Don Rickles' racial joke about President Obama...

[cynatnite]

Don Rickles told a racial joke Thursday night at the American Film Institute’s tribute to Shirley MacLaine that may have been more appropriate half a century ago at the Friar's Club. This time, though, the object of Rickles' mockery wasn't Sammy Davis Jr. -- but the first African-American President of the United States.

"I shouldn’t make fun of the blacks," Rickles, 86, said according to The Hollywood Reporter. "President Obama is a personal friend of mine. He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke."

Like many comedians of his generation, Rickles' act has long included racial humor that would be considered unacceptable to today's audiences. But as race relations evolved, it became rarer and rarer for comedians like Rickles to include such jokes in their act.

This was not the first times Rickles did material about Obama that made audiences squeamish. Right after Obama was elected in 2008, Rickles went on "Late Show with David Letterman" to try out some jokes about Obama playing basketball in the White House during a national emergency. The studio audience was audibly uncomfortable with the racial implications.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/don-rickles-tells-obama-racial-joke-at-afi-dinner_n_1582285.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

[snappyturtle]

1. I find Rickles' joke disgusting. I wouldn't have found it funny 50 yrs. ago either. nt

[phasma ex machina]

21. I find it too stupid by half. A half-assed non sequitur from a senile angry old man. nt

[UTUSN]

2. Not surprising, like Jerry LEWIS's slaps at women. n/t

[xfundy]

3. He's a dinosaur. He's 86.

And is quite possibly losing his mind. Obviously.

[2ndAmForComputers]

18. Fuck that noise. No excuses.

He was 40 when the Civil Rights struggle was at its peak. Fuck him.

[CTyankee]

45. I thought he was dead, already...

[RebelOne]

51. So did I. Never cared for his humor anyway. n/t

[Kaleva]

4. In the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" shows, slurs against Jews, gays, blacks and so on abound.

[longship]

5. In response secret service stuffs Rickles and puts him in a Smithsonian exhibit as aNeanderthal

nt

[FirstLight]

6. his humor appeals to those like my dad

older white males who are so disconnected from reality... too far gone, a product of their generation.

[JI7]

7. he is old, but in this joke it seems like he is making fun of white people also

himself in this case.

[Zanzoobar]

8. Rickles is a member of the theater of the absurd

Consider the absurdity. He's a left-leaning Jew. I think he may have outlived his audience. They would have understood the absurdity. There were no doubt some octogenarians who chuckled, but not insensitively. I seriously doubt any harm was intended, though it is a cringe-worthy jibe.

[Maine-ah]

9. hell, I thought Rickles was dead...

[Release The Hounds]

10. .

[alp227]

11. The article has a poll...33% answered 'society is too politically correct'

So DU that poll and choose "Yes. That type of racial joke is unacceptable in 2012, period."

[Great Caesars Ghost]

37. Exactly!

Lock step with society, or face extreme and severe consequences!!!!

[CreekDog]

12. The joke broke the first rule of comedy

Has to be funny.

[Ian David]

14. Most comedians don't have a set where no jokes bomb.

But yes, this one is a bomb.

[Ian David]

13. Rickles is just doing the schtick that's second nature to him. He doesn't mean it. This is his thing

He's an insult comic.

People who know him expect this kind of thing, and know he doesn't mean it.

In fact, people go to his shows, expecting him to say these sorts of things to them, ABOUT them, to their face.

It's like going to see a Friday the 13th movie and being shocked by all the violence.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. Agreed.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. I remember Don Rickles making jokes about the black band leader on

Letterman, I think, years ago. he implied the black band leader was going to pull a knife on him. the band leader was visibly uncomfortable. Letterman, or whoever, tried to intervene.

The thing with Rickles is that his jokes follow stereotypes - so the jokes about blacks are the worst - criminals, stupid, violent. he pretends to be self deprecating by including jokes about Jewish people but the stereotypes aren't as harsh, imho.

[ailsagirl]

16. Oh, is that cretin still around?

I thought he'd been dead for years.

I didn't read the post (no offense--the title said it all) because I find any 'comedian' who once described his wife as, "an ice cube with a hole in it" despicable. With 'humor' of that kind, I'm not surprised he'd stoop to make a racial joke. What a piece of crap.

[Zoeisright]

17. I thought Rickles was dead.

Too bad.

[crazyjoe]

19. Lighten up, this guy's hayday was in the 70's, things were

different then. People could laugh at themselves and not get all offended by a comedian talking about this black, or that jew. At least Don Rickles is an equal opportunity offender.

[AverageJoe90]

34. Maybe, but I feel this was a little distasteful.

Hey, no offense, nobody's saying he's a bad guy or nothing.

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. I guess no one posting here has seen TODAY's black comics talking about white people...

Is there no end to what offends DU'ers? I guess being "The First Black President of the United States" puts you out of the reach of comics everywhere...

"racial humor that would be considered unacceptable by today's audiences" means humor by white comics ONLY.

[MrTwister]

26. Do white people get victimized by black racism a lot?

Until they do, it's not exactly the same thing.

