on April 22, 2015
The young actors playing the football players are amazing.
posted by vignettist at 12:36 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by vignettist at 12:36 PM on April 22, 2015
Milk Milk Lemonade
(Round the corner fudge is made)
posted by The Gooch at 12:37 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
(Round the corner fudge is made)
posted by The Gooch at 12:37 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
Pitch perfect satire. Hilarious (and I loved FNL.)
posted by saul wright at 12:39 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by saul wright at 12:39 PM on April 22, 2015
This might have worked better as a 120-second short, and not at 5+ minutes.
Also: while I do agree that sports culture can be obnoxious, do all high school football players commit sexual assault? Do most of them commit sexual assault? Do they commit sexual assault more than other males in other demographics (eg, lumberjacks, accountants)?
This just seems to me to be a fairly lame (but with great production values) "I'm an introvert and I hate sportsball" joke that isn't even particularly witty.
Not a big deal - it's quasi-sketch comedy, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but not really FPP material.
Except for the wineglass.
posted by Nevin at 12:41 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also: while I do agree that sports culture can be obnoxious, do all high school football players commit sexual assault? Do most of them commit sexual assault? Do they commit sexual assault more than other males in other demographics (eg, lumberjacks, accountants)?
This just seems to me to be a fairly lame (but with great production values) "I'm an introvert and I hate sportsball" joke that isn't even particularly witty.
Not a big deal - it's quasi-sketch comedy, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but not really FPP material.
Except for the wineglass.
posted by Nevin at 12:41 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
do all high school football players commit sexual assault?
And already we're at #NotAllJocks.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [126 favorites]
And already we're at #NotAllJocks.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [126 favorites]
...not all football players? Really?
posted by maxwelton at 12:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 12:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
This just seems to me to be a fairly lame (but with great production values) "I'm an introvert and I hate sportsball" joke that isn't even particularly witty.
How is this I hate sportsball? It's a pretty direct plot match to the first episode of FNL.
posted by edbles at 12:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
How is this I hate sportsball? It's a pretty direct plot match to the first episode of FNL.
posted by edbles at 12:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
Also: while I do agree that sports culture can be obnoxious, do all high school football players commit sexual assault? Do most of them commit sexual assault? Do they commit sexual assault more than other males in other demographics (eg, lumberjacks, accountants)?
Do you demand absolute statistical accuracy from everything that is comedic and/or satirical?
posted by rtha at 12:48 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Do you demand absolute statistical accuracy from everything that is comedic and/or satirical?
posted by rtha at 12:48 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Plus wineglasses aren't really that big. in real life.
posted by entropone at 12:49 PM on April 22, 2015 [80 favorites]
posted by entropone at 12:49 PM on April 22, 2015 [80 favorites]
This just seems to me to be a fairly lame (but with great production values) "I'm an introvert and I hate sportsball" joke that isn't even particularly witty.
The sketch is a really solidly done absurdist-but-loving riff on a classic bit of modern television by a comedian who doesn't have any record of reflexive anti-sportstball beefing. Dismissing it as a lazy "I hate sportsball" sketch feels like a shallow and reflexive read in its own right based on a lack of familiarity with the source material.
Milk Milk Lemonade
I saw that the other day and was like OH SHIT I BET THERE'S A NEW SEASON. I am excited.
posted by cortex at 12:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
The sketch is a really solidly done absurdist-but-loving riff on a classic bit of modern television by a comedian who doesn't have any record of reflexive anti-sportstball beefing. Dismissing it as a lazy "I hate sportsball" sketch feels like a shallow and reflexive read in its own right based on a lack of familiarity with the source material.
Milk Milk Lemonade
I saw that the other day and was like OH SHIT I BET THERE'S A NEW SEASON. I am excited.
posted by cortex at 12:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Plus wineglasses aren't really that big. in real life.
(Sullenly removes Inside Amy Schumer from Tivo.)
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:52 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
(Sullenly removes Inside Amy Schumer from Tivo.)
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:52 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
Amazingly, when the target of the comedy is rape culture, rape jokes work.
I've been thinking about the wider concept around this idea. The film The Aristocrats (which is actually a pretty great exploration of how comedy works) holds as its central thesis that, when it comes to comedy, "its the singer, not the song." To whit, how an individual tells a joke is what makes the joke funny - not the joke itself (contrast Sarah Silverman's genuinely transgressive "Aristocrats" take with some of the more traditional retellings of the joke).
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this. There's this episode where one of the supporting characters - Grossie - wants to be a stand-up comic. He is given a bunch of jokes that he tries out and they're shockingly racist. He's genuinely clueless about why they're not working and his friends are shocked at what the jokes seem to reveal about him. The twist at the end is that the jokes were written by Slappy White. Its not that the jokes were bad, its just that Grossie is totally the wrong guy to be telling them.
Schumer's sketch here is a great sketch - smart, boundary pushing and she nails the both the ending and the style (Side Note: so good to see that sketch writers in this century are finally learning how to end sketches, see also Key and Peele, instead of letting them peter out to commercial break a la SNL). She barely appears in it, but knowing that her show is the source of the sketch is also part of what let's this be funny instead of appalling - this same sketch, line for line, coming from (for example) Jimmy Kimmell would be kind of appalling.
So, yeah, its a great sketch with a sharp, smart message being presented by the appropriate great comedian (who is great and still getting better every season).
We're really fortunate to be living during something of a golden age of sketch comedy.
Fellow dudes, I'm not telling you there are jokes you can't make. I'm just telling you there are jokes that aren't going to be funny coming from us. That's ok, though, because there's still an infinite number of other things to make jokes about. Prostate exams, for example.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:53 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
I've been thinking about the wider concept around this idea. The film The Aristocrats (which is actually a pretty great exploration of how comedy works) holds as its central thesis that, when it comes to comedy, "its the singer, not the song." To whit, how an individual tells a joke is what makes the joke funny - not the joke itself (contrast Sarah Silverman's genuinely transgressive "Aristocrats" take with some of the more traditional retellings of the joke).
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this. There's this episode where one of the supporting characters - Grossie - wants to be a stand-up comic. He is given a bunch of jokes that he tries out and they're shockingly racist. He's genuinely clueless about why they're not working and his friends are shocked at what the jokes seem to reveal about him. The twist at the end is that the jokes were written by Slappy White. Its not that the jokes were bad, its just that Grossie is totally the wrong guy to be telling them.
Schumer's sketch here is a great sketch - smart, boundary pushing and she nails the both the ending and the style (Side Note: so good to see that sketch writers in this century are finally learning how to end sketches, see also Key and Peele, instead of letting them peter out to commercial break a la SNL). She barely appears in it, but knowing that her show is the source of the sketch is also part of what let's this be funny instead of appalling - this same sketch, line for line, coming from (for example) Jimmy Kimmell would be kind of appalling.
So, yeah, its a great sketch with a sharp, smart message being presented by the appropriate great comedian (who is great and still getting better every season).
We're really fortunate to be living during something of a golden age of sketch comedy.
Fellow dudes, I'm not telling you there are jokes you can't make. I'm just telling you there are jokes that aren't going to be funny coming from us. That's ok, though, because there's still an infinite number of other things to make jokes about. Prostate exams, for example.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:53 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
Plus wineglasses aren't really that big. in real life.
Are you saying that everything Cougar Town taught me was a lie?
posted by zombieflanders at 12:55 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Are you saying that everything Cougar Town taught me was a lie?
posted by zombieflanders at 12:55 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Art of any kind is not a horse race.
+1
Also, I heart Amy S.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:59 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
+1
Also, I heart Amy S.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:59 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Plus wineglasses aren't really that big. in real life.
You've never been to Milwaukee.
posted by Floydd at 1:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
You've never been to Milwaukee.
posted by Floydd at 1:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
...not all football players? Really?
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
posted by kgasmart at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
posted by kgasmart at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've never heard of Amy Schumer but by cracky I am now a fan and will seek out her work.
posted by magstheaxe at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by magstheaxe at 1:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
The wine glass thing had me confused as well. You don't drink wine out of a glass like that.
