According to Adam Carolla, he wouldn’t place a bet on women being funny. I am going to quote from the following interview from the NYPost.
The lesson you learned from a sexual harassment seminar was “Don’t hire chicks.” Do you hate working with women?
No. But they make you hire a certain number of chicks, and they’re always the least funny on the writing staff. The reason why you know more funny dudes than funny chicks is that dudes are funnier than chicks. If my daughter has a mediocre sense of humor, I’m just gonna tell her, “Be a staff writer for a sitcom. Because they’ll have to hire you, they can’t really fire you, and you don’t have to produce that much. It’ll be awesome.”
The “are women funny” debate has grown very contentious. You’re not worried about reactions to this?
I don’t care. When you’re picking a basketball team, you’ll take the brother over the guy with the yarmulke. Why? Because you’re playing the odds. When it comes to comedy, of course there’s Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Kathy Griffin — super-funny chicks. But if you’re playing the odds? No.
If Joy Behar or Sherri Shepherd was a dude, they’d be off TV. They’re not funny enough for dudes. What if Roseanne Barr was a dude? Think we’d know who she was? Honestly.
Well he managed to not only be misogynistic but racist in just a few statements. He also implies that it is easier for a woman to get a job writing for a sitcom, or that women somehow have it easier in comedy based on their gender. My head spins on that particular premise. What Carolla misses is that we don’t all share the same sense of humor. Comedy is subjective, and for many female comedians their audience is not guys like Adam Carolla.
Carolla is just expressing his opinion and he has every right to do so, but he made a huge mistake in singling out Roseanne Barr. Love her or hate her comedy, Rosanne Barr had a hit TV show Roseanne that ran for nine seasons on network television and attracted millions of viewers. At its peak it was the #1 show on American television. She has been one of the most successful comedians in American history, not just one of the most successful female comedians. The only other equally successful sitcoms created by and featuring a comedian would be Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond both also ran for nine seasons on network television and were widely popular.
Other successful women in television include.
Lucille Ball – She revolutionized the television. Her show “I Love Lucy” is so popular that it is still in syndication all over the world and is considered a cultural icon by many.
Carol Burnett – Creator of The Carol Burnett Show originally ran on CBS for 11 seasons a total of 278 episodes.
Tracey Ullman – She has had several popular and award-winning shows both in the US and the UK.
Jennifer Saunders – Creator of the highly successful British series Absolutely Fabulous another female based comedy. Absolutely Fabulous is still broadcast all over the world.
Ellen DeGeneres – Creator and host of a hit syndicated talk show since 2008. Also had a popular sitcom “Ellen” that ran for four seasons on network television.
Women also go to movies, the most recent phenomena being “Bridesmaids” a film made up of mostly female comedians and comic actresses grossed $288 million. Some other female based comedies(I made a mistake earlier and only included domestic grosses for these fims, the new numbers reflect total worldwide grosses) My source was boxofficemojo.com
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding – $368 million
- Sex in the City – $368 million
- Runaway Bride – $309 million
- My Best Friend’s Wedding – $299 million
- Miss Congeniality – $212 million
- Nine to Five – $103 million (1980)
- Mean Girls – $129 million
Adam Carolla has had a very successful career and according to the Guinness Book of World records the most downloaded podcast in history. Carolla’s best known work would be “The Man Show” a popular television show on basic cable. I would agree that it might not make much sense to have a female writer for a show like “The Man Show” designed and made for a primarily male audience. “The Man Show” although popular on Comedy Central would never survive on network television its content too controversial and its audience too specific.
And as far as Carolla’s claims that women have it easier in comedy, the LA Times blog reports on a recent study done by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, in which they took a look at the top 100 grossing films last year and found that women only accounted for 33% of all characters on-screen, while women currently make up 51% of the world’s population. Another study shows that although minorities buy plenty of movie tickets, they are also underrepresented on screen.
Yet despite this, Mr. Carolla somehow thinks women have it easier in the entertainment industry and are given jobs out of some sort of “politically correct” atmosphere, when the opposite is actually true. But when women can find and connect with their core audience, they can surpass their male counterparts. We all find different things funny, I didn’t laugh once when watching “The Man Show” but then again I wasn’t its intended audience. Some of the most successful comedians have been women, yet this stereotype is perpetuated. I don’t know how many more Lucille Ball types will have to exceed their male contemporaries until this debate finally ends. Had Carolla bet against someone like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball or Tracey Ullman he surely would have regretted his pick. All I know is that I would rather watch “I Love Lucy” over “The Man Show” any day.
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Maybe we should meet for coffee?
Maybe you should talk to women you actually know in real life and not strangers on the internet. Honestly. And I delete anything that isn’t on topic. I have had people attack each other on here and I don’t put up with it either, most blogs don’t. Personal attacks have no place in a debate, none whatsoever.
You are no fun.
Adam Carolla actually made your point better by naming good comediannes as examples instead of “sucessful” hack comedians like Ellen. Money and “sucess” isn´t a good reading at all. And it goes for both sexes otherwise the best comedians would be Dane Cook, Larry the Cable guy and Jeff Dunham.
