Open Discussion: Drawing the line between funny and offensive

By on June 8, 2010 • Topics: Current Affairs

A few weeks ago, my brother showed me a YouTube video of comedian Lance Krall making a “Vietnamese” prank phone call.  It’s actually from 2006, so many of you might’ve seen it already.  If you haven’t, here it is below:

Lance Krall\’s \”Vietnamese\” Prank Call

Even though I was laughing my head off while watching this video, my brother felt the need to qualify Lance Krall’s heritage before the two-minutes-forty-five seconds even came to an end.  “Don’t worry,” my brother told me. “Lance Krall’s actually half Vietnamese, so it’s not like he’s just making fun of Vietnamese people…”

I would’ve thought that my hearty laughs were an indication that I was not offended by the contents of this video.  I don’t see Krall’s depiction of a Vietnamese accent as making a mockery of Vietnamese-Americans’ language inadequacy.  And, as much as the video is using Vietnamese accents as a medium for comedy, it’s also highlighting the awkwardness and clumsiness native English speakers might have in approaching those less proficient in the language.  In that sense, we’re not laughing at the accent; we’re laughing at the situation brought about by the accent.  There’s no maliciousness directed toward one group or person—it’s a silly boat we’re all in.

That said, I can still understand why some people might find this offensive. But this brings me back to what my brother said—if you were offended by this video, and then found out Lance Krall is part Vietnamese, would you be any less offended?  Does this make the video more acceptable because he’s “one of us,” and does being part of the “in” group qualm accusations of racism?

What do you think of Lance Krall's brand of comedy? (photo credits to Flickr, uploaded by lambdachialphi)

On a rational level, I think it should not matter what group the person is coming from, as long as there is no spiteful intent behind it.  So n this case, I would not have been offended even if I found out Krall was in no way Vietnamese—he does that accent so darn well (!), and I’m laughing at what’s being said more so than how it’s being said.

But I do admit, if a non-Vietnamese said something critical of Vietnamese people, I might feel a little ruffled—even if I agree with their criticism.  (I think this is needlessly defensive of me, so I’m working on it…) In the same vain though, if a fellow Vietnamese said something about Vietnamese people I do not agree, I would reason with them as well.

So, my question here is, how do you draw the line between funny and offensive, especially when race might come into play?  And, does ethnic background in anyway palliate or even dismiss what might potentially be construed as stereotypical or racist?  I’m very curious as to what people have to say about this—it’s been bugging me for a while now—so please share!

The Author: Anh Ton

Anh Ton is a recent college graduate. Please contact her at anh[dot]ton[at]onevietnam[dot]org for questions, tips, and job offerings (!!!). Complaints and criticism are also welcomed and will be cordially replied to, but probably with a little less enthusiasm.

  • http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=1209192 Loi P Dinh

    I have to disagree with the article about the way Krall imitated the vietnamese accent 'cause it is no where to close to vietnamese accent. To answer the question, I agree with the article that as long as there is no spiteful intent behind it, then I would not find it offensive.

  • http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=722458242 Ray Vr

    he sounds kinda indian.

  • http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=617736644 David Regenold

    Generally I don’t think it’s funny if the person dishing out the comedy is not of the nationality/race that he/she is poking fun at. It’s OK for people to poke fun at themselves, but not OK for an outsider to poke fun at them. Being raised in the SouthEastern USA, I don’t mind hearing, say, Larry the Cable Guy joking about southern life. If I hear it from someone else, even if it’s deserved, I’m probably not going to find it funny (of course, now I’ve opened myself up for all kind of southern jokes). More generally, I don’t find comedy poked at other nationalities by Americans to be funny. Come to think of it, I’m just not a very humorous guy to begin with. Argh.

  • http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=733822788 Hong Bui

    Funny as hell. And he does sound like a Vietnamese person—I'm guessing a bit more educated because it's English with a Vietnamese accent stacked with a french accent.

  • http://facebook.com/profile.php?id=563139898 Kim Nguyen Browne

    I make jokes about the Scottish, Irish, Thai & Indians as well as being Vietnamese as those are my adoptive famiily's nationalities. It's good to have humour, but I'd draw the line at insults when someone says 'chink' or any other derogatory comments like that which I don't find funny.

  • Kimberly Truong

    I was laughing out loud at this video-short. I’m not saying that it’s funny to make fun of those with accents, but I’m laughing at his over-exaggerated representation of a Vietnamese accent. I think he sounds TOO Vietnamese for that accent to be authentic. I don’t find it offensive because it is not stemmed from hate. It is interesting to question whether we would find this just as funny if he wasn’t half-Vietnamese. I would like to say that I’d feel the same way, but I might be lying and I’m sure I would find it offensive if the comedian wasn’t a tiny part Vietnamese. I have no Vietnamese accent, I was born and raised here, neither do my parents, and my grandfather also spoke English very well, so I’m not sure how I can relate to those who may feel offended by this depiction of Vietnamese people. I do drive through Little Saigon once in awhile, (though my mother begs me not to), to get pick up some coffee and cakes from a bakery, and more than once I have found myself yelling to myself, “Agh! You crazy Asian lady!” at some tiny old lady driving completely unaware of her surroundings. Do I mean any personal offense by it? No, of course not, and I would never say that to her face. Of course, when I go back to Newport Beach, I become the “crazy Asian lady” driver. There are stereotypes for every race and ethnicity and I don’t find I find it amusing that he can embrace his own race’s stereotypes.