You drink whiskey.
posted by maxsparber at 1:08 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
You drink whiskey.
posted by maxsparber at 1:08 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Plus wineglasses aren't really that big. in real life.
Are you saying that everything Cougar Town taught me was a lie?
I was at a furniture store last month, and almost bought a wineglass-shaped multi-litre glass planter because it reminded me of Big Joe from Cougar Town.
posted by frimble at 1:09 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Are you saying that everything Cougar Town taught me was a lie?
I was at a furniture store last month, and almost bought a wineglass-shaped multi-litre glass planter because it reminded me of Big Joe from Cougar Town.
posted by frimble at 1:09 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ah, I see. . . . we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
That's really the only text you needed. Yes, we're free to talk about football culture, just like we're free to talk about literally any other culture. That's kind of the whole thing. The freedom, and the talking, it's kind of what we do here.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:11 PM on April 22, 2015 [36 favorites]
That's really the only text you needed. Yes, we're free to talk about football culture, just like we're free to talk about literally any other culture. That's kind of the whole thing. The freedom, and the talking, it's kind of what we do here.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:11 PM on April 22, 2015 [36 favorites]
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
Student-Athletes Commit Rape, Sexual Assaults More Often Than Peers:
Student-Athletes Commit Rape, Sexual Assaults More Often Than Peers:
Laura Finley, an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., said that the problem with student-athletes and violence appears to be getting worse. Finley has written several books, including "Sports Scandals" and the "Encyclopedia of School Crime and Violence," and last September, wrote an article called "Sexual Assault: Among College Athletes Favorite Crimes," which was distributed by CityWatch and PeaceVoice.posted by jaguar at 1:11 PM on April 22, 2015 [84 favorites]
“It certainly seems like a problem that, if anything, has worsened,” Finley said.
She said that statistics on sensitive crimes are difficult to compile and rely on because of the low incidence of reporting. But, the findings that nearly one-third of sexual assaults on college campuses are perpetrated by athletes have been proven by respected researchers like Jeff Benedict and corroborated by others. That’s a rate almost six times higher than that of their peers, she said.
A person most likely to be drafted #1 next week in the NFL is probably a rapist, and that fact is an afterthought in most mainstream stories if it is discussed at all. I'm totally comfortable indicting football culture as a whole on this issue when that "indictment" is a clever-as-heck satire that mocks the way this issue is dealt with, and doesn't involve any false allegations or, you know, raping somebody.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
oh yeah also the facts, the facts and the statistics that kind of point up your argument as being fundamentally flawed. We do a lot of that here too. (Thanks jaguar!)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
I have no idea who Amy Schumer is and I thought this was really funny.
However, it has nothing to do with FNL. Even remotely. WTF? Sure, make fun of football and rape culture, but FNL was a fantastic show with some of the best young characters, male and female -- and probably the greatest married couple -- in television history. Anyone who hasn't seen it and thinks that, based on this clip, it's a stereotypical sports soap opera and therefore to be avoided, would really be missing out on some astounding dramatic television.
Again, very funny clip.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
However, it has nothing to do with FNL. Even remotely. WTF? Sure, make fun of football and rape culture, but FNL was a fantastic show with some of the best young characters, male and female -- and probably the greatest married couple -- in television history. Anyone who hasn't seen it and thinks that, based on this clip, it's a stereotypical sports soap opera and therefore to be avoided, would really be missing out on some astounding dramatic television.
Again, very funny clip.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have noticed a general trend, which is that when comedy goes after people who aren't in power, it is just a joke and what's the matter, comedians should be able to tell any sort of joke, comedy is all about pushing the envelope, every knows the comic didn't mean it.
When comedy goes after those who are in power, however, the sea lions emerge. The joke isn't accurate, oh, so that's how you think all men are, oh, so that's how all frats are, it wasn't funny, too bad.
I have a feeling this says a lot less about the comic, but the critic.
posted by maxsparber at 1:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [97 favorites]
When comedy goes after those who are in power, however, the sea lions emerge. The joke isn't accurate, oh, so that's how you think all men are, oh, so that's how all frats are, it wasn't funny, too bad.
I have a feeling this says a lot less about the comic, but the critic.
posted by maxsparber at 1:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [97 favorites]
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
Don't like it? Don't let the door rape you on the way out.
posted by chrchr at 1:16 PM on April 22, 2015 [40 favorites]
Don't like it? Don't let the door rape you on the way out.
posted by chrchr at 1:16 PM on April 22, 2015 [40 favorites]
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
Yes.
posted by windbox at 1:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yes.
posted by windbox at 1:17 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
However, it has nothing to do with FNL. Even remotely. WTF? Sure, make fun of football and rape culture, but FNL was a fantastic show with some of the best young characters, male and female -- and probably the greatest married couple -- in television history. Anyone who hasn't seen it and thinks that, based on this clip, it's a stereotypical sports soap opera and therefore to be avoided, would really be missing out on some astounding dramatic television.
FNL was being used as what's called a framing device. It's actually a pretty good one too since the show largely focuses on the intense pressure the student athletes face because of the intense culture surrounding football in this community and it's affects on their lives. Schumer's bit turns their vicitimization by the community in the actual show on it's head to make her point about rape culture.
posted by edbles at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [26 favorites]
FNL was being used as what's called a framing device. It's actually a pretty good one too since the show largely focuses on the intense pressure the student athletes face because of the intense culture surrounding football in this community and it's affects on their lives. Schumer's bit turns their vicitimization by the community in the actual show on it's head to make her point about rape culture.
posted by edbles at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [26 favorites]
However, it has nothing to do with FNL.
Except for obvious parodies of characters, scenes, and exactly copying the cinematography (shot-for-shot at times,) music and tone of the show?
posted by saul wright at 1:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
Except for obvious parodies of characters, scenes, and exactly copying the cinematography (shot-for-shot at times,) music and tone of the show?
posted by saul wright at 1:19 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
She barely appears in it, but knowing that her show is the source of the sketch is also part of what let's this be funny instead of appalling - this same sketch, line for line, coming from (for example) Jimmy Kimmell would be kind of appalling.
I don't get that. Jimmy Kimmell would never make this sketch, but I think it would have just the same bite if somehow he did. It's really the young actors playing the football players that makes this work, and the subversive twist in the coach's speech at the end would, I think, dispel any suspicions that this is only making fun of people who think that football and rape are associated.
posted by straight at 1:22 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't get that. Jimmy Kimmell would never make this sketch, but I think it would have just the same bite if somehow he did. It's really the young actors playing the football players that makes this work, and the subversive twist in the coach's speech at the end would, I think, dispel any suspicions that this is only making fun of people who think that football and rape are associated.
posted by straight at 1:22 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
>do all high school football players commit sexual assault?
And already we're at #NotAllJocks.
Someone didn't get picked for the sports team during gym class, amirite? Or maybe it's a case of groupthink. We're not here for discussion, we're here for the echochamber.
Look, I'm not from the US. I live in Canada. Hockey is a religion here. I hate hockey. My son loves it. He wants to play it. So I take him to practice and get the hockey subscription and pretend that I like it.
But emotionally and spiritually hockey has no place in my life besides that. Or any other professional sport.
So I know nothing about sports. But I like to be intellectually honest. So:
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
posted by Nevin at 1:22 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
And already we're at #NotAllJocks.
Someone didn't get picked for the sports team during gym class, amirite? Or maybe it's a case of groupthink. We're not here for discussion, we're here for the echochamber.
Look, I'm not from the US. I live in Canada. Hockey is a religion here. I hate hockey. My son loves it. He wants to play it. So I take him to practice and get the hockey subscription and pretend that I like it.
But emotionally and spiritually hockey has no place in my life besides that. Or any other professional sport.
So I know nothing about sports. But I like to be intellectually honest. So:
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
posted by Nevin at 1:22 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of police are moral neanderthals who murder people of color in the streets. Yet the wider police culture and community tolerates and protects them, making the whole thing complicit. We're free to talk about and indict "police culture" on the whole. Just assign these variables values that point to any gross, toxic culture that produces a statistically-significant number of "bad apples".