Richard Pryor, George Carlin, even Rodney Dangerfield were also extremely successful and brilliant. But if you want to equate Dane Cook with Lucille Ball I don’t know what to tell you. Ball is an icon, she transcends the genre. No comparison really with anyone mentioned. Carolla made a huge error in trying to discount Rosanne Barr based on her gender. She has been hugely successful in part because she found an audience, in women who were frustrated with their lives. She blazed the trail for other comedian based sitcoms such as the two I mentioned. Comedy ultimately is subjective anyway. I thought the man Show wasn’t funny at all, but then I wasn’t it’s intended audience, but women have an audience and the absolutely brilliant women I mentioned prove that!
Ugh, this is just so tired. He’s of the old guard where white heterosexual males are top dog and everyone else is a non-factor. Like how many women have to be funny before he will consider that women are funny people instead of being an anomaly? Just such a shame that he is so closed minded about so many things, not just this. He’s a fool.
I was just as fascinated with his low expectations for his daughter. He would recommend to her that she take – what he perceived as – an easy job that you can fail in and still keep. Does that sound like a Daddy who respects his daughter? Flying below the radar and getting away with the easiest laugh might be his thing but she is female so she is likely to want and be willing to work for more.
It is a rather sad thing to say about his daughter. But then again he also makes two racist comments when he didn’t need to make any to prove his point. He doesn’t respect women in general, I mean to say that Roseanne Barr wouldn’t be known if she was a man speaks volumes. Her audience in the 80’s-90’s were probably mostly women who could relate to her “domestic Goddess” persona. He fails to understand that women have an audience, a point of view, and a voice of their own that is completely separate from the men around them. The secret to many female comedians is that they capture that female audience. He doesn’t understand because his own point of view is so narrow.
And most sitcoms might employ one female writer, out of maybe a dozen per show. So it is not exactly an easy job to get, or keep in show business. I think he loves his daughters but to make a comment like that about them says a lot about him, and it isn’t good. He says pretty horrible things about his mother in the first part of the article so we can probably see where this disrespect for women comes from. It is sad really, but he drew first…I just feel obligated to stand up to this nonsense.
Roseanne Barr killed the night she first appeared on the Tonight Show — and equally with men and women. I remember it clearly, because the next morning the (male) TV producers I was working for at the time had me calling her people, because they wanted to sign her for a pilot (they were already too late). But I heard Carolla’s crap the entire time I worked in TV comedy (as a writers’ assistant — I was never broke onto an actual writing staff, because even when they liked my spec scripts, they didn’t want to lose a good secretary). As for women not being funny in the room – it may be due to the dominant male culture. The writers’ room is an intimidating place, and it’s hard to treat comedy as competitive sport the way the guys do.
WOW that had to be rough! Yeah I would completely agree. I work as a stand-up and if a woman’s comedy is seen as too “female” it is a weakness, but there are women in the room laughing hysterically and they sometimes are in groups by themselves, no men involved. So any comic doesn’t have to appeal to only one gender. And it isn’t like “The Man Show” was that good, I am sure men loved it, but just a tiny percentage since the show was on basic cable and had a rather small audience compared to anything on a major network. I mean he found his niche, but that doesn’t mean that there are other niches out there, and other points of view.
And the boys club mentality is rampant in comedy, I get hit on a lot, and then have to watch one comedian after another trash my entire gender and then talk about my ass when I am in a line-up. I roll with it and give it back as good as I got it, but it gets old. I won’t date any male comics because it is bad enough for us, I don’t want anyone suggesting I got a booking because of who I am sleeping with. Female comedians on the other hand tend to be the salt of the earth, really grounded strong women for the most part. But someone put it perfectly one night, men and women do stand-up for different reasons. Women do it to be heard, and men do it to get laid. Of course that is not always true, but I do think there is some truth to it. But I know some male comedians like Lee Camp or Jamie Kilstein who have a definite point of view and are very smart about their comedy.
I’m a guy and my personal opinion is, that Adam Carolla is moderately funny. In my personal opinion he also is a Troll. Don’t feed him. To make blanket statements of any group of people falls in the category of bigotry, maybe that’s why he’s not very funny. Apparently he has had some disappointing experiences with female comedic writers. Most of the TV audience have disappointing TV watching experiences all the time. Clear case of the kettle calling the pot black. Besides it’s a sad thing that we even are on this topic in the 21:st century.
I believe in standing up to bullies. It is that simple. As a female comedian I take great offense because I hear these statements all the time, and it is a direct attack at what I do. Women aren’t funny, I just don’t find women funny, women have no place in comedy….well I will stand up to a bully when I see the opportunity to do so. His show was geared towards a male demographic, so maybe that is why he couldn’t get female writers he thought were up-to-par, but he didn’t really say that. He said women are far less likely to be funny, and those are fighting words in my opinion.
Articles like his have been published in the past, but no one ever used solid examples of extremely successful women in the realm of comedy in the debate. That is why I wrote this piece, I just wanted to add my voice to conversation…and seeing how this blog post has been read now over 700 times in one day…I think I hit on something big. So I am completely unapologetic in my voice. I may not like Carolla’s humor, but I would never make a blanket statement that white men aren’t funny, or are less funny then women. It is basically what he did, and so it is hardly a pot calling the kettle black situation. In fact I am quite kind to him in this piece.