[cherokeeprogressive]

30. Wait... wasn't the conversation about COMEDY?

[EFerrari]

31. Your comment was about racial humor, wasn't it?

[MrTwister]

32. It was about racism. nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

36. I have to laugh...

DU defends Bill Maher for calling Sarah Palin a CUNT because well, he's a comedian, but a totally over-the-hill comedian causes DU outrage for mentioning Barack Obama and mop in the same sentence.

What's worse... racism, or sexism?

[RZM]

38. I'd say that Maher's racial jokes about the president are a more apt comparison

He's made a few over the years. I can't remember all of them, but I do remember one where he said something to the effect of:

'If Obama is the first black president, he should act like it. He should confront the Republicans wearing baggy clothes with a gun in his waist.'

That's not very different from what Rickles said. Both jokes applied racial stereotypes to the president in an attempt to get laughs.

To be fair, Maher does have his critics on the left. There are certainly DUers who don't care for him and are vocal about it. But since Maher is a committed man of the left, I think he's less likely to get pushback when he says something edgy like that. It's an interesting example that the messenger is often just as important as the message.

[EFerrari]

54. Both jokes were slams at people who tell racist jokes or think in stereotypes.

Maher can pull it off clearly, Rickles can't.

That being said, Maher has a problem with women and children. His jokes on those topics are too often straight bigotry, not humor.

[marmar]

44. Dios mio.

[frogmarch]

22. I couldn't stand Don Rickles in the 50s and 60s and

I can't stand him now either. I'd actually figured he must be dead by now.

Even in the 50s and 60s his ugly attempts at humor were disgusting to my family and me. We never thought he was funny, just vicious.

What a puke.

[LiberalAndProud]

24. Rickles' humor has always been on the caustic side.

He offends equally on purpose.That's his schtick. I have always found him unfunny. Whatever humor there ever was in him has long been replaced by purposefully hurtful snark.

[MrTwister]

25. The problem is, this joke is totally not funny.

It's pure cheap shot based on an out-worn stereo-type of blacks as domestics.

Everyone knows Don Rickles's reputation as an insult artist, so I'd like to cut him some slack, but this just fails on every level.

Hey, Don, can you take some constructive criticism?

You suck.

[Major Hogwash]

46. Rickles was on Letterman again last night and was a riot.

Rickles is a WWII veteran, served in the Navy aboard minesweepers.

He's had quite a life for a man who wasn't supposed to amount to anything according to his parents.

[IndyJones]

27. My first thought was - He's still alive?

He's like the drunk uncle no one wants to admit is a relative. Just nod and grin and hope he goes to sleep early.

[NRaleighLiberal]

28. typical Rickles. I've never found him (or most of his comedic generation) very funny at all...

boring, obvious, unfunny humor that seemed to appeal to my parents' generation for whatever reason.

[IndyJones]

29. Did Don Rickles' joke go to far? The poll...

Did Don Rickles' joke go too far?

Yes. That type of racial joke is unacceptable in 2012, period.

No. Rickles is of a generation that doesn't understand today's sensitivities.

Rickles is a legend, and everyone is too politically correct.

I am not a super PC person and I think that sometimes people are overboard PC, but the "joke" was about our President. It's wrong on many levels, but add to it that he was talking about our President, that makes it just even more offensive to me. None of the poll questions seems to address that, and I think it's an important point. Obviously, it was a really bad racial joke.

[goclark]

33. Don is a Has Been N/T

[The Midway Rebel]

35. He gets a pass from me.

They do not call him an "insult comic" for nothin'. Despite that, he has likely done more good than harm over the years. If nothing else, he is a living example of how far we have come.

[marmar]

42. Enjoying your day out at DU? ...... Au revoir in advance.

[sufrommich]

43. In Don Rickles land, it's always 1963. nt

[Zax2me]

47. He's not 'stuck' in the 50's/60's at all. Geez.

He's not some ancient racist still making the rounds.He's a racial/ethic insult comic. And also a war vet, Emmy award winner and think he's still married to the woman he married over 40 years ago.
He's told these same jokes for 50+ years.
Don't like him, fine.
But most here are completely lost on him, missing the mark.
I don't enjoy standup comedians much either. And when Rickles misses, like he did here in my opinion , it is not only not funny but reads awful.
Paint him as you wish, however. Won't matter a damn. He is who he is and what is said about him isn't going to mean anything to him or the millions he has entertained over the years.

[dont hassle the hoff]

48. Huh? Am I dense because I am not following the humor here.

[Skidmore]

49. My mom used to either change channels or shut the tv off back in his heyday when he appeared.

She told us that he wasn't funny, just ugly in his attempts. My mom was a wise woman.

[Generic Other]

50. Don Rickles is still alive?

Wow. Still no new material, I see.

[undeterred]

52. Chris Rock was talking about Obama as the cleanup man...

He was on one of the late night shows. Said Obama was cleaning up the mess left by the last guy... and you know how things get dirtier when you start cleaning up- like when you come back to your hotel room too early and the maid needs another half hour- that's where Obama's at with the country.

I thought that was pretty good.

[AsahinaKimi]

53. I have never liked his humor..

It always reminded me of a bully. A bully is never funny.

[shcrane71]

55. Never found him funny. Surprised anyone pays to hear his insults. nt