The link to video is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD6oijh-6DI&feature=fvst
Russell Peters is a Canadian comedian whose parents emigrated from India. His basis for his comedic act is racial stereotypes. Though he tends to focus on his Indian heritage, he still includes a wide range of races in his stand up.
This video is based on stereotypes of minorities versus the dominant white group when it comes to beating your kids. This was obviously a very controversial topic for clear reasons, but it did play on the common perception that white people are too soft on their kids whereas minority parents are not afraid to beat their kids.
One interesting issue that Peters brings up is how the minority groups tend to stick together whereas the white people tend to work together. That implies how people tend to stay in their in groups and didn’t associate much with the out groups. Peters talks about how it was a weird occasion when a white person would come to the group of Russell and his black friends.
One of the cultural differences which was discussed is how minorities get “ass whooping” whereas as white people get sent to their room. He also talks about how the kids have more privacy and independence with western parents such as having a room.
Towards the middle of the video, Peters begins to contrast himself with his friend Ryan. When Ryan cursed his mother, she simply shook her head and didn’t do much to change the situation. Peters said, “His parents never beat him or yelled at him. He could do anything he wanted.” Beating kids in India or other non western cultures is not viewed as abuse but as an act of discipline. In America and Canada, beating your children is a crime because it is viewed as a form of abuse. Peters brings this up when he talked about phoning Children’s Services.
I don’t think all white kids are like Ryan, rude and disrespectful, but many minorities may view him as that. Ryan has much more freedom than many minority kids by not having to deal with the same kind of disciplinary consequences.
A reoccurring theme throughout the quarter is how hyperbolizing stereotypes (like in the case of Ryan) which is why I believe this video isn’t racist. Of course some aspects of the video could come off as being offensive or stereotypical but the main point of the act was for comedic purposes solely. Using humor as a form of targeting stereotypes and racial and ethnic groups is a reoccurring event in modern days society and is seen all throughout youtube videos, stand up acts and standard comedies on television. The widespread audience and attention caught by such “jokes” is seen by numerous viewers and repeated by them resulting in the ongoing process of racial and ethnic targeting in the media. What are your thoughts?
I thought that this video was pretty interesting. I was little caught off guard by what he was saying because I believe that white kids get beat just as much as other people’s country. Yes, it may be a crime, but I think we get beat as well. I thought it was pretty interesting how he basically said that Canadians are soft. I totally disagree with this because they are practically lumberjacks and bred hockey players. They are born in the woods and have to deal with a lot of stuff. Being from Minnesota, I have met many Canadians, and I believe that they are some of the toughest people that I have ever met. I thought that this wasn’t even that funny because some of the acquisitions that he made were totally wrong. I watched it and wasn’t fazed. I personally think that this comedian obviously doesn’t know his facts about Canadians.
ReplyDeleteI think it is certainly interesting to look at how parents raise kids based on race. Like the stereotype of chinese parents being tough on their kids and forcing them to get good grades when this could happen in any family who is pushing their kids to be as successful as they possible can. There is, however, trends among different racial groups I believe based simply on the culture a child grows up in. Such as for chinese olympics, kids being to train around four years old and then the best go on. They are put through intense training that the parents approve of just so that it will glorify their family. While in some countries if the mother goes to jail they are allowed to bring their children with them until a certain age. Both of these things are strange for us in America, but completely normal in other places so it really depends on the background of the family, culture and lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI think this stand up is funny even though I disagree with some of the stereotypes he projected such as the Chinese parents know Kung Fu and force their kids to get good grades. I think the comedian is trying to use common stereotypes to gain the audience interest and apparently the audience enjoy the stand up. I agree with Brenna that how parents raise their kids depends very much on the background of the family, culture and lifestyle. In fact, because of cultural assimilation, changes in lifestyle and better education, parents nowadays do not raise their kids like last time which is what that is being stereotyped in the stand up. Parents nowadays, compared to parents last time who do not have chances to get education, are less likely to use beating as a way to educate their children. Instead, they learn to reason with the children because education make them think differently from their own parents who do not get as much education as them. Besides, I think the reason that people hold stereotypes on white parents do not beat their kids and white kids have more privacy for having their own room is because this phenomenons are always shown in dramas or movies. In short, this stand up is not racist even though it portrays some misleading stereotypes as I view it as a technique to gain people's attention and sense of approval.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to thank you for being the first group to provide a link to your video. I also think this video is humerus and in no way racist. I think it is interesting in examining how different cultures look at beating their kids. Western parents tend to give their children more freedom, but many parents of these children don't realize how much freedom is too much freedom. Some parents will let their children do almost whatever they please because they think that their children will make good choices, but they forget that no one ever taught their children how to make good choices. I saw many children I grew up with in this situation, and almost all of them made very bad choices. Some of my best friends growing up would talk back to their parents, and I always cringed because I knew if I said anything like that to my parents I would definitely get a good beating from my dad. The way parents raise their kids definitely depends on how they themselves were raised. Many western parents grew up resenting the freedom that their parents denied them, and thus give their children all they freedom they were denied without realizing why their parents made those choices. Raising their children properly is an extremely important thing for parents to do, but not many people agree on exactly what the proper way to raise them is. I think there are a lot of important choices that parents need to make when raising kids because they are more responsible for their children then they realize. Raising children is hard, and I don't think that many people realize that.
