Tracy Morgan (Wild Theory #g)

Cathy and I rented "The Best of Tracy Morgan". I'm glad Lorne Michaels a). had the smarts to recognized his talents 10 years ago or whatever and b). decided that a best of was in order. He's a really underrated performer I think. The reason is because he's not a "black" comedian which is what most white people want a black comedian to be. Meaning, his funny doesn't come from ebonic cliche's (although he does a lot of those). His funny comes from an Ionescolike approach to sketch comedy. If you disagree, I submit the line "make a doo-doo pie. I love you." (Which, by the way, mysteriously was absent from the "best of" DVD.) Let me also submit the Esquivel soundtracked thoroughly non-scientific science fiction sketches of "Astronaut Jones".
So, of course his sitcom only lasted to the second commercial break. The people who truly appreciate Tracy Morgan don't want to see him in a family with a kid in a situation. We want to see him in a sewer talking to a box about stocks and bonds or in a safari outfit daydreaming about a parrot ruining his credit. Of course, that could never be a sitcom. In fact, it couldn't even be a successful sketch or variety show because the audience is too specific. As far as I know, it's just me and my wife. Oh wait, Cathy fell asleep. It might just be me.
I know there must be others. Or am I totally off base?

I do have a wild theory attached to this. And here it is:
I believe that most white people only like black people if and when they are acting "like white people" OR, conversely, if they are behaving in a stereotypically "black" fashion.

This is because in either case they are a). not dangerous or b). easy to label and therefore not frightening to the suburban sorority girl. That's why Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle (I love Chapelle) are superstars.
Lest any white person reading this argues, have you ever been invited into a black family or friend situation where YOU are the minority? If you haven't, then don't even argue. If you have, then I dare you to refute my theory honestly. That is, didn't you prefer to feel like all your previous prejudgments and misconceptions (no matter how small, insignificant and buried) about our african american neighbors were still true ("They're just like us. They're just not as good at it.") and when you found that they weren't, weren't you nervous? You find that, yes indeed, in large part, they have their own culture. Their own rules. Their own idea of what makes life worthwhile. And the difference is fine. It's great. But some white people don't like to recognize the differences because it might be considered racist. It's not racist. It's inclusive of more than one cultural paradigm.
I was raised in a "black" neighborhood and, until recently, I had a really hard time getting on board with white things to do with myself such as talking to other white people. Meanwhile, because I am white, none of the black people realized I was black. Therefore, I was pretty lonely for a pretty long time because when class or work or a performance was over, I didn't want to hang out with the white people...and if there were any black people, they left without me.

Now the real question is, do I mean any of this or am I just trying to spark some discussion?

But Tracy Morgan is great. Oh a quick list of my favorite comedians: Tracy Morgan, Brian Regan, Norm MacDonald, Dave Chapelle.