I’m in no way defending mr A.C. what I meant was. He’s not that funny, and if he had some personal experience that some female comedic writer, didn’t produce what he thought was funny, and makes a blanket statement that women are not funny, that puts him in the category of bigots. As far as kitchen utensils calling each other names what I meant is he makes unfunny TV so who is he to talk about anybody being unfunny. I think it’s right to challenge bullies. I’m sure A.C. also appreciates the attention his name get’s by people reacting to his bigot statement, that’s kind of the way the world works. Someone is outrageous and people react to them and they feed of that energy.
Hey Juliet, can you explain how Adam was racist with the statements above? Saying that black guys are more than likely better at basketball and more athletic than white guys issss racist? To whom? White people? Black people? Man I would hate to be stereotyped as being an athletic guy. Next thing you know he could throw another jab at Asians being smart and good at math! My racist-o-meter would probably explode!!!
Jewish men might take offense, he referenced Jewish men. That is what the yarmulke comment was directed at, and he referred to black men, or African-American if you prefer as a “brother” both are fairly racist things to say. And speaking of Asians, isn’t there an absolutely brilliant basketball player right now who is Asian? Stereotypes such as Jewish men are smart, or Black men are athletic imply they might be deficient somewhere else. He just didn’t have to go there to make his point, it was just a cheap shot and unneeded. But then again is whole interview was fairly mean-spirited towards his own family and 51% of the adult population, so what can anyone expect really. My point was that women have their own audience, and it may not be Carolla but when they find that audience they make films that gross $240 million or television shows that last for decades and become cultural icons. Carolla might not find them funny, but who cares!
People like you will walk around the rest of your life being offended for other people, when in reality nobody gives a shit. It’s the angry and miserable people that get “offended” by these things.I was raised in an all black community and by mostly women. Nobody gives a shit about any joke or stereotype, they actually think it’s funny, you know why? Because there obvously is truth to them. Otherwise nobody would laugh. You think if Ellen Degeneres said the same thing about men not being funny, it would have any reaction whatsoever? Of course not, because there is no truth to it. The fact that people are “offended” or write articles in rebuttal to it proves that there is truth.That’s true with EVERY “stereotype”, if there was no truth to them, they would never leave the ground. Obviously everyone knows there are exceptions, nobody is that stupid not to realize that, so don’t point out exceptions. How about you just be happy, laugh it off, and understand that people when they make a joke aren’t some evil mastermind.
Wow that is a lot of venom. There isn’t much venom in my article. Comedy and humor are subjective, that is really my point. And women have it much harder in comedy and the entertainment industry in general, also my point. Carolla tried to imply otherwise and he is just wrong. No proof exists to back his claim, in fact the two studies I cite in my article refute it. Also as a member of SAG-AFTRA they come out with lists of who gets what work, and year after year 65% of on-camera jobs go to white males. The remaining 35% is split among white women and both genders of every other minority group. That is how lopsided the industry is, so his claims of political correct hiring are way off base.
As far as stereotypes go he can say whatever he wants, but the general public also has a right to respond to it. That is true in a club or online. In a comedy club he would probably be fine making jokes about “brothers” and Jewish guys who can’t play basketball. But when he decides to say that in an interview he shouldn’t be shocked when he gets a reaction. In fact, I think that is what he was going for as he is trying to sell a book. There is no such thing a bad publicity I guess. And now his name is all over the place, although people are crucifying him on twitter. And honestly most of the feedback I have gotten has been positive, which is shocking to me as I had 1200 readers yesterday…and hardly any negative comments. I could just call him another Angry White Male who is mad while having the best advantage in the entertainment industry as any other demographic and be right.
Reading Adam Carolla’s answers, I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be funny or really speaking his mind. Are there people that still think this way in 2012?
You know who’s not funny anymore? Adam Corolla. He used to be quite amusing on Loveline and when he had the radio show I used to podcast it. When that was cancelled and he launched his own podcast I realized something… Adam had become a real asshole, and without a strong co-host to keep him evened out (Dr. Drew, Teresa Strasser) listening to him wasn’t at all fun or amusing unless you happened to be a cranky raging asshole yourself. Part of it might just be him getting old, but I think a bigger part of it is that, as he gets further and further removed from his working class roots, he’s lost touch with most of America. His rants used to be funny because you could relate, now he just sounds petty and mean.
That is nuts! I don’t really know his work, I watched I think one episode of “The Man Show” and couldn’t make it all the way through, I just thought it was garbage but then I figured, he probably wouldn’t watch “Absolutely Fabulous” so whatever. He obviously has a lot of hate in is heart, and I am kind of loving the backlash towards him, I have gotten hardly any hate mail, and my blog was view nearly 1200 times yesterday. I get hate mail on EVERYTHING, so he must have a lot of enemies.
I love your blog, sorry to hear you get hatemail… but I suppose hatemail is one measure of success — as in, once you get a large enough readership, some percentage is bound to be the sort that sends hatemail. My readership hasn’t gotten that large yet!
But yeah, when assholes get called out, it feels good watching them take the heat they so richly deserve!
Apparently he is being destroyed on Twitter. And I am just flat out shocked I haven’t gotten more hate mail. This has been a record breaking post for me, and I have gotten very little negative comments. I think he is not universally liked.