On preview: Yes, Nevin, it is.
posted by Krawczak at 1:23 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
On preview: Yes, Nevin, it is.
posted by Krawczak at 1:23 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
There's also the "Last Fuckable Day" bit from last night, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, and Patricia Arquette having a picnic to celebrate the death of Louis-Dreyfus’ sex appeal. Amy is hitting on all cylinders these days.
posted by Ber at 1:24 PM on April 22, 2015 [27 favorites]
posted by Ber at 1:24 PM on April 22, 2015 [27 favorites]
Related: Are all chickens really concerned with getting to the other side?
posted by The Gooch at 1:29 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by The Gooch at 1:29 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
This thread has made me want to hide under my desk and watch Amy Schumer for the rest of the work day!
posted by chatongriffes at 1:29 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by chatongriffes at 1:29 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this.
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
posted by Frayed Knot at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2015 [44 favorites]
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
posted by Frayed Knot at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2015 [44 favorites]
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
posted by Nevin at 4:22 PM on April 22 [+] [!]
Protecting star athletes from the legal and social consequences of sexual assault certainly is at the collegiate level, thus creating at atmosphere of tolerance for said behavior which would in other circumstance be unacceptable.
posted by edbles at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2015 [18 favorites]
posted by Nevin at 4:22 PM on April 22 [+] [!]
Protecting star athletes from the legal and social consequences of sexual assault certainly is at the collegiate level, thus creating at atmosphere of tolerance for said behavior which would in other circumstance be unacceptable.
posted by edbles at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2015 [18 favorites]
Look, I'm not from the US. I live in Canada.
Jesus christ we know.
posted by griphus at 1:32 PM on April 22, 2015 [43 favorites]
Jesus christ we know.
posted by griphus at 1:32 PM on April 22, 2015 [43 favorites]
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this.
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
But let's please not let it be the last!!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:33 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
But let's please not let it be the last!!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:33 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
But I like to be intellectually honest.
lol
posted by poffin boffin at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2015 [24 favorites]
lol
posted by poffin boffin at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2015 [24 favorites]
> Someone didn't get picked for the sports team during gym class, amirite? Or maybe it's a case of groupthink. We're not here for discussion, we're here for the echochamber.
So what was it, exactly, that you brought to the discussion table with your initial "Not all football players" comment? What, exactly, did you do to make a not-echo-chamber contribution, besides make a misplaced crack about sportsball?
posted by rtha at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2015 [17 favorites]
So what was it, exactly, that you brought to the discussion table with your initial "Not all football players" comment? What, exactly, did you do to make a not-echo-chamber contribution, besides make a misplaced crack about sportsball?
posted by rtha at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2015 [17 favorites]
So what was it, exactly, that you brought to the discussion table with your initial "Not all football players" comment? What, exactly, did you do to make a not-echo-chamber contribution, besides make a misplaced crack about sportsball?
It was a face-saving attempt to counter Halloween Jack's dismissive comment
I was not picked for gym class, and I find sports culture obnoxious generally.
I'm not attempting to dispute whether or not there is a rape culture.
I want to know why this sketch is funny, and I don't understand why having a minority opinion here is grounds for snide, snarky comments that try to shut me down.
[edited for clarity]
Of course, I do sound like "I, a white male, have been silenced all my life."
But this is MetaFilter. We're here for the discussion, are we not?
posted by Nevin at 1:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
It was a face-saving attempt to counter Halloween Jack's dismissive comment
I was not picked for gym class, and I find sports culture obnoxious generally.
I'm not attempting to dispute whether or not there is a rape culture.
I want to know why this sketch is funny, and I don't understand why having a minority opinion here is grounds for snide, snarky comments that try to shut me down.
[edited for clarity]
Of course, I do sound like "I, a white male, have been silenced all my life."
But this is MetaFilter. We're here for the discussion, are we not?
posted by Nevin at 1:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
> I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this.
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
"As a matter of fact, Michael Dorn played a number of roles prior to his turn as Worf on ST:TNG..."
posted by cortex at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
"As a matter of fact, Michael Dorn played a number of roles prior to his turn as Worf on ST:TNG..."
posted by cortex at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
i dunno, i'm really interested in hearing both sides of the story about whether it's okay to make fun of people who are way too enthusiastic about raping people.
posted by entropone at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [29 favorites]
posted by entropone at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2015 [29 favorites]
We're here for the discussion, are we not?
Nope.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nope.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Which John Oliver?
posted by entropone at 1:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by entropone at 1:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
A fundamental part of football culture -- and this begins, like, in middle school (some would say Pop Warner, even) and continues all the way up to the NFL -- is that football players get treated differently in a culture that is rah rah about football.
They are subject to no pass/no play rules, but they get special "help" that miraculously boosts their scholarly performance. (That is, the rules are bent and star players are awarded passing grades even when they're failing.) They are subject to the same moral and legal codes that others are expected to follow, but when they commit offenses, coaches and parents and administrators join together to protect the players (and themselves) from consequences -- because the team, and the athletic program (and the money it generates) comes first. This stuff happens.
There have been a lot of stories in the news about these things happening, and a lot of those stories have focused on sexual assault perpetrated by athletes, and the coverups that follow. Does that mean the actions of those offenders are representative of the actions of ALL athletes? Of course not -- and no one is saying that. But a culture that lionizes athletes and then protects them when they do wrong is, yes, a really big problem. It's kind of infuriating that you make such a facile argument. But then again, you're not a sports fan, so I guess you can disregard that this stuff actually happens, and I guess that makes it not a problem in your world?
posted by mudpuppie at 1:48 PM on April 22, 2015 [29 favorites]
A fundamental part of football culture -- and this begins, like, in middle school (some would say Pop Warner, even) and continues all the way up to the NFL -- is that football players get treated differently in a culture that is rah rah about football.
They are subject to no pass/no play rules, but they get special "help" that miraculously boosts their scholarly performance. (That is, the rules are bent and star players are awarded passing grades even when they're failing.) They are subject to the same moral and legal codes that others are expected to follow, but when they commit offenses, coaches and parents and administrators join together to protect the players (and themselves) from consequences -- because the team, and the athletic program (and the money it generates) comes first. This stuff happens.
There have been a lot of stories in the news about these things happening, and a lot of those stories have focused on sexual assault perpetrated by athletes, and the coverups that follow. Does that mean the actions of those offenders are representative of the actions of ALL athletes? Of course not -- and no one is saying that. But a culture that lionizes athletes and then protects them when they do wrong is, yes, a really big problem. It's kind of infuriating that you make such a facile argument. But then again, you're not a sports fan, so I guess you can disregard that this stuff actually happens, and I guess that makes it not a problem in your world?
posted by mudpuppie at 1:48 PM on April 22, 2015 [29 favorites]
Oh, I didn't highlight it when I posted but my favorite is the team name "Bronconeers." Like...pirate bronco horses, maybe? Pirates who ride broncos? Nice little throwaway detail.
Also: BUCK YOUR WAY TO VICTORY
posted by emjaybee at 1:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [21 favorites]
Also: BUCK YOUR WAY TO VICTORY
posted by emjaybee at 1:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [21 favorites]
I don't get that. Jimmy Kimmell would never make this sketch, but I think it would have just the same bite if somehow he did. It's really the young actors playing the football players that makes this work, and the subversive twist in the coach's speech at the end would, I think, dispel any suspicions that this is only making fun of people who think that football and rape are associated.
Ah, see, but that's not how comedy works. I can see this sketch being taken out of context and shown to a group of guys who actually sort of already think like this who then feel like their world view is being affirmed/celebrated (c.f. Dave Chapelle's realization about how some white people were laughing at his show).
Since we know Schumer is the one behind the jokes, we know that part of the context of this sketch is anti-rape.
Not to get bogged down in the Kimmell example, but while he can also be a very funny comic, he also has a certain amount of dude-bro baggage attached to him (The Man Show). Shown on his show (or the man show) this sketch could more easily be interpreted as "see how unfair everyone is towards poor football players." (I mean, even here at Metafilter that sentiment is coming out)
Context is important for comedy (and, really, all dramatic entertainment) and a major part of the context is who is telling the joke.
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this.
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
But let's please not let it be the last!!
