(written by Terry MacNeil, on January 14-15, 2024)

Last week, I recorded the 2024 Golden Globes on my PVR – and didn’t get around to watching it until tonight. Though I had heard the host was Jo Koy – a man I watched on my television BEING HILARIOUS on the show Chelsea Lately (many years ago). And I saw his name was trending on Twitter for the ensuing several days – which is usually a bad sign. In the aftermath of the Golden Globes, the consensus on Twitter was that he was a shitty host. Many of the prominent complainers on Twitter were criticizing (what they called) Koy’s “woke humour”.

To be clear, I consider myself “woke” – and I embrace the label. Most people use “woke” as a pejorative, though I do not. However, these days I am always forced to go out of my way (to explain to every random stranger I encounter) that I am NOT “anti-woke”. But I digress.

So I heard many people describe Koy’s comedy (at the Golden Globes) as “woke humour”. After seeing the show, I guess… I would say that label is… appropriate – though I must add, I’ve been known to make tasteless boob tweets myself. The problem with Koy’s comedy, wasn’t that it offended anyone (except perhaps for certain right-wing snowflakes, or perhaps certain Hollywood celebrities). The problem, is that Koy was painfully unfunny (EXCEPT when he joked about the crowd being pedophiles). I also felt bad for Koy – because he KNEW he was bombing, and was frequently apologizing to the audience (and occasionally taking shots at his writers for writing unfunny material). Overall, he did better as host than most people have said (I have seen EVEN WORSE award show hosts over my many years – such as Norm Macdonald hosting the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards).

I’m not a Howard Stern fan, though I did hear a clip from his show – where he commented on Koy as Golden Globes host. And Stern said (paraphrased) “This is why you never agree to host these shows on short notice”. And Koy did mention that fact, during his opening monologue (from what I hear, he accepted the job ten days before the show). So Koy and his writers had not nearly enough time to come up with material (on paper) that is FUNNY, and is ALSO FUNNY when Koy would deliver it to the audience at the Golden Globes. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I will NEVER, EVER attempt stand-up comedy (nor attempt to host the Golden Globes).

Now, I must pose the question – is “woke humour” ever funny? It depends on how you define it. I think of “woke humour” as being humour that doesn’t attack/humiliate/dehumanize anyone for being part of a racial/sexual/gender minority community – but DOES attack (some of) the more “powerful/privileged” members of our society. And if the material is funny, depends on the writer(s) as well as the person doing the delivery. Yes, a lot of what’s considered “anti-woke humour” is where you’re simply being as offensive as possible. And I love being offensive – even though there’s stuff I used to say a decade ago, that I would never say today.

Put simply, if you’re anti-woke – you have more freedom of expression, when it comes to humour/comedy (though you’ll be more likely to be facing hostile audiences). So it takes more work/effort to attempt humour that is FUNNY – if you’re woke. And I say this, as someone that was (in certain ways) anti-woke not so long ago.

As for the acceptance speeches at the 2024 Golden Globes? I fast forwarded all of them. And I expect to do the same for the 2024 Oscars. Why? Well, I have no tolerance for lists of “thank yous”, and even less tolerance for preachy liberal platitudes. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on December 4-5, 2023)

Before I begin, I must emphasize that I’ve been a fan of the heavy metal band Slayer for most of my life. They’re pretty much the only metal band I (as an adult) still love to listen to. And I am quite certain Slayer never was a racist band.

I must also emphasize, that (as a white male) I was INCREDIBLY ignorant when I was in high school and university. Back then, I thought racism had disappeared in the USA – after Jim Crow was outlawed. And I thought racism had never been a problem in Canada. Needless to say, I had no idea whatsoever of what constitutes “White Privilege” – and even if I had, I would’ve concluded that white privilege does not exist. If my parents had known I was so ignorant, they would’ve kicked my arse.

As for Slayer, they ran into controversy on their “Undisputed Attitude” album (released in 1996, which was mostly punk rock songs that were covered by Slayer). Most Slayer fans hate punk rock, and most Slayer fans did not enjoy “Undisputed Attitude”. Personally, I LOVE “Undisputed Attitude”, even though I don’t consider it a “true” Slayer album. But I must point out – punk rock is my fave kind of rock, and I am NOT a metal fan. But I digress.

The controversy of the “Undisputed Attitude” album centred on a Minor Threat song called “Guilty of Being White”. For the last couple of decades, I thought the song was about a white man complaining about being criticized by parts of American society – for the sins of the USA’s past (such as slavery, genocide, economic injustice/exploitation, etc). For Slayer’s cover of the song, they changed the final line from “Guilty of Being White” to “Guilty of Being Right” – which led many people to believe that Slayer was endorsing the viewpoint of whiny whites. According to Wikipedia, Slayer claimed to not be endorsing any racist viewpoint – but that they were ridiculing it. As far as this issue goes, I am giving Slayer the benefit of the doubt. That said, I’m betting Slayer wouldn’t have changed that line in the song – if “Undisputed Attitude” had been released during the first presidential campaign of Donald Trump (or during the years since).

And now, we get back to me. As a teenager, and later a young adult, I interpreted the song “Guilty of Being White” not as being racist – but that it was about whites (in general) being unfairly criticized for “being white”. Back then, I (as a white dude) did (absurdly) feel as though I was under attack and being unfairly criticized by segments of Canadian society (especially by racial minorities), and by anti-racists in general. In a way, it felt as though the song was about me. It took me a LONG time to smarten up – and to reject the racism of my youth. More than anything else, it was anarchism that saved me from my ignorance, self-centredness, and idiocy. And for that, I’ll always be grateful.

As for the song “Guilty of Being White” – yesterday I got one hell of a surprise when I saw on Wikipedia what the song was originally about. Back in the day, Minor Threat’s lead singer Ian MacKaye was a white student at a majority black high school – and was getting bullied (by blacks) for the sins of white Americans (in general) committed long ago. So I consider it a non-racist song – but that it is NOT a song being critical of white racists (as I had incorrectly assumed it was). Oh dear. The things you learn on the internet! Ⓐ