ReplyDeleteI agree that, to some extent, the problem of beating children is a topic for racial differences. Western parents hardly beat their children and give children chances to do what they like. While, in the east, the situations are usually different. Meanwhile, I think that this problem is also a difference about culture and social rules. As this group members say, in America and Canada, beating their children is crime. However, in some other countries are not. Sometime, they maybe receive blame from society. In some countries, they even do not receive any blame.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched this video I thought back on my childhood and how my parents have never beat me. My parents are immigrants too, and they were beat when they were kids, but they just didn't see it necessary to beat me or my sister. If my dad gave me "the eye" that was worse than a beating anyway. A lot of my "not white" friends got beat when they were little and it definately seems as though the deciding factor on whether a kid gets beat or not is the culture of the parents. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is a stereotype, but rather just the way it is. We place stereotypes on subjects by over exxagerating them. My parents are from Spain, but if I just told you about them you would think they were Indian or Asian because of how much they stress schooln and I'm sure this happens to a lot of "white kids" as well. The only point of making these stereotypes is to make the standup funny, because everyone can associate with these stereotypes because we have all grown up thinking the same thing because we grow up in society and are greatly affected by these social constructs.
ReplyDeleteIt is a known fact that stereotypes are prevalent in comedic media including stand up. Stereotypes are where comedians get their jokes. Every comedian picks a particular stereotype for each of their shows to use. Most of them pick stereotypes that characterize themselves. For example, larger comedians talk about stereotypes of fat people. Russell Peter chose to use his Indian heritage as the basis for this particular stand up as well as cultural differences in raising children. Even though he brings up a few other stereotypes of cultures other than his own like Chinese, he mostly focuses on Indians and whites. Audiences enjoy when comedians can laugh and make fun of themselves. This is what Russell Peter does. This stand up does not constitute as racist in my eyes. When humor is involved in the use of stereotypes it lessens their impact. People who take every comment literal would see this possibly as racist however most people would find this humorous and entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in comedy, stereotypes are exaggerated sometimes to make it funnier and stories are made up. But when it comes to beating kids, i definitely think its based on culture. I have a white mom and a black dad and you could tell the difference in their parenting styles easily. I would get whipped by my dad and my mom would just yell. I thought it was funny how Russell Peters said white people should beat their kids just so they could be included. This was hilarious because i know a lot of times where me and a group of guys would be trading stories on how our parents beat us and a white kid wouldnt have any stories. Obviously there are exceptions, but i dont think there is a question that minority families beat their children more than white families
ReplyDeleteI watched this video about 1 year ago and I actually have watched a lot of Russell Peters talk shows. I agree with you that this guy is using stereotypes as his basis, but I like him because I think he is hard-working (it is not easy to know so many cultures so well!) and he is hilarious. As for the "beating kids", I am from China and beating kids is not a big deal there. According to our traditional value, beating kids is one of the most effective strategies for making the kid work harder and be respectful, and also beating kids shows the parents' strictness and love for their children. It would never be considered as a crime as long as the kid is still be able to go to school next day....anyway, my parents never beat me. On contrary, parents in Western countries are considered more open-minded and democratic at home, so their kids are more independent and they stick to individualism. But I won't say which culture is better because every society has its own values and cultural essences, we all get used to it.
ReplyDeleteI think this video is very funny. I can understand that among different cultures parents have different ways to educate their kids. However, there are some stereotypes on certain regions. For example, people might think that Chinese parents is beating their kids for bad grades or bad behaviors. However, it changes a lot in recent years. In my family, my parents never beat me. Instead of beating me, they talk to me a lot and give me some suggestions on serious problems. I like this way much better than the traditional Chinese way. Nowadays, more and more Chinese family change the way to treat kids and try to move into western methods.
