Eddie Murphy (1961-)

Best Known For: Coming to America (Film), Beverly Hills Cops (Film), Nutty Professor (Film), Doctor Dolittle (Film)
Major Themes: sexual orientation, racial issues, dating, personalty traits of celebrities
(Shekinatu Fasancy)

Chris Rock—How to Not Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police

Chris Rock is a comedian and movie producer from Brooklyn, New York. He starred in his own sitcom, “The Chris Rock Show,” and has acted in, and produced several movies such as, "I Think I Love My Wife" and "Down to Earth", in which he is most known for. He currently has his own t.v. show on the CW network called, "Everybody Hates Chris". In this four minute routine from "The Chris Rock Show", Rock instructs people how, “to not get in trouble with the law”. He describes issues that mostly takes place in inner cities, such as: car jacking, armed robber, selling and buying drugs, stabbing, and shooting, and tells people what not to do in these situations. For example, he says that if a person sees that the police are flashing their lights in the driver’s rear view mirror, they should stop immediately, “because everybody knows that if the police are comin’ to get you, they’re bringin’ an ass kickin’ wit them’” (Rock). Rock’s routine deals with issues of inner-city crime. He addresses the issue of police brutality toward black men, and presents obvious ways of how to stay out of those kinds of situations. Although, Rock gives instructions that are common sense, his routine may actually be insightful to some people, esp. those who have had issues with the police. The audience is most likely middle- class African Americans.



Rock,Chris. "How to Not Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police". The Chris Rock Show. Youtube. 2.2.07. 3.31.09.

Chris Rock and Rap Music

Chris Rock takes race relations to the stage in Never Scared (2004). In his segment on rap music he begins his piece on how difficult it is to like rap music anymore. He takes this argument apart in saying that woman criticize rap for how derogatory it can be, but then these very woman continue to dance and sing to rap anyways. This is a play on the argument that rap is derogatory, violent and offensive especially to woman. Then, he takes it to a whole new level and talks about rappers and how there always seems to be someone killed but no murderer found. This is something that is a part of the rap culture and the many news of deaths of rappers like Tupoc. Then, he begins screaming about how there is injustice because not only are murderers getting away but that the government has a personal vindication and hate against rappers. He says “the government don’t care that the “good ones” are dead.” This piece is aimed at a varied audience as he targets woman, racial discriminations and the government. I think that the audience follows along with what he is saying and the message he is sending and through his jokes and humor think and learn about these societal issues.

“Chris Rock about Rap Music.”Never Scared.Dreamworks, 2005..

Amy Poehler (b. 1971)

Amy Poehler is an American comedian best known for her appearances in Saturday Night Live. She started out in the Chicago improve group Second City (1996). She started on Saturday Night Live in 2001, and in 2004 became an anchor for the popular skit "Weekend Update". She was the first SNL cast member to be nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. She left SNL in 2008. Poehler has also appeared in Mean Girls, Hamlet 2, and Baby's Mamma

Futurama: "War is the H-Word"

Futurama is a funny cartoon created by the same man who made the Simpsons: Matt Groening. The basic premise of the show is about a young man named Frye who gets cryogenically frozen on the new year's eve of 2000 and wakes up 1000 years later. The world is now full of robots, mutants, and aliens, and he has to get used to the new world order. In this particular episode, "War is the H-Word", Frye and his friend Bender the robot join the army and have to fight in a war against a planet inhabited by Balls. The balls mainly just bounce around and look silly, which makes us laugh because sometimes people laugh at foreign things they don't understand. Whenever the Balls speak, the only verb they use is Bounce, and bounce means everything. This episode is used to poke fun at people who would rather laugh at things they don't understand that try to understand them.
Groening, Matt. "War is the H-Word." Futurama. Adult Swim. 26 Nov. 2000.
here is a link to the episode

Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?

The Onion parodies newscasts by professional stations. This newscast has all the appearances of being professional—epic sounding audio track, use of large vocabulary, and all—but the content is ridiculous. In this segment they discuss the effects on skanks when they are barraged with TV images of extremely skanky behavior, as supported by a made-up study. The academic tone of the show and the regal panel of five hosts give the subject of “skankiness” mock significance. The Onion Network with its tagline, “Making You Seem Better Informed”, makes a statement about the absurdity of what the media covers at times, and society’s obsession with TV sex and superficial culture. The episode might also be commenting on newscasters themselves (because of the choice of ending in a brawl) for being the implementers of nonsense news and covering it up with jargon.

“Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?” The Onion. Ed. Joe Randazzo. Onion News Network. 5 Feb. 2009. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE3gWZk4AEo&feature=dir>.

Carlos Mencia (1967- )

Best Known For: Take a Joke America (comedy album), The Three Amigos (comedy tour), 'Carlos Mencia: Not For The Easily Offended' (DVD), Mind of Mencia (TV), Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached (DVD) 'The Heartbreak Kid' (Film).

Themes: Racial Issues, Immigration, Religion, Relationship, Hispanic Humor

(Rebecca Heath)