It brings up the question about what is OK to laugh about again. The series as a whole makes jokes on the absurdity of racism (especially the seasons with Pierce, who's character is old and out of touch, being the butt of the joke and often condemned by the rest of the group for racist or anti-feminist points of view.)
If I remember correctly, the DnD episode has blackface on Ken Jeungs character Chang as he wants to play a Dark Elf, followed by the group chastising him? Might be wrong on that part.
I know Tina Fey name drops Glover in 30Rock (where Glover worked as a writer for a while). She references him as "that black kid on Community".
If you're honestly asking, no, he wasn't even a token character. The Community group has always been really diverse, which is where most of the comedy comes from.
"Advanced DnD" is probably one of the best episodes out there, shame they pulled it.
Also, to echo some other comments here, Community gets plenty of its humour from racism towards black people.
* Pierce thinks Shirley is Troy's mum because they're both black
* Shirley thinks Troy can't swim to which he replies "uh, I can swim, racist"
* Pierce's Halloween story where Troy + Abed play some stereotypical hood characters which Pierce defeats by punching them with his penis.
* Pierce assumes Shirley's ex-husband is a waiter because he's black.
Community also makes fun of other races:
* It implies there's no difference between Chinese and Koreans (Chang goes "Oh, like there's a difference?")
* Pierce's dad wears a wig made out of pure ivory due to wanting to maintain "true follicular purity". Regular wigs are "made from the hair of godless Orientals".
* "Swedish dogs! Your blood is tainted by generations of race-mixing with Laplanders. You're basically Finns".
* Shirley casually says about Arabs: "They're not as understanding as Christians. You could get your head cut off with a salami sword."
Community also has (plenty of) gay jokes. They also make fun of Fat Neil and body shame him to the point of tears. They also have a romantic subplot involving Jeff a 40yo lawyer and Annie an 18yo student. They also constantly make fun of the Dean's sexuality.
Community makes fun of so many minorities and has lots of racy jokes, why is Chang cosplaying a Dark Elf reason to pull an episode?
I mean, I get Netflix are trying to cover their ass, but it seems counterproductive and sends the wrong message.
I understand the problem with blackface when you do it in a way to make fun of black culture. But the war against blackface in any artistic expression seems to me neither to be about fighting racism or anything productive or substantial. It just seem like an assertion of power by a movement.
Removing this episode raises some good questions about what people are allowed to talk about.
In my estimation having someone play “a dark elf” isn’t the same as blackface. Within acting blackface would be using a non black actor with exaggerated makeup to portray a cartoon version of their interpretation of a black person or culture.
On the other hand I find it ironic that it’s among the most liberal of industries where the issue is most visible.
It reminds me that episode of the original Star Trek where a race of aliens is of human appearance but half their bodies are black and the other half white. It’s a commentary on race, is that blackface?
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[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 467 ms ] threadThis on the other hand not.
If I remember correctly, the DnD episode has blackface on Ken Jeungs character Chang as he wants to play a Dark Elf, followed by the group chastising him? Might be wrong on that part.
I know Tina Fey name drops Glover in 30Rock (where Glover worked as a writer for a while). She references him as "that black kid on Community".
If you're honestly asking, no, he wasn't even a token character. The Community group has always been really diverse, which is where most of the comedy comes from.
Also, to echo some other comments here, Community gets plenty of its humour from racism towards black people.
* Pierce thinks Shirley is Troy's mum because they're both black
* Shirley thinks Troy can't swim to which he replies "uh, I can swim, racist"
* Pierce's Halloween story where Troy + Abed play some stereotypical hood characters which Pierce defeats by punching them with his penis.
* Pierce assumes Shirley's ex-husband is a waiter because he's black.
Community also makes fun of other races:
* It implies there's no difference between Chinese and Koreans (Chang goes "Oh, like there's a difference?")
* Pierce's dad wears a wig made out of pure ivory due to wanting to maintain "true follicular purity". Regular wigs are "made from the hair of godless Orientals".
* "Swedish dogs! Your blood is tainted by generations of race-mixing with Laplanders. You're basically Finns".
* Shirley casually says about Arabs: "They're not as understanding as Christians. You could get your head cut off with a salami sword."
* https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/iubycnhccu...
Community also has (plenty of) gay jokes. They also make fun of Fat Neil and body shame him to the point of tears. They also have a romantic subplot involving Jeff a 40yo lawyer and Annie an 18yo student. They also constantly make fun of the Dean's sexuality.
Community makes fun of so many minorities and has lots of racy jokes, why is Chang cosplaying a Dark Elf reason to pull an episode?
I mean, I get Netflix are trying to cover their ass, but it seems counterproductive and sends the wrong message.
In my estimation having someone play “a dark elf” isn’t the same as blackface. Within acting blackface would be using a non black actor with exaggerated makeup to portray a cartoon version of their interpretation of a black person or culture.
On the other hand I find it ironic that it’s among the most liberal of industries where the issue is most visible.
It reminds me that episode of the original Star Trek where a race of aliens is of human appearance but half their bodies are black and the other half white. It’s a commentary on race, is that blackface?