I will gladly die on the intellectual hill of CHiPs. Its all I have.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Ah, see, but that's not how comedy works. I can see this sketch being taken out of context and shown to a group of guys who actually sort of already think like this who then feel like their world view is being affirmed/celebrated (c.f. Dave Chapelle's realization about how some white people were laughing at his show).
Since we know Schumer is the one behind the jokes, we know that part of the context of this sketch is anti-rape.
Not to get bogged down in the Kimmell example, but while he can also be a very funny comic, he also has a certain amount of dude-bro baggage attached to him (The Man Show). Shown on his show (or the man show) this sketch could more easily be interpreted as "see how unfair everyone is towards poor football players." (I mean, even here at Metafilter that sentiment is coming out)
Context is important for comedy (and, really, all dramatic entertainment) and a major part of the context is who is telling the joke.
I've been using an example from the TV Show CHiPs to illustrate this.
I feel confident is saying that is the first time that sentence has been written. Ever.
But let's please not let it be the last!!
I will gladly die on the intellectual hill of CHiPs. Its all I have.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:50 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Good grief, Nevin. I suppose it's possible that you weren't aware that your comment echoed a very, very well-known meme, and I probably would have apologized if you hadn't spent the rest of the thread doubling down.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:55 PM on April 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:55 PM on April 22, 2015 [7 favorites]
Here's some links to articles on Football and Rape On Metafilter:
(including citizens of the town banding together against the victim to protect the players!)
Previously
Also previously
Previously again
posted by edbles at 1:58 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
(including citizens of the town banding together against the victim to protect the players!)
Previously
Also previously
Previously again
posted by edbles at 1:58 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
> It was a face-saving attempt to counter Halloween Jack's dismissive comment
Your first comment came before Halloween Jack's - the one where you wanted to know if all football players are rapists. That is the one I was referencing, which is why I said "your initial "Not all football players" comment."
We're discussing a lot of stuff in this thread - comedy, football, the TV show this parodies - so I didn't understand what you found so horribly echo-chamber about it that you had to snidely snide on one aspect rather than just say "Hey, I don't get [whatever thing] about this - what references am I missing that might increase its funniness to me?"
(Also, if you really hate sportsball so much that you call it sportsball, you are never required to come into a thread where that might be a topic people are discussing seriously or at least not dismissively.)
posted by rtha at 2:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
Your first comment came before Halloween Jack's - the one where you wanted to know if all football players are rapists. That is the one I was referencing, which is why I said "your initial "Not all football players" comment."
We're discussing a lot of stuff in this thread - comedy, football, the TV show this parodies - so I didn't understand what you found so horribly echo-chamber about it that you had to snidely snide on one aspect rather than just say "Hey, I don't get [whatever thing] about this - what references am I missing that might increase its funniness to me?"
(Also, if you really hate sportsball so much that you call it sportsball, you are never required to come into a thread where that might be a topic people are discussing seriously or at least not dismissively.)
posted by rtha at 2:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
not sure there's much point in feeding the sea lion.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [48 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 2:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [48 favorites]
If one hasn't watched Friday Night Lights, one would perhaps miss that in the show, The Coach struggles with the ethical and moral education of his team, as well as their performance in the game. So the loving parody of the sketch takes all those complicated situations Coach and Mrs. Taylor navigate with their charges, and replaces them with Don't Rape, which seems like a pretty straightforward thing to say, but then the kids in the sketch react like it's one of the sticky moral quandaries from the show.
So there's, like, layers and stuff to the writing in the sketch.
in short, watch FNL.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2015 [25 favorites]
So there's, like, layers and stuff to the writing in the sketch.
in short, watch FNL.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:08 PM on April 22, 2015 [25 favorites]
(Side Note: so good to see that sketch writers in this century are finally learning how to end sketches, see also Key and Peele, instead of letting them peter out to commercial break a la SNL)
I agree but at the same time, I feel Key & Peele bits still mostly go on too long for their premise, and this was similar.
posted by nom de poop at 2:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I agree but at the same time, I feel Key & Peele bits still mostly go on too long for their premise, and this was similar.
posted by nom de poop at 2:12 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, I see. Because some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of football players may be moral neanderthals, we're free to talk about and indict "football culture" on the whole.
Did you actually watch the sketch? Did you notice that the halftime pep talk -- delivered by the same coach who told his players not to rape anyone -- was a not-at-all veiled reference to rape? Do you see the juxtaposition of his making that speech while simultaneously being against sexual assault?
That's what really put this thing through the uprights for me: the idea that in these situations, there are messages that everyone is just fine with putting out to teenagers ("Dominate them! Take what's yours!") that can be seen through a fairly thin lens as worrisome to be putting out to teenagers.
posted by Etrigan at 2:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
Did you actually watch the sketch? Did you notice that the halftime pep talk -- delivered by the same coach who told his players not to rape anyone -- was a not-at-all veiled reference to rape? Do you see the juxtaposition of his making that speech while simultaneously being against sexual assault?
That's what really put this thing through the uprights for me: the idea that in these situations, there are messages that everyone is just fine with putting out to teenagers ("Dominate them! Take what's yours!") that can be seen through a fairly thin lens as worrisome to be putting out to teenagers.
posted by Etrigan at 2:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [38 favorites]
I know my grump game is strong when people are praising things I like and I'm like oh come on, it's not that good.
posted by nom de poop at 2:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by nom de poop at 2:15 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
So often Amy Schumer comes up online, and people explain why, for some nattering, ridiculous reason or other, she actually doesn't count as funny, or her jokes aren't really squared up how they ought to be. I am struggling to think of a male comedian that people feel similarly compelled to "disqualify" as being funny.
And as I'm thinking about this, the mental image I get is of a guy crinkling his nose and saying, "Actually, it's about..."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:20 PM on April 22, 2015 [13 favorites]
And as I'm thinking about this, the mental image I get is of a guy crinkling his nose and saying, "Actually, it's about..."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:20 PM on April 22, 2015 [13 favorites]
Yeah, spot on imitation of the characters of FNL, but nothing really new, or funny, here.
posted by harrietthespy at 2:22 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by harrietthespy at 2:22 PM on April 22, 2015
St. Peepsburg: "Amy Schumer's Compliments ...the secret code of women revealed!"
"I look like an Armenian man! People are trying to buy carpets from me."
I made possibly the worst snorting I'M NOT LAUGHING NOISE at work and I think I've sprained my nose and people are staring
please advise.
posted by boo_radley at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
"I look like an Armenian man! People are trying to buy carpets from me."
I made possibly the worst snorting I'M NOT LAUGHING NOISE at work and I think I've sprained my nose and people are staring
please advise.
posted by boo_radley at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
Holy wow folks the nuance here is that this coach does what so many coaches do, no matter the sport: he takes a group of young men and convinces them to be invincible gods, whose role is to use their power to defeat anything that stands in their way. it's funny because he states he's not like other coaches, because he also draws the line that the power ends when the game is over...it doesn't carry over to the halloween party...ever.
#isthatsohardtoget?
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
#isthatsohardtoget?
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
So often Amy Schumer comes up online, and people explain why, for some nattering, ridiculous reason or other, she actually doesn't count as funny, or her jokes aren't really squared up how they ought to be.
I'm fully willing to admit that I want to like Amy Schumer more than I actually like Amy Schumer, but the most recent stuff I've seen makes me think it was just that she hadn't quite gotten her sketch-comedy rhythm down yet. I felt the exact same way about the first season of Key and Peele, the first season of Maron and frankly, all of @Midnight. They're all newish, a lot of things are riffing on other things, and it's not always quite on-point yet.
I don't doubt that 90% of the knee-jerk criticism of Schumer (and K&P) comes from a shitty place, but there's no need to give comedy works-in-progress a full pass either.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:28 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm fully willing to admit that I want to like Amy Schumer more than I actually like Amy Schumer, but the most recent stuff I've seen makes me think it was just that she hadn't quite gotten her sketch-comedy rhythm down yet. I felt the exact same way about the first season of Key and Peele, the first season of Maron and frankly, all of @Midnight. They're all newish, a lot of things are riffing on other things, and it's not always quite on-point yet.