Hee hee! Awesome to hear… perhaps he has jumped the shark and never knew it until now 😉
All he said is that in his experience, men are funnier than women ON AVERAGE. Are we even sure this is a wrong opinion? I’d bet a majority of people, both men and women, would agree that men are funnier than women ON AVERAGE. He didn’t say women can’t be funny, or there are no funny women. Just playing the odds. If men are truly funnier than women, than the fact that they are underrepresented in comedy should not come as a surprise and is actually a true outcome.
Another thing you should know is that a lot of what Adam says is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. He does believe most of what he says, but he uses exaggeration and anger as a comedic device, and this has proved to work for him in the past. So the comment about the daughter should not be read 100% literally.
He can say whatever he wants, but people have a right to say whatever they want back! I basically say in my article that humor is subjective, so his opinion is what it is. He stupidly attacked one of the most successful female comedians of all time, Roseanne Barr. I am not a Roseanne Barr fan, but his dismissive comments made no sense whatsoever as her career eclipses his and many other male comedians. Women aren’t just underrepresented in comedy, they are in the entire entertainment industry as are minorities. Are white males the only people buying tickets to movies? Are they the only ones watching television or listening to podcasts? Are they the only ones on the internet? Hardly. By showing examples of extremely successful women and female based comedies I have proved there is a huge market out there for that material. The problem is the producers are largely white males and they produce what they want to see. And every so often a movie like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” comes out and makes a ridiculous amount of money. It was a tiny little independent film that grew its audience by word of mouth, not with some huge studio marketing the hell out of it. So just because something doesn’t appeal to the white male demographic doesn’t mean it isn’t funny, or that it won’t be successful. Comedies usually don’t gross well overseas due to language and cultural differences, the top grossing films are action/adventure because they simply export better. What is funny in China or India won’t necessarily be funny here and vice versa, but nearly every country likes movies with special effects and things blowing up. So for any comedy female or male based to gross those kind of numbers, it is extraordinary.
If the Carolla says something in the press he should deal with the heat, if he is kidding or not. My blog got 1200 readers two days ago and about 450 yesterday, and honestly I have gotten hardly any nasty comments. That is shocking, as I have been doing this a while and I was expecting an avalanche of Carolla supporters, yet I have had next to none. I think it speaks volumes on his dwindling fan base. I also think he purposefully did this to gain publicity for his book, which is his prerogative to do so. But I don’t know if all of this publicity has really helped him much, I have read some of the tweets and they are vicious. I was extremely kind to him in this article, in fact I re-wrote it because I wanted to remove any emotion and just deal with this on a purely logical level.
And I just want to clarify, I got the information about Action/Adventure films from the SAG-AFTRA magazine. They showed by the numbers how a white male lead action film can actually bomb in this country but make so much money overseas that it doesn’t matter. It is sort of why we see so many mediocre, formulaic crap Action films. Don’t get me wrong a well made one is a thing of great beauty, but some of those films are just terrible. But if enough cars blow up in them, and there are enough chase scenes and gun fights, it will sell tickets worldwide. So that is why Hollywood churns them out like a factory. In foreign countries due to cultural differences audiences are less likely to see a film when a woman in the lead, including women like Angelina Jolie who in this country are almost guaranteed to sell tickets. But in Asia not so much…that is really what women are up against, and the one genre women do well in is comedy, and the numbers prove it. And as far as women given jobs out of “political correctness” that is just a farce. Most sitcoms have one, maybe two female writers, not legions of them. Even Sex and the City had a few male writers. It is just so overwhelmingly not as Carolla described, and it got me and many other women in comedy worked up, and we had a right to say something about it. He can go sell his book.
Fair enough. You can’t fault the producers for trying to maximize profits. I’m going to have to take your word on the “political correctness” point since I am ignorant of the industry. You have a right to speak up if that is the case. Also I don’t think (although I can’t be certain) that this was a ploy to publicize his book since he has gone on similar rants in the past.
Anyways apparently Adam is going to “tell his side” (whatever that means) on his podcast tomorrow. It will probably be far worse than what he said to the NY Post.
I would tend to agree with you, if he mentions me, it will just drive insane traffic to this blog which will in no way shape or form be bad for me, but I kinda don’t want to deal with the crazies, and I get crazies anyway! I have had stalker types threaten me, its bad out there. I have a literary agent and I have gotten press for articles I have written, so if he chooses to throw an attention toward me it wouldn’t hurt me in the least, as I am working on a book deal. But again, I am hoping he won’t because the stalkers are really freaky people, getting sexually explicit threatening emails is no fun. I think any woman with an opinion get them. And he could unleash an army of them, I am hardly the only person who has criticized him…and I am virtually unknown, so I should be fine. I didn’t write my piece for publicity I just honestly was frustrated that when this argument has come up again and again, no one hit back with numbers or specific examples. They just blathered on about theory, I was like I want to write a piece and SHOW not TELL that this stereotype is nonsense. Lucille Ball really says it all, but anyway…it was fun to research and I am overall happy with how it came out.
Why would Jewish men take offense to the idea that black men are generally better than them at basketball? Because he said Yarmulke? That’s like saying black people should get offended if you mention that they like rap music. There are differences between the races, and they should be celebrated. If everyone were completely alike, this world would get boring very fast. Remember, Adam Carolla is speaking in generalities here. Of course you can name plenty of successful female comics. You can also name plenty of women over 6 feet tall. Does that mean women in general are as tall as men? No.
