Jokes About Asians Eating Animals

[Jason X]

Hey there.  Long time fan, first time caller.  I hate to be "that guy", but could you please stop making jokes about Asians eating various pet-type animals?  I've always thought very highly of the Rifftrax crew, both in the MST3K days and into their current work.  Perhaps with them not being Asian, they think these kinds of jokes are so exaggerated as to not be taken seriously.  However, I'm fairly certain I've never heard any riffs about black people loving fried chicken, either.  Asians find jokes about eating dogs or cats to be just as offensive as something like that.

All that aside, thanks for introducing me to the cinematic gold that is Laser Mission.

Thanks!

[Johnny Unusual]

Interestingly, people in Korea do eat dog.  It's a summer time treat.  Most people I know here don't, though some people like to brag about it, especially to me since they'd know I'd find it strange.

[Tripe]

Yes my partner in finance at GM (we did all of that for our department) was from rural China and was quite clear about having eaten dog when she was growing up; "I've not done it for years and wouldn't any more" she always added.

[Thrifty Version II]

*sigh*

Maybe they should just pass all their scripts through a sterilization committee to look for the 2 or 3 thousand possible ways they might offend people before recording anything.

You're going to get offended by things.  Instead of trying to shelter yourself, learn to deal with it.  The effect of a joke is in its intent.  Was the joke made specifically to hurt or was it made to be funny?

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I'll second that sigh, so:

sigh ^2


From now on there will be no references whatsoever, indirect or otherwise, to culture or ethnicity or sexuality or religion or size or shape or color or intelligence (too much or too little) or cleanliness or fashion or language or cuisine or ideology or recreation or values or job or geography or science or anything anyone ever does anywhere...

[Jason X]

Did any of you ever stop to think that maybe the rest of the Asian community looks down upon the ones who eat dogs and cats?  That they're embarrassed by it and hate to have the entire community portrayed as eating housepets?  I definitely agree that comedy is all about pushing boundaries, and by no means am I a sensitive type.  My favorite comedy program was Mr. Show, for god's sake.  I just think that jokes about Asians eating dogs are in poor taste.

I mean, for those who are saying this is nothing to be upset over, are you seriously saying that there should be jokes in Rifftrax about black people loving fried chicken?  There are black people out there who love fried chicken.  It's not UNTRUE, so why would that be racist but jokes about Asians eating dogs would not?

The only funny thing I see with this situation is that people who don't find that kind of stuff offensive are the ones who aren't a part of that ethnic group. 

[Tripe]

Asian community

that ethnic group.

?

That's a couple of  pretty monolithic terms you're using there. Asia is a fairly large place with lots of different and diverse cultures, there isn't a single "Asian Community" there are many communities made up of many national and ethnic groupings all with different traditions and attitudes to said traditions.

[Jason X]

Yes, let's focus on semantics instead of the racism.

[Thrifty Version II]

With the Starship Troopers live show, there was a lot of talk about the sex and nudity.  People who objected to it were shouted down with criticisms of "don't be a puritan!" and "dozens of gory deaths are okay, but nudity and sex aren't?  Weirdo!" 

But when a group of any type--gays, transexuals, fat people, Asians¹--says "I find that joke offensive!", we're immediately supposed to buckle and say "Oh we're sorry.  We won't do that any more!"

Look, you have a right to be offended at what you want to be offended at.  You don't have a right to demand that all entertainment be cleansed of things that offend you.  I was watching some awful sitcom a few months ago and they were making jokes about fans of sci-fi and fantasy.  Stereotyping them as ugly, out of shape, losers and social rejects who couldn't attract a woman.  I was offended.  But I didn't demand that the entertainment industry bend to my will.  I dealt with it, because I'm an adult.

Also as it's been pointed out by other posters, there are people from Asian countries who do eat dog.  It's gross, and I'm thinking that any jokes Rifftrax may have made about it were in the vein of discomfort with oddball culinary customs of other cultures.  Kinda like the dinner party scene from Temple of Doom (which was probably an exaggeration.... I can't imagine half of that stuff being the least bit edible).

¹I chose these examples because they are groups who have specifically made the same complaints as you are.

[Tripe]

Yes, let's focus on semantics instead of the racism.

Rather odd to talk about racism when you've declared that all Asians are the same group as all other Asians.

Hippomilk per chance?

[Thrifty Version II]

Did any of you ever stop to think that maybe the rest of the Asian community looks down upon the ones who eat dogs and cats?  That they're embarrassed by it and hate to have the entire community portrayed as eating housepets?  I definitely agree that comedy is all about pushing boundaries, and by no means am I a sensitive type.  My favorite comedy program was Mr. Show, for god's sake.  I just think that jokes about Asians eating dogs are in poor taste.

See that sounds like YOUR problem, judging another culture's culinary habits by your own standard.  In America, rabbits are beloved and kept as house pets.  I've heard that in Australia, they're despised pests.

I mean, for those who are saying this is nothing to be upset over, are you seriously saying that there should be jokes in Rifftrax about black people loving fried chicken?  There are black people out there who love fried chicken.  It's not UNTRUE, so why would that be racist but jokes about Asians eating dogs would not?

I can't conceive of a joke about black people loving fried chicken, but if it were done right, and it was clear that the intent was not to be hateful, go for it.  Just because you reference something that a person of a certain ethnicity does, that doesn't imply malice or racism.  It's all about tone and intent.

[Jason X]

Clearly, this is an erudite group of people and I have made a grave error by bringing this up.

[Tripe]

[MartyS (Gromit)]

 I guess all jokes about people that like to eat horse or whale or anything culturally different are also out?

That's the problem with these requests.  Also, it is possible to separate cultural jokes from racist jokes, always linking them together as the same would kill comedy.

[Thrifty Version II]

*scrolling pink bottles snipped*

I don't get it.