I don't doubt that 90% of the knee-jerk criticism of Schumer (and K&P) comes from a shitty place, but there's no need to give comedy works-in-progress a full pass either.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:28 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Maybe in the future all comedy or music related FPPs could replace comments with a checkbox list:
posted by johnnydummkopf at 2:30 PM on April 22, 2015 [24 favorites]
- This isn't good because I don't like it.
- This is great because I like it.
- I like this but it's not good.
- I don't like this and it's not good.
- I don't like this but it is good.
- I would like express how jaded and cynical I am and I disagree with you.
posted by johnnydummkopf at 2:30 PM on April 22, 2015 [24 favorites]
not sure there's much point in feeding the sea lion.
OH HAI.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:35 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
OH HAI.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:35 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
DirtyOldTown: " I am struggling to think of a male comedian that people feel similarly compelled to "disqualify" as being funny. "
I generally agree with your premise, but I do have an answer, and somewhat ironically (perhaps), actually now that I think about it, I have TWO answers. Both appeal to the dudebro market.
1) Dane Cook was my obvious first answer, because, seriously. (and sure, that heartfelt Louis bit made me feel for him, but still. Dude's not really that funny).
2) "Tosh". Comedians crawled out of the woodwork to defend his right to make shitty rape jokes. Telling us that comedy was a golden fucking temple that should never ever dare be criticized (funny, how that works, really; the irony of comedians demanding FREE SPEECH and then when someone dares speak back, demand that all must hold comedy sacrosanct)
Here we have an example of a "legitimate" joke about rape, what those of us who were criticizing Tosh for in the first place said was possible. (Apparently not funny to some people, and sure, I can critique it as going on a little too long, whatever, you can do that for most comedy). The point being, this is what a rape joke can be, because it's not a joke about an instance of rape which is not funny, it is a joke about rape culture. And yes, Football Culture in particular. But you can extrapolate this to larger society, because this attitude is what goes on all the time in our society. FNL was an easy target because of the propensity for cover ups (what, Joe Paterno was just an isolated incident? All those rape charges through the years and domestic violence incidents from many many athletes all being covered up by the NFL and MLB and whatever other organizations mean nothing?)
So yeah, it does matter, and it matters in a few different ways.
posted by symbioid at 2:37 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I generally agree with your premise, but I do have an answer, and somewhat ironically (perhaps), actually now that I think about it, I have TWO answers. Both appeal to the dudebro market.
1) Dane Cook was my obvious first answer, because, seriously. (and sure, that heartfelt Louis bit made me feel for him, but still. Dude's not really that funny).
2) "Tosh". Comedians crawled out of the woodwork to defend his right to make shitty rape jokes. Telling us that comedy was a golden fucking temple that should never ever dare be criticized (funny, how that works, really; the irony of comedians demanding FREE SPEECH and then when someone dares speak back, demand that all must hold comedy sacrosanct)
Here we have an example of a "legitimate" joke about rape, what those of us who were criticizing Tosh for in the first place said was possible. (Apparently not funny to some people, and sure, I can critique it as going on a little too long, whatever, you can do that for most comedy). The point being, this is what a rape joke can be, because it's not a joke about an instance of rape which is not funny, it is a joke about rape culture. And yes, Football Culture in particular. But you can extrapolate this to larger society, because this attitude is what goes on all the time in our society. FNL was an easy target because of the propensity for cover ups (what, Joe Paterno was just an isolated incident? All those rape charges through the years and domestic violence incidents from many many athletes all being covered up by the NFL and MLB and whatever other organizations mean nothing?)
So yeah, it does matter, and it matters in a few different ways.
posted by symbioid at 2:37 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
johnnydummkopf: "Maybe in the future all comedy or music related FPPs could replace comments with a checkbox list:
Oh - then we can remove the comments, and it'd be an improved version of reddit!
posted by symbioid at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
- This isn't good because I don't like it.
- This is great because I like it.
- I like this but it's not good.
- I don't like this and it's not good.
- I don't like this but it is good.
- I would like express how jaded and cynical I am and I disagree with you."
Oh - then we can remove the comments, and it'd be an improved version of reddit!
posted by symbioid at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
The biggest problem I have with Schumer is how much of her schick is her joking negatively about her appearance when I find her stunning.
I have avoided watching this online since I'll watch the episode soon enough. If it's 1/2 as funny as the skewering she gave Sorkin last season I may pee.
It's interesting to see a skirmish in a Schumer thread about the "true believer choir" or whatever you want to call it since I doubt she's survive the examination in her own work and associations. She's chummy with some really gross male comics - I recall an end of show interview with Norton in the first season - and I'd bet a c-note she'd be firmly on the pro-Tosh side. Just the other day I saw her joking about missing being catcalled.
posted by phearlez at 2:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have avoided watching this online since I'll watch the episode soon enough. If it's 1/2 as funny as the skewering she gave Sorkin last season I may pee.
It's interesting to see a skirmish in a Schumer thread about the "true believer choir" or whatever you want to call it since I doubt she's survive the examination in her own work and associations. She's chummy with some really gross male comics - I recall an end of show interview with Norton in the first season - and I'd bet a c-note she'd be firmly on the pro-Tosh side. Just the other day I saw her joking about missing being catcalled.
posted by phearlez at 2:43 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
That was awesome. Y'all need to look up comedy/satire in a dictionary.
I adore Friday Night Lights, but my one issue with the show was that it never addressed the culture of invincibility that is inherent in football, particularly as it relates to A) concussions and B) the entitled behaviour of some athletes towards women. These are the two biggest issues currently overshadowing the NFL.
This sketch was a great way to pierce the bubble.
posted by dry white toast at 2:49 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I adore Friday Night Lights, but my one issue with the show was that it never addressed the culture of invincibility that is inherent in football, particularly as it relates to A) concussions and B) the entitled behaviour of some athletes towards women. These are the two biggest issues currently overshadowing the NFL.
This sketch was a great way to pierce the bubble.
posted by dry white toast at 2:49 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
I adore Friday Night Lights, but my one issue with the show was that it never addressed the culture of invincibility that is inherent in football,
Did your copy excise all mentions of Jason Street?
posted by Etrigan at 2:54 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
Did your copy excise all mentions of Jason Street?
posted by Etrigan at 2:54 PM on April 22, 2015 [5 favorites]
The biggest problem I have with Schumer is how much of her schick is her joking negatively about her appearance when I find her stunning.
I think that's a pattern comedians get into when they tour and do live shows a lot because it's a way to disarm hecklers. If you land a few comments on yourself it deprives them of their ammo.
posted by edbles at 2:54 PM on April 22, 2015
I think that's a pattern comedians get into when they tour and do live shows a lot because it's a way to disarm hecklers. If you land a few comments on yourself it deprives them of their ammo.
posted by edbles at 2:54 PM on April 22, 2015
I am of course reminded of the classic Monty Python sketch in which Rule Number Three is There is NO . . . Rule Number Three.