ReplyDeleteI was spanked as a child and I feel no negative effects. In fact, there are a lot of things I only did once because I would rather not be in pain. Making a blanket statement saying white families never beat their kinds is risky though as my father and all of his siblings tell stories of how they were brought up and how they feared the belt or a spoon to the top of the head if they were to act up at the dinner table. It is moe accurate to say that white families do not beat their chidren any more. As society has progressed and more liberal parenting styles have been adopted as the norm, it has become a rare occurance to scold a child with physical pain, regardless of how effective a tool it may be.
ReplyDeleteEven though it is a little bit sad that Russle does not hang out with White because they are not friendly to him(If I understand what he said correctly from Video), when I only focus on the immplication of this stand up show, his jokes are not based on racism. This is because he does not intend to discriminate any kind of racial and ethnic group. The characteristics he points out in each racial group do not affect us to discriminate people according to races. However, I believe he would like to point out the major difference in the degree of engagement as a parental role between Western cultrue and non-western culture. Even though some of the folks above mentioned that his generalization towards White Canadians are mostly incorrect and cultural assimilation induce new discipline among other minority, the difference still exist and that is why people can laugh by sympathizing with his jokes.
ReplyDeleteWhile other cultures may be viewed as more willing to be use physical pain to scold a child than the typical American parents, using a blanket statement saying that white families don't beat their children is not completely accurate. The styles of parenting among most Americans have changed drastically within the last 50 years or so. It used to be that corporal punishment was used not just in the home environment, but also in schools. This all changed when people began to see these acts as child abuse. Even though the typical white American parents may be reluctant to use corporal punishment on their children, it is for good cause as verbally scolding them is a much better alternative than facing criminal charges. Within these other cultures, most do not have such laws to discourage physical punishment. Some may argue that corporal punishment is the best way to discourage kids from while others may argue that verbal reprimands are just as effective. There is no way to really tell which method works more effectively, but the argument that one culture is more likely to choose one method over the other is not completely fair. It would be more fair to look at these differences among different races within the same culture.
ReplyDeleteThe way parents treat or educate their children is different from one culture to another. Here, the minority families are a bit stereotyped with strictness or violence by beating the kids to be more discipline. However, I think that beating the children is not a way to make them become better, yet there is a possibility that it may cause them emotional pain and lead to destruction. On the other hand, White families are stereotyped to be more tolerant by giving the freedom to their kids. Giving to much freedom to the kids can also cause the children to be not respectful to their own parents. However, the way parents treat their children is rooted from their own ethnic, culture believes and values in their areas. Therefore, there will be no racism can be seen from this video.
ReplyDeleteBeating kid is more of cultural different for non white parents to deal displinary issue in kids. Although some may see it as wrong way to deal with displinary issue, i feel the parents would only want the best for the children and the smacking is done out of love. They have been brought up this way by their parent and they turn out fine. On the issue where Russelll Peter suggested that the white kid need to be smack in order fit in the groups emphasis that there is a culture different between white and non white. The fictional character Ryan also suggested that we can't apply the same method in disciplining a child as the culture and environment they are brought up with is different.
ReplyDeleteI think Russell Peter may raise an interesting point, but as a comedian I don't think we can draw any sweeping conclusions about spanking in the United States or among certain ethnic groups, when 61-80% of parents polled in the United States approve of spanking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanking#In_the_home). While this is obviously not a racial breakdown of the different racial/cultural backgrounds, and the article goes on to state that rates of spanking differ among different cultural groups, Spanking is not the minority opinion in any US Culture. Ultimately Peter's stand-up routine relies on anecdotes and his specific socio-economic status growing up, which might be interesting, but are not satisfactory for broad statements.
ReplyDeleteRussell Peter's video is so funny and no matter how much times i have watched, it still entertains me! Actually, parents beating kids is based on different culture of countries. In China, there is an old saying: Spare the rod spoil the child. It means only under the discipline of strict education by sticks, the child would become a better person. Chinese, or we can say most of the Asian people would like to teach their children seriously, especially in ancient time. However, as time goes by, influenced by the concept of torlerance and encouragement education, less and less Chinese parents would beat kids. And also, i think this point which Russell Peter raised is not a kind of racial different but more of culture different.
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