Yes, he does exaggerate as part of his comedy. He is a comic, and he makes his living being funny. Are you going to try to tell me that you as a comedian have never used an exaggeration in a joke?
He also stated on his podcast that many of the quotes from this interview were taken out of context. Does he stand behind his statement that in general, men are funnier than women? Yes. He also stated on his podcast that if he were truly hateful towards women/minorities, then don’t you think he’d play it closer to the vest?
As for the idea that it’s sad that he talk about his daughter that way, he makes jokes about his son growing up to be gay all the time. He’s also stated multiple times on the podcast how much he loves his kids. He makes jokes because he’s a comedian and that’s what he does for a living. At some point, comics stopped being allowed to make jokes.
The Jewish comment is rude, all racial stereotypes are rude. When you imply that one race is typically better at one thing than another, you also imply they are deficient at something else. So Jewish guys aren’t good athletes and black guys are, then which race is smarter? And is one race smarter or more athletic due to cultural differences or DNA? If you don’t think that is offensive, when then go to my neighborhood which is Jamaican sit down with some of my neighbors and have that conversation. I don’t think they would really enjoy it. I also know plenty of extremely athletic Jewish men who would take offensive to it. I live in New York and half my friends are Jewish, a couple guys I know are maniacs, one cycles 50 miles at a time. Differences between the races should be celebrated? Again, I ask you to write that post in detail explain the differences and see the avalanche of hate mail you get. Try even getting that published on a blog that isn’t a white supremacist group. I doubt most would touch it. I can’t even imagine. I am blonde, so am I stupid? Am I a bimbo? I am also from a blue collar background and of German decent, so am I a backward racist hick who is violent? Also stereotypes. I am none of those things…I am also a horrible athlete yet I am naturally muscular, so what does that mean? Absolutely nothing. And isn’t there a golf superstar that is half Asian half Black, and a NBA player that is Asian? If Adam Carolla was betting on Lind or Tiger Woods he would lose both times.
My point and you missed it entirely is that humor is subjective. My sense of humor is going to be different than yours, I tend to find women funnier than men because I am a woman. I also buy movie tickets, watch television shows even go to live comedy shows from time to time. You would probably hate “Bridesmaids” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” I loved both and they were both insanely successful. Hollywood tends to ignore women because most of the producers, writers and directors are men. They produce mainly what they want to see, occasionally something by women and for women will get produced and surprise everyone. Just like all male based comedies are not a sure fire hit, neither are female based comedies. But enough of them have done extremely well with mostly a FEMALE audience. That is my point. Carolla might disagree with what I find funny but neither of us are right. What is funny to one person may not be funny to someone else. But to say that men are usually funnier than women, I would disagree with him. I couldn’t stand “The Man Show” I thought it was juvenile and couldn’t even sit through an entire episode. He probably would hate “Absolutely Fabulous” yet that show is viewed in dozens of countries all over the world. I have also seen enough dreadfully bad white male stand-up for a lifetime. The same lame ass jokes over and over again…
He can say whatever he wants about his kids, and I am sure he loves them dearly. And I actually didn’t address that in my article, so I really don’t know why you are bringing it up. I took extreme issue however with his claim that women somehow had it easier as writers in comedy. The numbers don’t lie, we are underrepresented on-screen and in the writing room. Any professional comedy writer could tell you it is an extremely male dominated profession. Most shows have maybe one or two female writers in a room of a dozen writers. I could see how Carolla might not find a female perspective useful for a show like “The Man Show” or his podcast, but for show such as “Modern Family”, “Glee” or “Smash” you better believe they need women writers. Half of the audience if not more than that of those shows are women.
I am a member of SAG-AFTRA and they come out with numbers year after year of who gets what jobs. The deck has been stacked against women and minorities for decades. White males get around 65% of all on-camera jobs, leaving 35% to be split among all women and minorities. Latinos are the largest underrepresented group as they now make up around 14% of the total population but they get something like 4% of all on-camera jobs. The two studies I cite in my article confirm this, yet both women of all colors and minorities of both genders go to movies. Do we just want to see white men on screen or on television? I don’t think so, it is because white men are producing the work. Hopefully in time with more runaway hits like “Bridesmaids” or “Precious” or any other minority or female based project, the people backing these projects will stop being so close minded. I can think of any number of groan fest bad comedies featuring white males that were total flops.
You don’t seem to be getting the point. He’s talking about playing the odds. Are you going to tell me there aren’t more black people on the court than Jewish guys? Or what about Mexicans or Asians? Is it a bad thing the three best basketball players on the court today are black? Is this demeaning somehow? No, it’s just a fact. Are you more likely to find an Asian in the library studying than on the basketball court or on the soccer field? Yes. Are there Asians in professional basketball? Yes. Jeremy Lin comes to mind, as does Yao Ming. But they’re exceptions to a general theme. Are there more Jewish lawyers and doctors and agents and comedians and accountants than there are professional athletes? I’d say so. Is this a bad thing? No. Are they handing out Medical degrees, Juris Doctorates or CPA certifications at Bar Mitzvahs? I don’t think so. Can a black or Mexican become all of these? Yes. They just have to put the work in, the same amount of work that the Jewish or Asian kids do. Are there more white swimmers than black swimmers? Yes(LL Cool J says black people don’t like water lol). Might you know a really great black swimmer? Yes. Generalities are general. Individuals are specific. Just because you know a Jewish guy doesn’t mean he can’t be athletic. It just means that statistically, he’s more likely to be an accountant, doctor, lawyer or agent or something. Is this bad? Why would it be? Is it sad that Jesse Jackson said that if he were in Detroit and heard a noise behind him at night that he’d be relieved if it were a white man? Yes. Is it a sad fact that black males are disproportionately involved in violent crimes? Of course. That doesn’t change that it’s a fact. Are there no white people who are involved violent crimes? Of course not, there are plenty white people involved in crimes. There are plenty of every race involved in crime.
