After announcing he'd be leaving The Daily Show after 16 years as the show's host, there was much debate and speculation on who would replace Jon Stewart. Former Daily Show correspondent and short-term host John Oliver was mentioned, as were several other of the show's correspondents, such as Aasif Mandvi, Jessica Williams, Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, not to mention actress and comedian Tina Fey, as well as comedian and right-wing commentator Dennis Miller, among others. So it came to many's surprise to hear that the only recently added correspondent Trevor Noah was named as Stewart's replacement. To this point, Noah has only done three segments on The Daily Show and with mixed results. While his first appearance came across as both humorous and witty, his second bit was much less so, and his third segment was a mix of the two. So just from a performance angle, to this point I have found Trevor Noah to have potential, but also believe that his history is too minimal to know for certain whether or not he will maximize that very potential.
Not long after Noah was announced as Stewart's replacement, since he hadn't been displayed much on The Daily Show and many were largely unaware of who he was, his Twitter account was rummaged through quite thoroughly, with the end result being some questions pertaining to the comedian's character, prejudices, and whether or not Comedy Central vetted him enough and will be satisfied with the end result.
Some of the tweets read as follows:
- "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!" (from 9/18/09)
- "South Africans know how to recycle like israel knows how to be peaceful." (6/2/10)
- "In Thailand hookers are so cheap, even cheaper than food. Tough choice between Big Mac or Quarter Poundher Deluxe." (1/5/11)
- "Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!" - fat chicks everywhere (10/14/11)
- "A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you'll probably never get to ride it." (11/28/11)
- "Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn't go down easy, just like jewish chicks. #ElClasico" (1/25/12)
- "I actually prefer the women's league to the mens." - Nobody ever, about any sport. (except maybe, beach volleyball) (1/29/12)
- "I'm watching Olympic women's hockey. It's like lesbian porn. Without the porn. #InLove" (7/31/12)
- "Originally when men proposed they went down on one knee so if the woman said no they were in the perfect uppercut position." (12/20/12)
- "So she gets fat? RT @missdanibagel: When a woman is loved correctly, she becomes 10 times the woman she was before" (7/18/14)
Following the complaints regarding Noah's tweets, Comedy Central made this statement:
"Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central."
Noah also responded to the criticism, as he posted this tweet:
"To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian."
While I'll agree that comedians shouldn't be judged by a handful of jokes, due to Noah's minimal history on The Daily Show and these rather offensive jokes, I am feeling quite uncertain and wary about Stewart's replacement and the show's future. Granted, Jon Stewart did tell his share of fat jokes, usually directed at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Stewart, himself Jewish, also wasn't coy at poking fun of Jews (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular, as well as Jewish celebrations). However, I can't remember a time when Jon Stewart made sexist-sounding comments towards women, especially with regard to their weight or orientation. I also can't ever picture Stewart saying something along the lines of, "Check out that hot white chick with an actual ass. She's like a fricking unicorn! Even if you see it, which is unlikely, you'll never get to ride that thing!" Hell, if someone said, "Men get down on one knee to propose to a woman, so if she says no, he's in the perfect position to uppercut her," I can picture Stewart responding with, "If he did that, I'd kick him square in the nuts after he stood up!"
Trevor Noah is young, perhaps still finding his ground as a comedian and attempting to evolve both in his comedy and as a person. However, it wasn't a good first 24 hours for him after being announced as Jon Stewart's replacement. There are now more questions about him and the show's future than there are answers, and while he deserves this opportunity to prove himself both as a comedian and as the host of The Daily Show, many of the show's fans and detractors will be keeping an extra close eye on him to see if he slips up and to see if that "handful of jokes" was simply an aberration or quite representative of his comedy as a whole. It'll be interesting to see how he handles that added pressure, how well he's able to retain the show's long-time viewers and add new ones, and how well he's able to follow in the footsteps of the one and only Jon Stewart. I hope he succeeds, hope he helps fulfill my daily dose of satire, and hope, like Stewart's done all these years, he continues to put media outlets and politicians in their place for all their misdeeds.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/31/trevor-noah-backlash-tweets_n_6976666.html
Not long after Noah was announced as Stewart's replacement, since he hadn't been displayed much on The Daily Show and many were largely unaware of who he was, his Twitter account was rummaged through quite thoroughly, with the end result being some questions pertaining to the comedian's character, prejudices, and whether or not Comedy Central vetted him enough and will be satisfied with the end result.
Some of the tweets read as follows:
- "Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!" (from 9/18/09)
- "South Africans know how to recycle like israel knows how to be peaceful." (6/2/10)
- "In Thailand hookers are so cheap, even cheaper than food. Tough choice between Big Mac or Quarter Poundher Deluxe." (1/5/11)
- "Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!" - fat chicks everywhere (10/14/11)
- "A hot white woman with ass is like a unicorn. Even if you do see one, you'll probably never get to ride it." (11/28/11)
- "Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn't go down easy, just like jewish chicks. #ElClasico" (1/25/12)
- "I actually prefer the women's league to the mens." - Nobody ever, about any sport. (except maybe, beach volleyball) (1/29/12)
- "I'm watching Olympic women's hockey. It's like lesbian porn. Without the porn. #InLove" (7/31/12)
- "Originally when men proposed they went down on one knee so if the woman said no they were in the perfect uppercut position." (12/20/12)
- "So she gets fat? RT @missdanibagel: When a woman is loved correctly, she becomes 10 times the woman she was before" (7/18/14)
Following the complaints regarding Noah's tweets, Comedy Central made this statement:
"Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central."
Noah also responded to the criticism, as he posted this tweet:
"To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian."
While I'll agree that comedians shouldn't be judged by a handful of jokes, due to Noah's minimal history on The Daily Show and these rather offensive jokes, I am feeling quite uncertain and wary about Stewart's replacement and the show's future. Granted, Jon Stewart did tell his share of fat jokes, usually directed at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Stewart, himself Jewish, also wasn't coy at poking fun of Jews (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular, as well as Jewish celebrations). However, I can't remember a time when Jon Stewart made sexist-sounding comments towards women, especially with regard to their weight or orientation. I also can't ever picture Stewart saying something along the lines of, "Check out that hot white chick with an actual ass. She's like a fricking unicorn! Even if you see it, which is unlikely, you'll never get to ride that thing!" Hell, if someone said, "Men get down on one knee to propose to a woman, so if she says no, he's in the perfect position to uppercut her," I can picture Stewart responding with, "If he did that, I'd kick him square in the nuts after he stood up!"
Trevor Noah is young, perhaps still finding his ground as a comedian and attempting to evolve both in his comedy and as a person. However, it wasn't a good first 24 hours for him after being announced as Jon Stewart's replacement. There are now more questions about him and the show's future than there are answers, and while he deserves this opportunity to prove himself both as a comedian and as the host of The Daily Show, many of the show's fans and detractors will be keeping an extra close eye on him to see if he slips up and to see if that "handful of jokes" was simply an aberration or quite representative of his comedy as a whole. It'll be interesting to see how he handles that added pressure, how well he's able to retain the show's long-time viewers and add new ones, and how well he's able to follow in the footsteps of the one and only Jon Stewart. I hope he succeeds, hope he helps fulfill my daily dose of satire, and hope, like Stewart's done all these years, he continues to put media outlets and politicians in their place for all their misdeeds.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/31/trevor-noah-backlash-tweets_n_6976666.html
Comments
Post a Comment