Nonprofit Arts Organizations: Just Because Something Is Absurd Doesn’t Make It Offensive, Does It?

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The La Brea Tar Pits translates to “The The Tar Tar Pits.”

The Los Angeles Angels translates to “The The Angels Angels.”

Both of these items are well-known jokes to most Angelenos. But are they racially insensitive, somehow? Should someone who says these things out loud be pilloried for allegedly making fun of (and therefore, disrespecting) the Latinx culture…when they’re clearly not?

Or is it just an amusing bit of trivia?

Recently, I watched a commercial for FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) which, evidently, is only appearing on the cable channel Comedy Central. Judy Gold, one of the funniest people ever to set foot on the planet, is the spokesperson for FIRE, whose mission is to “defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them.”

To that end, the commercial shows what happens when the Irony-Free Police (IFP) morph into a mob mentality. It also shows what happens when members of an audience go to a comedy club expecting something other than, say, comedy. Watch.

As you embark on your nonprofit arts organization’s next project, are you being cowed by the IFP not to engage in free speech? Is it your responsibility to cut a moment in a play or concert that might challenge — or yes, even offend — key members of your audience?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating for a return to blackface, yellowface, or other past forms of entertainment that cross the line in today’s sensibilities. We’ve moved forward. We’re past that. Absurdity is not innately racist. Absurdity is useful when making a sharp point.

Last month, in an article describing the real meaning of “free time,” there was a discussion about employers forcing employees, by virtue of the employee’s passion for the work, to work 60 hours per week but only paying for 35. I used slavery as an example of bosses forcing their workers to work free of charge.

Here is exactly what I wrote (although I urge you to use this link to read the entirety, at least for the sake of context):

I used a public domain image from the University of Notre Dame to make a point. And while I am completely aware that snark is not easily translated to the printed page, I believe it was clear that I was using the extreme as a point. It was meant to impress what some employers have done to their employees, what some employees have done to themselves, and the absurdity of believing that behavior (on both sides) is okay.

It was there to make a point. Just like Mel Brooks’ Springtime for Hitler. Just like every single episode of All in the Family. Something that would be otherwise offensive, when presented properly, has more impact when it is couched in the absurd. Because sometimes, absurd is absurd.

And, predictably, one non-Black commenter complained that she was stunned by the use of the image and the “jesting manner” in which slavery was discussed.

As you embark on your nonprofit arts organization’s next project, are you being cowed by the IFP not to engage in free speech? Is it your responsibility to cut a moment in a play or concert that might challenge — or yes, even offend — key members of your audience?

Here’s the thing: when we, as a society, progress, we also note the point of no return. It’s why it was shocking to so many that the Supreme Court decided that women did not have the right to their own reproductive system. It was a return to an obscenity.

Before All in the Family, popular television comedies often used the cutesy phrase “zany hijinks” to describe the plight of their main characters. After All in the Family, people learned not only to roll their eyes at Archie Bunker, they learned that his bigotry was ugly and made him look ridiculous.

More than 50 years have now passed since the debut of All in the Family. Should television go back to the days of Here’s Lucy (the top-rated sitcom on television the year before All in the Family debuted) and her zany hijinks?

A popular question among television professionals is, “Could All in the Family be produced today? Or is it too offensive?”

It’s a question that makes me tired. It makes Judy Gold angry. And it’s causing standup comedy — which, in my view, is theater (script, character, and flow) — to engage in a battle that has already been settled. And that battle has leaked into the rest of the arts as well.

Just a few years ago, pre-Pandemic, a local theatre company licensed and produced the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s hilarious sendup, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), in which all 37 plays are condensed into a single evening. Like the Marx Brothers before them, this RSC has combined intelligence with absurdity. Smart dumbness, if you will, produces laughs, like any farcical contradiction.

In this romp, Othello is presented as a rap song, sung with high energy (and no flair, on purpose) by a couple of white men. It’s intended to make fun of the white men as being ridiculous, much like the current Corona commercial with Andy Samberg and Snoop Dogg. However, the local director thought it made fun of Black art. He cut it from the show. Forget that the licensing agreement doesn’t allow that; he and the cast felt uncomfortable.

Collectively, we all took a step backward when that happened. We infantilized ourselves.

The shock is not in the nature of art offending anyone, let alone its purveyors. The shock is in the nature of going backward. 

Can we please stop going backward?

Based in Kirkland, Washington, Alan Harrison is a writer and speaker specializing in nonprofit organizations, strategy, and life politics. His columns appear regularly in major publications. Contact him directly at alan@501c3.guru. Alan would be delighted to engage with your board or staff.

Yes, there is a book in the works. More information on that soon. Maybe sooner, with your help?

Alan is always looking for good opportunities to write and consult for nonprofits that need a hand. And, of course, that elusive Perfect Opportunity™.

And hey, if you’re feeling generous, feel free to click on the photo and buy Alan a cup of coffee. Not mandatory at all, but gosh, it’d be nice.