And just because you’re deficient in something doesn’t mean you’re less of a person. People are going to be better at certain things than others. IT’S WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT. Why does different always have to be bad? We can’t all be the best. Be the best at what you want to be the best at. I have no fashion sense, but I understand accounting concepts better than my girlfriend with a degree in fashion design. Is it bad that I’m deficient in fashion? No. Is it bad that she doesn’t know or care what straight-line depreciation or variable overhead is? No.
No, just because you’re a blonde doesn’t mean you’re a bimbo. But have you ever heard of a brunette joke? No? There’s a reason for that. I know plenty of smart blondes and brunettes and plenty of dumb brunettes and blondes. Blondes are more known for being dumb, though. Do all you can to change that stereotype if you want. I’m of Irish decent, does that make me an alcoholic? No. Does it mean it runs in my family? Yes. And since I’m Irish, that means I get to make jokes about Irish people, right?
You’re right, Tiger Woods, arguably the best golfer in the world, is black. But he’s surrounded by a bunch of white guys. Google image search top golfers and you’ll see a Tiger and a bunch of white guys. Is this a terrible crime? No, it’s just the way it is. More mexican parents need to get their kids into golfing instead of taking them to soccer practice, I guess. What people need to stop worrying about is stereotypes that don’t apply to them. Because you can do anything today. Want to be a black golfer? Go ahead! nobody’s stopping you. Want to be a mexican lawyer? Better hit those books. Want to be the fastest swimmer and you’re asian? Michael Phelps is really fast, but he’s still human. You better get ready to down 6k calories a day and hit that pool.
Wait, so you’re saying you live in New York and you’re in comedy and half your friends are Jewish? Oh my God, you’re a stereotype!
There are many different types of intelligence. There’s book smarts, street smarts, sports smarts. Is one necessarily better than another? In the case of street smarts for legal activities, the other types might be better. But for making money? Drug dealers make paper, and it’s tax free! And heck, why does one race have to smarter than another? I didn’t say that, you did. Do you see more Asian parents making sure their kids don’t get a B in calculus? Most likely. As Adam Carolla has said on his podcast, white, Asian and Jewish parents seem to put more emphasis on education. Are there black parents that do this as well? Of course. There are many black lawyers, doctors, judges, accountants and other things that require you to hit the books. Are those professions dominated by the whites, Jews and Asians? Most likely. Adam Carolla has stated that the black community (and his black guests lament this truth) is more likely to grow up without a father figure. Are there white families that grow up with one parent? Of course. Adam Carolla recently made a joke about one of his black guests, saying that he only grew up with one parent. Turned out he was right, which made it funnier.
Do I hate black people or Mexicans or any other race? No. My favorite type of music is Hip Hop, Rap and R&B. Do I get offended when people suggest that I like metal? No, they don’t know me, though it is a stereotype that white people like metal. I think black comedians are hilarious. Some of my favorite comics are Chris Rock, Richard Pryor and Katt Williams. And I have black friends, white friends, Asian friends, Mexican friends, though I hate Jews (lol). Just because I realize there are stereotypes out there and they’re frequently true (or else they wouldn’t exist) doesn’t make me, Adam Carolla, or anybody else a racist.
Why are you writing book long responses on my blog? Why don’t you just write your own blog. And again as far as “playing the odds” I know for my comedy I would NEVER hire Carolla. I don’t find him funny. All of this is subjective. I have met way too many white guys who think they are hysterical who I don’t find funny at all.
I am implore you to put your racist nonsense out there with your legal name on it, and call your blog your legal name. No really you should do it, it won’t hurt you when looking for a job, it won’t come back to haunt you and no one will judge you for it….cough…cough…cough.
I can’t even begin to break down some of the cultural differences that might explain why there are more black players in the NBA. But where are those black hockey players? Lacrosse players? Rugby? Tennis? Golf? Skiing? Swimming? Gymnastics? Figure Skating? (Golf and Tennis the exception being the Williams sisters and Tiger Woods) Blacks don’t typically have access to those sports so they tend not to play them. Basketball is a cheap sport in comparison and played in communities where blacks live, or is there something genetic that makes a black child better at holding a basketball but not a Lacrosse stick or a golf club or a hockey stick? And what of Baseball? A sport which we can see black players, white players, Latin players and tons of Dominicans. Dominicans being of mixed African and Latin blood for the most part. Is there something in the DNA of Dominicans that just make them amazing at baseball? Or is that in the Dominican Republic baseball is a passion that is so strong it would be difficult to explain here. The main difference in these sports is access and tradition. Most sports dominated by whites cost a lot more money or require expensive equipment or courts, so that is why you really don’t see a lot of other races in the these sports. Tiger Woods father has so much to do with his success in that he really encouraged and paid for the many hours he dedicated to the game. Most kids growing up in an urban environment would never have access to a golf course. I live in the inner city it is a totally different world here, but basketball courts, the tiny half-courts are everywhere. Mainly because they are cheap and easy to maintain.
