true, false, racist, or… not funny? (a pre-theory)

I was thinking the other day about how a sense of humor is perhaps the most universally admired quality. Some people want so much to be thought of as funny that they’ll say or do almost anything to get a laugh.

It led me to an insight about a problem I seem to encounter far too often these days – casual racism. My insight into casual racism is simple. I think most people who get caught up in these minor, completely unnecessary incidents of casual racism are not guilty of being bigoted – they are guilty of being unfunny.

I think this is explained partly by how we seem to be in general agreement that if something is really funny, it is OK to make the joke, and those offended need to just ‘lighten up’. I’m not here to agree or disagree with that idea, reader – I think I’ve ‘lightened up’ on plenty of occasions in my life (and sometimes I'm glad I did, but not every time).

I will instead add this caveat – though the above theory might be OK, I think very few people are actually funny enough to transcend the offensive nature of their jokes. So when I don’t laugh at something that is borderline offensive, I'd like to clarify that I probably didn't laugh because the comment wasn't funny.

And yet, this train seems to barrel on from station to station. It leads me to a theory, or maybe just a pre-theory for now as I work out the kinks – most people would rather be incorrectly considered racists than correctly considered not funny. If my theory is right – which I think it is (which means it probably is not) – then I think I can understand a little better how casual racism comes about: it is far easier for a good and decent person to clear up a misunderstanding about allegedly being a racist than it is for an unfunny person to change accurate perceptions about a poor sense of humor.

true false racist!

Hey all,

This is very much a 'part two' from Tuesday's post. Please refer back to it before proceeding...

Thanks for reading,

Tim

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Let's play a round of true-false-racist...Miso Hungry, reader, is it true, false...or racist? Let's break it down, one option at a time, and see if we can't reach some sort of a conclusion.

There is not much of a case for 'false' here. The use of the expression involves Japanese food and a description of hunger level, both appropriate when used separately by a restaurant seeking to draw in customers. The factual accuracy here rules out 'false' (1).

So, is it true? I suppose a hungry person with a particular hankering for soup might say 'yes' without malicious intent. It's a pun and puns are in good fun, right? And the 'Me so...' opener is commonly used in mimicking or parodying 'the hungry brute'. The 'me so hungry' line would not be out of place in a caveman movie. There is certainly a kernel of truth here (and definitely an escape route for anyone looking to deflect the question I'm posing here).

But I think the racist argument is solid. 'Me so..' is not just Fun For The Neanderthal Family. It's a cruel imitation of broken English. Is it coincidence that the way a native Japanese speaker might describe their hunger sounds an awful lot like this expression?

Perhaps.

But do coincidences excuse racism?

Verdict: racist

Footnotes / the internet is judge, jury, and...

0. An article I was unaware of at the time I started writing this post...

Could the 'Miso Hungry is racist' position be strengthened if others used the expression without the word 'Miso'? I searched Google for such an example and found one out on the west coast. A food truck in the Bay Area called 'Me So Hungry' serves burgers and fries. Well done, Me So Hungry, for at least attempting to sidestep the issue...and perhaps, for sealing the fate of Miso Hungry today.

By the way, I'm not here to suggest 'Me So Hungry' gets off the hook - this story is perhaps a crystal ball into the food truck's future...

1. I think we need a better expression but for now, it'll do...

I'll use the expression 'factual accuracy' in the book quite a bit, I think, at the risk of offending lazy readers, since it seems to best describe cases where I've ruled out 'false' but have yet to decide between 'true' or 'racist'