There is probably a whole canon of "three rules" jokes, though.
posted by spitbull at 2:57 PM on April 22, 2015
There is probably a whole canon of "three rules" jokes, though.
posted by spitbull at 2:57 PM on April 22, 2015
Someday, someone more clever than I am is going to write a fantastic think piece looking at Schumer's treatment of sex, female sexuality, and female self-image. I wouldn't know quite how to parse out everything she's doing into a fully coherent theory. But the long and short of it is that I am convinced she is intentionally cooking up a weird stew of both progressive and sorta retrograde ideas about sex to come up with her own kinda disarming, illuminating vibe. It ends up making her both relatable to certain kinds of sexist guys and sort of sneakily critical of them at the same time. It's a neat trick and I am not sure I'm sharp enough to see all of the parts moving, but I can tell it's there.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:01 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Was just announced that Greg Hardy got suspended for 10 games. The local news? Is spinning this as "bad for the Cowboys." Never mind the reason he is getting suspended...beating the shit out of a woman. That's hardly worth talking about, apparently.
posted by emjaybee at 3:06 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 3:06 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
"You can't bring a wet mule 'round a hot corn oven."
posted by Team of Scientists at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [15 favorites]
posted by Team of Scientists at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [15 favorites]
I am of course reminded of the classic Monty Python sketch in which Rule Number Three is There is NO . . . Rule Number Three.
uh...six?
posted by The Bellman at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
uh...six?
posted by The Bellman at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
I erase Jason Street by closing my eyes and humming whenever he's onscreen until he mysteriously moves to Philly or whatever in S3 or whenever. TLDR Jason Street is boring and Landry never killed anyone hmmm hmm hMMMMMMMM
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [6 favorites]
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
See: Penn State, Vanderbilt, UT, Virginia Tech. FIU, MSUM
posted by hollygoheavy at 3:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
See: Penn State, Vanderbilt, UT, Virginia Tech. FIU, MSUM
posted by hollygoheavy at 3:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [9 favorites]
This skit is also directly referencing the Steubenville, OH rape case where two high school football players raped an unconscious girl while a dozen peers recorded video. The locals blamed the girl.
posted by irisclara at 4:11 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by irisclara at 4:11 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
I played varsity sports. Was always picked for the teams early on. My brothers all played varsity sports. I was raised in sports culture. To this day, I attend several sporting events every year and I think there are heaps of mental, emotional and physical benefits to playing sports at some level. I still play them. They are my favorite way of getting exercise and a valuable source of social interaction.
Just yesterday, my young adult novel dissecting the various reasons people stay silent in the wake of sexual assault in small towns that place their athletes on god-like pedestals published. It is, I think, very much an indictment of rape culture in sports culture. Writing that book made me a better warrior against rape culture. I hate rape culture. Hate.
I still love sports. I also cannot deny that sports culture has serious, serious problems with sexual assault. I am allowed to contain both those things. I am allowed to cheer at a Sounders' game and, in the next breath, be livid at yet another case of athlete-related assault. People who hate rape culture and recognize the very real connection between it and sports culture aren't just some kind of pathetic klutzes who were shunned by the golden boys of their middle school or whatever ridiculous narrative you want to use to minimize the very real problems in sports culture.
posted by weeyin at 4:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [39 favorites]
Just yesterday, my young adult novel dissecting the various reasons people stay silent in the wake of sexual assault in small towns that place their athletes on god-like pedestals published. It is, I think, very much an indictment of rape culture in sports culture. Writing that book made me a better warrior against rape culture. I hate rape culture. Hate.
I still love sports. I also cannot deny that sports culture has serious, serious problems with sexual assault. I am allowed to contain both those things. I am allowed to cheer at a Sounders' game and, in the next breath, be livid at yet another case of athlete-related assault. People who hate rape culture and recognize the very real connection between it and sports culture aren't just some kind of pathetic klutzes who were shunned by the golden boys of their middle school or whatever ridiculous narrative you want to use to minimize the very real problems in sports culture.
posted by weeyin at 4:13 PM on April 22, 2015 [39 favorites]
Honestly the "someone wasn't picked for the team" crack is so high school that I thought the satire of the skit had spilled over into this thread and starting spreading. Having said that, thank you for pointing out the false dilemma re: loving sports and hating the rape culture therein. Doesn't get said enough, as obvious as it should be.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:23 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:23 PM on April 22, 2015 [11 favorites]
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
To wit: the very first comment in this thread, a quote from the sketch, points out the fundamental contradiction. It's like asking capitalists not to be greedy.
posted by klanawa at 4:36 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
To wit: the very first comment in this thread, a quote from the sketch, points out the fundamental contradiction. It's like asking capitalists not to be greedy.
posted by klanawa at 4:36 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just yesterday, my young adult novel dissecting the various reasons people stay silent in the wake of sexual assault in small towns that place their athletes on god-like pedestals published.
*cough* projects *cough*
posted by phearlez at 5:34 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
*cough* projects *cough*
posted by phearlez at 5:34 PM on April 22, 2015 [8 favorites]
I feel like a tool for never realizing the projects page existed before this thread, but now I am eagerly clicking through the links. And will get my book on there, when I have a moment. :) Thank you for the direction, phearlez!
posted by weeyin at 6:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by weeyin at 6:00 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh man, I loved FNL*, and I thought this sketch was brilliant. Two minor details that stood out:
1. Amy Schumer absolutely nailed the intonation on the Mrs. Coach "Oh hai" at the start
2. While no one's hair can approach the glory of Connie Britton's, I loved that Schumer's wig was styled in the exact same way.
(*except for that part of Season 2 that we all pretend doesn't exist)
posted by TwoStride at 6:06 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
1. Amy Schumer absolutely nailed the intonation on the Mrs. Coach "Oh hai" at the start
2. While no one's hair can approach the glory of Connie Britton's, I loved that Schumer's wig was styled in the exact same way.
(*except for that part of Season 2 that we all pretend doesn't exist)
posted by TwoStride at 6:06 PM on April 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
Well the character-building aspects of sports don't make for great satire. But they exist in abundance.
posted by raider at 6:14 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by raider at 6:14 PM on April 22, 2015
poffin boffin: "not sure there's much point in feeding the sea lion."
But he's a CANADIAN sea lion. Endangered species!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
But he's a CANADIAN sea lion. Endangered species!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:14 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Not all Canadians.
posted by jeather at 6:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by jeather at 6:18 PM on April 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Skymall used to sell a wine glass that was large enough to hold an entire bottle of wine.
I would pour out that entire enormous glass in memory of SkyMall.
posted by asperity at 8:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would pour out that entire enormous glass in memory of SkyMall.
posted by asperity at 8:26 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh my. So that wine glass is available from some outfit that sells only ridiculously oversized items. I guess somebody's gotta try to fill the void that SkyMall left.
posted by asperity at 8:28 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by asperity at 8:28 PM on April 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just here to say, as a person whose life is now surrounded by OSU football, rape and football cultures are pretty inextricably linked, and also ... is Coach Knox Overstreet from Dead Poets Society?
posted by ChuraChura at 8:39 PM on April 22, 2015
posted by ChuraChura at 8:39 PM on April 22, 2015
Yes, aka Will Gardner from The Good Wife, aka Josh Charles
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:45 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:45 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Nevin: I want to know why this sketch is funny, and I don't understand why having a minority opinion here is grounds for snide, snarky comments that try to shut me down.
You 've been told why other people find the sketch funny, and I will reiterate: it's an extended reference to US football culture (at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels) in general and, in the specific, to a show portraying and to a lesser extent interrogating that culture by example, and it's humorously pointing up a major problem in what we train young football players to believe about themselves, while making a lot of littler jokes along the way, only some of which are in-jokes about Friday Night Lights. But not understanding a joke isn't an opinion, minority or otherwise, unless what you mean is you refuse to understand the joke.
Also, maybe with the pay TV it's easier to completely avoid US content in Canada these days, but when I was a pup, Sundays meant either football or The Beachcombers. You'd have to work hard to avoid knowing anything about football culture, in which case I wonder why you seem to want to defend it.
posted by gingerest at 8:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
You 've been told why other people find the sketch funny, and I will reiterate: it's an extended reference to US football culture (at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels) in general and, in the specific, to a show portraying and to a lesser extent interrogating that culture by example, and it's humorously pointing up a major problem in what we train young football players to believe about themselves, while making a lot of littler jokes along the way, only some of which are in-jokes about Friday Night Lights. But not understanding a joke isn't an opinion, minority or otherwise, unless what you mean is you refuse to understand the joke.
Also, maybe with the pay TV it's easier to completely avoid US content in Canada these days, but when I was a pup, Sundays meant either football or The Beachcombers. You'd have to work hard to avoid knowing anything about football culture, in which case I wonder why you seem to want to defend it.
posted by gingerest at 8:47 PM on April 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?This is probably worth its own FPP but -- if you're really interested in a deep look at this, Jon Krakauer's newly released Missoula is a depressingly thorough look at the problem of football culture and rape.
posted by Nevin at 4:22 PM on April 22 [+] [!]
"It’s almost become a joke at this point that high school and college athletes feel they have a license to do this sort of thing."