And Jews, if you really want to go there and again. Write a blog put your name on it, and talk about Jews…really do it! You wont face any backlash whatsoever because what have those people been through anyway now…just a near extermination based on this type of nonsense. So print it go for it! Anyway having actually studied the Torah I can say the following. The Jewish CULTURAL tradition is one of constant study. The Torah is read over and over and over again, openly discussed and debate is welcome. I was raised Catholic and I can assure you that the same tradition does not exist in the Catholic faith. I learned what I learned and was told not to question but to fall in line. Academia and debate are highly prized and emphasized in most Jewish households, in part due to the cultural emphasis on studying the Torah. And even in non-religious homes this tradition is passed on, you are more likely to become a doctor if your father is a doctor, a lawyer if your father is a lawyer. But even Jewish people could tell you in their religious tradition a question is answered with a another question. Not so in Catholic or Protestant families. So you might see why so many become lawyers, and if you are debating all day long in temple and in Hebrew school you might tend to get good at such a skill.
Blondes here is a huge tip off for you. A person can make their hair blonde. Shocking I know but Pamela Anderson is probably naturally a brunette, same with Paris Hilton…and so many others. That might explain the blonde jokes. Blonde hair dye came around in the 1920’s…or a bit earlier. So what you think is a “blonde” is probably a brunette. I am actually a natural blonde. My IQ is 135, I am in the top 2% yet my father has a learning disability and my mother is of slightly above intelligence. My grandfather however was a genius who skipped two grades in school so that might explain my IQ. He wasn’t blonde though, but it just goes to show you that genetics are strange and judging someone based on their skin color is lame. I have met so many exceptions to every rule, I just don’t take any of it seriously. My AP Biology teacher in high school had a PhD and was working on a grant at Washington University for cancer research with a bunch of other scientists, he was black they were mostly white. He was one of the smartest men I have ever met in my life, I don’t know if he played basketball, it never came up.
And the different types of intelligence is just insulting. Most drug dealers are broke and live with their mothers, it is nothing to be proud of and is not a very successful career choice. Or have you not read “Freakanomics”. “I have lived in an urban environment Chicago and then New York for nearly 20 years. I have seen every stereotype and then every example of the complete opposite of the stereotype. New York city is the most diverse city in the country, and I live in Brooklyn where only roughly 30% of the population is white. So I have had tons of experience with this, I don’t live in the same homogenized suburban environment I grew up in.
And when you say that one race is more athletic than the other you do in fact imply that there might be a difference in other skills such as intelligence. Or is one race just a super race that is more athletic and equally intelligent? It is a slippery slope you go down when you start talking that way. Also children raised in a household of a different race tend to match their adopted parents, in what they excel at and what they find interest in. Not in all cases but over time even lower IQ adopted children will see increases in IQ over years if their parents push academics and have a high standard. Of course there are cultural differences in different ethnic groups but in New York city there is so much mixing going on everything gets muddled. So many people here are ethnically mixed up, so what are they? They might look white but if you get them to explain their ethnicity you’ll probably get a long list of different groups, same with people who appear black. That is just NYC. What tends to influence people more is what socioeconomic class they grew up in and what neighborhood or environment. Or is a kid smart because 25% of his DNA is one race or is he athletic because 25% of his DNA another race? Or is he smart because his mother made sure he did his homework, took him to after-school classes and trips the library and had book shelves full of things for him to read. Even you pointed out the cultural differences between the “races” so why are we celebrating these? I grew up in a blue collar white environment, my sister was public defender in a poor white community. Drug dealers, domestic violence and families without fathers are the norm there as is crime. Poor white crime just doesn’t get the news that poor black crime gets because it is spread out and not as dense.
That is the real problem with “Celebrating the differences between the races” in fact in a few generations we won’t have “races” as we see them now. Most children born in the US right now aren’t even considered white anymore, but many are a mix of more than one ethnicity. So will it come down to 25% white, 25% black and 50% Latin…what would the stereotypes be on a kid like that? Or could you tell the future of the same child if he was born in a wealthy suburb as a opposed to a housing project in the inner city. Because that is the future of this country, and the less we focus on things like the “differences between the races” the better off we will be.
And even with all of these cultural differences I have met enough black guys who were lousy at basketball and Jewish men that were maniacs at sports that I just can’t take that kind of language. It is just so backward and lame. Plus Carolla didn’t have to go there, and it wasn’t funny. It was just insulting. Funny would be Carolla making fun of himself or making a point that wasn’t from the 1950’s. The last guy I dated was 100% Jewish and he worked out 2-3 hours a day. He could cycle 50 miles at a time, play Squash for 2 hours straight…Squash being the ulimate rich white man sport as you talk about difficult access to those courts….you have to be a member of these crazy expensive clubs to even start playing Squash. Anyway, he was probably the most athletic person I have ever encountered in my adult life and he was JEWISH 100%. He was also an academic, and an atheist who loved to cook so he turned a lot of preconceived notions on their head in one example. He kind of defied expectations as he was a lot of different things that were unexpected. People are like that…more than you would expect. Now had I stayed in Missouri I would never have had so many examples of people like him to change my point of view. But living here really has changed everything, there are just so many exceptions to the rule. Living among 8 million people will do that especially in the most diverse part of the country.