"They really do. They feel entitled to do this. They get away with it. Katie Baker talked to people there who told her, “The quarterback doesn’t have to rape to get fucked.” But all that says is that he thinks he’s entitled to have sex with anyone he wants.
I don’t claim to be unbiased, obviously, but when I heard that verdict read, I was so angry. There were tears in my eyes and it was not just the verdict but the eruption of cheers and the tweeting afterwards. And the football players. That culture of the football team. “He’s a teammate. We support him no matter what.” That I find really distasteful. If you want to stop this problem, coaches should have zero tolerance and teammates should be instructed that if any of their teammates have assaulted someone, there’s no support and they don’t deserve it. But it’s the opposite. The whole thing is a really discouraging subject. I feel pretty ground up and wrung out."
posted by kanuck at 12:15 AM on April 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
Some small - likely extraordinarily small - subset of police are moral neanderthals who murder people of color in the streets. Yet the wider police culture and community tolerates and protects them, making the whole thing complicit. We're free to talk about and indict "police culture" on the whole. Just assign these variables values that point to any gross, toxic culture that produces a statistically-significant number of "bad apples".
As an aside on this, The Guardian reports Baltimore's Fraternal Order of Police as saying that the people on the streets protesting about the death of Freddie Gray "look and sound much like a lynch mob". If you're describing people protesting about a man being dragged into a police wagon where his neck was apparently broken as "much like a lynch mob", you've reached a level of deadpan in real life that almost precisely maps to "what if she changes her mind like a crazy person?"
The reason this sketch is funny* is because it isn't inventing some ludicrous Moon world. It's taking something we already understand - athletes are treated like gods and enabled by communities that cover up their misdeeds, creating a sense of invincibility and entitlement that can be actively dangerous for the people around them. It is then riffing on that understanding through a stylistic parody of Friday Night Lights in particular and the high school football genre more generally, by having the coach treat consequence-free rape as if it is a part of orthodox high school football tactics, and therefore the ban on it as a controversial tactical innovation (like a no-huddle offense) rather than a statement of basic human decency.
*Although of course nothing kills a joke like explaining it.
posted by running order squabble fest at 1:21 AM on April 23, 2015 [10 favorites]
As an aside on this, The Guardian reports Baltimore's Fraternal Order of Police as saying that the people on the streets protesting about the death of Freddie Gray "look and sound much like a lynch mob". If you're describing people protesting about a man being dragged into a police wagon where his neck was apparently broken as "much like a lynch mob", you've reached a level of deadpan in real life that almost precisely maps to "what if she changes her mind like a crazy person?"
The reason this sketch is funny* is because it isn't inventing some ludicrous Moon world. It's taking something we already understand - athletes are treated like gods and enabled by communities that cover up their misdeeds, creating a sense of invincibility and entitlement that can be actively dangerous for the people around them. It is then riffing on that understanding through a stylistic parody of Friday Night Lights in particular and the high school football genre more generally, by having the coach treat consequence-free rape as if it is a part of orthodox high school football tactics, and therefore the ban on it as a controversial tactical innovation (like a no-huddle offense) rather than a statement of basic human decency.
*Although of course nothing kills a joke like explaining it.
posted by running order squabble fest at 1:21 AM on April 23, 2015 [10 favorites]
(And of course the punchline - because if you're this far down the thread you probably should have watched the video - is that it is - that ultimately "don't rape!" is a team shout as meaningless as "go team!", when the coach is still using the language of rape culture and toxic entitlement to motivate his team.)
posted by running order squabble fest at 2:56 AM on April 23, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by running order squabble fest at 2:56 AM on April 23, 2015 [11 favorites]
After how amazing this was I went and watched a bunch of other sketches of hers on YouTube. Sure, some of them are hit-or-miss, but oh my god you guys when she takes aim at male sexuality tropes she does it with surgical precision. He's Good Looking. Sex Stories. I am floored, floored I tell you.
posted by a car full of lions at 3:58 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by a car full of lions at 3:58 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh my. So that wine glass is available from some outfit that sells only ridiculously oversized items. I guess somebody's gotta try to fill the void that SkyMall left.
...when you need wigs and novelties, and you're in Indiana... You can hang it up, buddy! I looked everywhere. Woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, one thing on my mind I wanted a cigarette lighter as big as an encyclopedia....posted by edgeways at 5:38 AM on April 23, 2015
(kanuck, I love Jon Krakauer, so thank you for pointing out his new book. And yes, I would very much like to hear about this in an FPP.)
posted by wenestvedt at 5:40 AM on April 23, 2015
posted by wenestvedt at 5:40 AM on April 23, 2015
The question "is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture" is really interesting to me, actually - because it sort of pokes around into this question of what's a part of what.
Because, yeah, obviously there's nothing about trying to get a stupidly shaped ball to the end of a lawn painted in the colors of your high school that, in and of itself, perpetrates rape and rape culture.
But, obviously there are a jillion cases of chronic sexual assault (plus coverups) in that are related to football. And there are also a jillion examples in other sports, and the military, and frats, and in other institutions and organizations. What do they have in common?
I would wager that when it gets down to it, the line from the sketch: "It's about violently dominating anyone that stands between you and what you want" - probably gets at it the best. When you have institutions that are based on this extremely competitive achievement, hardened identity, defiant self-protection from outsiders, predominantly or exclusively male, etc, I'd hypothesize that you're more likely to find chronic sexual assault and organized protection of the perpetrators.
So no, maybe sexual assault isn't a fundamental part of football culture, but very much sometimes football culture has a lot of overlap with institutions that are a fundamental part of rape culture.
posted by entropone at 6:44 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Because, yeah, obviously there's nothing about trying to get a stupidly shaped ball to the end of a lawn painted in the colors of your high school that, in and of itself, perpetrates rape and rape culture.
But, obviously there are a jillion cases of chronic sexual assault (plus coverups) in that are related to football. And there are also a jillion examples in other sports, and the military, and frats, and in other institutions and organizations. What do they have in common?
I would wager that when it gets down to it, the line from the sketch: "It's about violently dominating anyone that stands between you and what you want" - probably gets at it the best. When you have institutions that are based on this extremely competitive achievement, hardened identity, defiant self-protection from outsiders, predominantly or exclusively male, etc, I'd hypothesize that you're more likely to find chronic sexual assault and organized protection of the perpetrators.
So no, maybe sexual assault isn't a fundamental part of football culture, but very much sometimes football culture has a lot of overlap with institutions that are a fundamental part of rape culture.
posted by entropone at 6:44 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yes, aka Will Gardner from The Good Wife, aka Josh Charles
...who also appeared in Sports Night, which had a multi-episode story arc dealing with sexual assault in football, co-written by Aaron Sorkin.
posted by Gelatin at 7:25 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
...who also appeared in Sports Night, which had a multi-episode story arc dealing with sexual assault in football, co-written by Aaron Sorkin.
posted by Gelatin at 7:25 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Look, I'm not from the US. I live in Canada. Hockey is a religion here. I hate hockey. My son loves it. He wants to play it. So I take him to practice and get the hockey subscription and pretend that I like it.
But emotionally and spiritually hockey has no place in my life besides that. Or any other professional sport.
So I know nothing about sports. But I like to be intellectually honest. So:
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
Yes. And hockey.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:21 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
But emotionally and spiritually hockey has no place in my life besides that. Or any other professional sport.
So I know nothing about sports. But I like to be intellectually honest. So:
Is sexual assault a fundamental part of football culture?
Yes. And hockey.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:21 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
(I don't have a comment on the skit other than to echo its near-perfect aping of FNL in service of a brilliant sendup, but I did want to note that Bed Bath & Beyond stocks the "whole bottle" wine glasses. Which I find a little horrifying.)
posted by uberchet at 9:55 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by uberchet at 9:55 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
But, obviously there are a jillion cases of chronic sexual assault (plus coverups) in that are related to football.
I don't think football, or hockey, or whathaveyou have anything to do with sexual assault in and of themselves. I think the issue is multi-faceted, but when talking about sports and sexual assault, what you're really talking about is an organized social structure intent on protecting its members and using its de facto authority to insulate perpetrators from consequences. We've seen that this happens in lots of places that are not sports related - priesthoods, frats, executive suites, or squads/platoons/battalions, etc.