Eh, I’m getting bored of this, so I’m going to make my points as succinctly as possible. First off, you are correct on at least one point. I would be branded a racist were I to have my own blog, because in these overly PC times, pointing out the differences between people, despite the fact that I’m not disparaging them nor am I saying I’m superior to them, would make me a racist. I bear no ill will to anyone based on their race. If I were going to start my own business, then I’d interview people and give them jobs based on their skills and qualifications. Would it surprise me if a black guy liked to play basketball more than an asian guy? Nope. I doubt it would surprise most people. In fact, if I did discover that someone was a racist, then I doubt I’d hire them, as hating someone based on their race is disgusting to me.
Next up, you keep on bringing up individuals. I told you I knew examples of stereotypes not being fulfilled in individuals, but the whole point of playing the odds is you’re not sure. And you’re assuming I don’t know much about diversity. At my high school, I was the minority, and I’m white.
I’m glad that we’ve downgraded from stereotypes being rude from something that you just don’t like because of your experience with one guy.
I’m almost interested in why you think I’m racist as nothing I’ve typed is hateful or insulting. Nor have I said that I am superior in any way to any other race. But, I’m honestly tired of this conversation and I don’t need to prove to you that I’m not racist. I need only look so far as my black, Asian, Hispanic friends and my tastes in music in comedy to know that I’m not. But, as Adam Carolla has said, “you don’t have to have killed anyone to be a murderer these days.”
I think you should write your own blog though because you obviously like to write! What I was really harping on was your “celebration of the differences between the races” that is really dangerous territory. The history of eugenics, ethnic cleansing and other terrors such as the holocaust all have their roots in finding and pointing out these differences. We are all one race, humanity, and our cultural differences have more to do with how we end up as adults. More and more evidence is showing that how we are raised is more important than our DNA. Read any book by the Robert Saplosky or listen to his many lectures on the brain. The environment we grow up around has more to do with our brain chemistry than anything we may or may not have inherited from our parents.
And everyone points to their friends and says but I am not racist. That is almost cliche at this point to defend racist views with that one. I am betting you are fairly young, and your viewpoint will probably change and evolve as you get older. I lived in Chicago for about 7 years and NYC for 11 years, both are extremely diverse cities and they completely changed how I see people. I have met every exception to every stereotype, white kids who grew up in black neighborhoods and black kids that grew up in the suburbs with white parents. Having a drug addict as a mother is going to affect a child more than the child’s skin color. Having a college professor as a parent is also going to affect how a child is raised, more than the color of their skin. And I don’t know where you live but more children are of mixed race here than in any other part of the country. So again in a couple generations, it will be hard to tell what race anyone is, so it really a useless thing to focus on.
Adam Carolla is just a bully who wanted some publicity to help sell his book, he got the publicity but I don’t know if it helped him sell that book! He took a chance, he will take more in the future…that’s what he does.
Another good book that will blow your mind on the whole European dominance thing is “Guns, Germs and Steel” it is also a television program you can watch on Netflix. It’s fascinating and I highly recommend it. I can’t summarize it easily you really need to watch it though, it is extremely interesting.
Adam employs female comedian Alison Rosen as the co-host on his podcast–presumably because he thinks she’s funny. He also has female comedians as guests all the time. He doesn’t think women are never funny, he’s just stating his honest opinion based on a couple decades in the comedy business.
I’ve never heard of you, and only found your website while searching for more Adam Carolla content. Maybe you should spend more time working on your act instead of shitting out these vitriolic, verbose, uninformed rants.
Sigh, there is hardly any vitriol in my rant, nor is there any venom. My point, comedy is subjective…so Adam may think most men are funnier than most women…but Adam doesn’t get to decide what the rest of society thinks is funny. I merely pointed out that there are plenty of extremely successful female comedians, many of which exceeded their male contemporaries, Lucille Ball is an excellent example. I don’t make personal digs at Mr. Carolla except to point out that his opening statement was mildly racist, and honestly it doesn’t really help his argument. So your claim that I am filled with vitriol is a bit off base. This piece is also rather short and half of it is just me citing examples…so its not exactly verbose. Have you read most blog posts…they are ridiculously LONG! And I have read FAR WORSE towards Adam on the internet, other critics have gone so far to call him a bad father and other absurd things based on that one interview. I do nothing of the sort.
I don’t find his comedy to be all that funny, but who cares? He probably wouldn’t find me very funny either…but that is exactly my point. Women are half the population and we also have a sense of humor…the examples I give are fairly strong of female based comedic projects. Movies like “Bridesmaids” don’t have to appeal to a male audience, yet they can make hundreds of millions of dollars.
You have never heard of me, but trust me there are HUNDREDS of comedians you have never heard of, and we work all over the country. I started out as an actress and sort of fell into stand-up, and now I am more of a writer than anything else, google my name, plenty comes up. But I have never heard of you…so what is your point again? And by the way it was also published on the Huffington Post, where I am published often. If you want to get published there, no one is stopping you, all you have to do is submit and get your article approved.
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