For example, the assaults at Penn State didn't occur because of football - but they were tolerated because the power structure viewed prosecuting them as worse than covering them up. You can see this very same pattern repeats at OSU, the Catholic Church, Tailhook, etc etc etc.
So, yeah, I think it misses the mark to blame football or hockey for sexual assaults. More broadly, it is the power structures that exist in the communities and the willingness of those adults in charge to overlook assaults "for the good of the team/program" that enable these things. That does happen around sports programs - and it happens around lots of other types of organizations as well.
I think the genius of this piece isn't in how indicts the players - it is in how it also indicts the greater community. The part where the little old ladies say "What do you mean those boys can't rape?" as though it was crazy talk was so on the nose, it hurt. Sports teams and other organizations don't have this sort of power because it is written into law, they have it because the people in the community grant it and are more willing to tolerate assaults than admit to corruption in their community. That is the fundamental problem, and so totally human that I don't see a great way around that.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:01 AM on April 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
I don't think football, or hockey, or whathaveyou have anything to do with sexual assault in and of themselves. I think the issue is multi-faceted, but when talking about sports and sexual assault, what you're really talking about is an organized social structure intent on protecting its members and using its de facto authority to insulate perpetrators from consequences. We've seen that this happens in lots of places that are not sports related - priesthoods, frats, executive suites, or squads/platoons/battalions, etc.
For example, the assaults at Penn State didn't occur because of football - but they were tolerated because the power structure viewed prosecuting them as worse than covering them up. You can see this very same pattern repeats at OSU, the Catholic Church, Tailhook, etc etc etc.
So, yeah, I think it misses the mark to blame football or hockey for sexual assaults. More broadly, it is the power structures that exist in the communities and the willingness of those adults in charge to overlook assaults "for the good of the team/program" that enable these things. That does happen around sports programs - and it happens around lots of other types of organizations as well.
I think the genius of this piece isn't in how indicts the players - it is in how it also indicts the greater community. The part where the little old ladies say "What do you mean those boys can't rape?" as though it was crazy talk was so on the nose, it hurt. Sports teams and other organizations don't have this sort of power because it is written into law, they have it because the people in the community grant it and are more willing to tolerate assaults than admit to corruption in their community. That is the fundamental problem, and so totally human that I don't see a great way around that.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:01 AM on April 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
I think the genius of this piece isn't in how indicts the players - it is in how it also indicts the greater community. The part where the little old ladies say "What do you mean those boys can't rape?" as though it was crazy talk was so on the nose, it hurt.
Old lady #1: How are our boys supposed to celebrate when they're winning?
Old lady #2: Or blow off steam when they're losing?
That's pretty devastating. Season three is off to a great start.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:09 AM on April 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Old lady #1: How are our boys supposed to celebrate when they're winning?
Old lady #2: Or blow off steam when they're losing?
That's pretty devastating. Season three is off to a great start.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:09 AM on April 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
While organizations and teams covering up for staff or members or teammates is a huge part of the problem, it's also that organizations like sports teams and frats and religions and the military often encourage toxic masculinity in which men are assumed and often encouraged to be aggressive, violent, domineering, and obsessed with sex.
posted by jaguar at 11:24 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jaguar at 11:24 AM on April 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think the issue is multi-faceted, but when talking about sports and sexual assault, what you're really talking about is an organized social structure intent on protecting its members and using its de facto authority to insulate perpetrators from consequences.
yeah, that's what i was aiming for - and you phrased it well.
posted by entropone at 12:54 PM on April 23, 2015
yeah, that's what i was aiming for - and you phrased it well.
posted by entropone at 12:54 PM on April 23, 2015
I have never watched FNL. I've never seen any of Amy Schumer's work. I found this hilariously awesome.
That is to say, I don't really think you have to even know this is a parody to enjoy.
posted by waitangi at 1:41 PM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
That is to say, I don't really think you have to even know this is a parody to enjoy.
posted by waitangi at 1:41 PM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
was this linked already? she gets at rape in the military via a video game in this one, "A Very Realistic Military," including a side of victim-blaming, disbelieving "you must've pressed the wrong button" gamer boyfriend.
yes, article about this sketch, hitting a lot of points in this thread:
amy: yes i wish to report it.This skit is also directly referencing the Steubenville, OH rape case where two high school football players raped an unconscious girl while a dozen peers recorded video. The locals blamed the girl.
video game narrator: are you sure?
a: yes i'm sure.
n: did you know he has a family? *picture of family*
a: ...no?
n: does that change your mind about reporting?
a: no! what?
...
n: attention soldier, your attacker was found guilty in a military court--
a: yes! finally! thank you.
n: --but his commanding officer chose to reject that decision, so he is now back on active duty.
a: what?? they can do that??? what the fuck is this game? fuck your fuckin stupid military bullshit--
boyfriend: *re-enters room* hey hey hey language, language, be a lady.
yes, article about this sketch, hitting a lot of points in this thread:
The incident seemed to take place in some heightened reality; it was almost too outrageous to be real. “You know that laugh you do when you cannot believe that people are this ridiculous and cruel?” she said. “It was that kind of laugh. And if there’s that laugh in this story, there’s likely a sketch there.”and a reminder to the #notall____ what-about-the-men-inists:
She ran through a bunch of possibilities in her head. Is the sketch about those boys? Is it about the kid who took the picture? ... Eventually, Nangle landed on her focus: “It’s the adults who deserve our ridicule.” The element of the Steubenville case that lingered with her was “how permissive the town and the school were. So what’s a way I can get into the town? And I came up with the idea of setting it in Friday Night Lights.”
“The sketch has nothing to do with Friday Night Lights,” Nangle clarified. “It’s just putting it in an environment that people understand.”
...
The target of the sketch isn’t football, but it isn’t exactly not football, either. “Obviously, it wasn’t lost on me that these guys are trained to knock each other over while half-dressed girls jump up and down on the sidelines,” said Nangle. “The history of it is all there, and it just says something.”
For Nangle, what mattered most was that the focus stayed on the town, so every character is responsible, in some way, for the (in this case, comically) pervasive rape culture within the community. “The two old ladies that kind of walk by, we were kind of playing with the idea of what they would say and who it would be,” Nangle said. “And I remember being adamant that it was people who live in the town who say, ‘You’re the coach who don’t like rapin’.’ I wanted to make sure we were showing the town as complicit and also just looking ridiculous.”
these sketches are all part of the same bonkers, infuriating reality that women are expected to tolerate objectively intolerable circumstances. Whether you’re reading a news story about Steubenville or the latest legislative effort to deny women access to birth control or rampant sexual violence in the military, you could easily “find yourself laughing out loud and your arms extended being like, ‘Is anyone else seeing how fucking ridiculous this is?'” said Nangle.posted by twist my arm at 1:52 PM on April 23, 2015 [14 favorites]
If you haven't watched Schumer's show before, you should know that this episode, as a unit, is better than any previous full episode. The first two seasons can be hit and miss. Last night was the first time every segment was right on. I'm hoping this is a signal that her show is hitting its stride.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:13 PM on April 23, 2015
posted by eyeballkid at 5:13 PM on April 23, 2015
She's definitely had a number of feminist (and anti-rape) messages in previous sketches, but it's usually downplayed like in this one about picking an on-demand movie (which ends up going in a weirdly different direction).
BOYFRIEND: Evil Dead? It's not that scary, it's more like light raping.
AMY: What's the description?
BF [brings up on screen]
AMY: "Captured in the woods, an injured girl is restrained in a basement. Her father sets her on fire and shoots her dead. Which is what she deserves." No...
posted by psoas at 12:10 PM on April 27, 2015
BOYFRIEND: Evil Dead? It's not that scary, it's more like light raping.
AMY: What's the description?
BF [brings up on screen]
AMY: "Captured in the woods, an injured girl is restrained in a basement. Her father sets her on fire and shoots her dead. Which is what she deserves." No...
posted by psoas at 12:10 PM on April 27, 2015
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posted by philip-random at 11:41 AM on April 22, 2015 [27 favorites]