Jul
22
Hindari Phk Dengan 8 Cara Jitu
Juli 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment
TIDAK ada seorang pun yang mengharapkan dirinya bakal mengalami pemutusan hubungan kerja (PHK) oleh perusahaan tempat bekerja sekarang. Akan tetapi, di tengah kondisi perekonomian yang fluktuatif, segalanya mungkin terjadi. cara mengecilkan Perut
Jangan biarkan diri Anda menghadapi situasi terburuk tanpa tameng pelindung. Persiapkan diri menghadapi mimpi buruk tersebut dengan menjalankan sejumlah tindakan antisipasi berikut ini:
1. Dana darurat
Para pakar umumnya menyarankan untuk menyisihkan dana sebesar tiga sampai enam kali pengeluaran hidup perbulan (biaya sewa tempat tinggal, hipotek, makanan, tagihan listrik, air, dan lain-lain). Simpan dana tersebut ke dalam akun tabungan berbunga tinggi.
2. Lunasi utang
Cicil atau lunasi utang kartu kredit berbunga tinggi yang Anda miliki. Jika tidak mungkin, transfer ke kartu kredit berbunga rendah, atau ambil pinjaman lain dengan bunga yang lebih rendah untuk melunasinya. Setelah itu, lunasi utang Anda!
3. Kurangi pengeluaran
Sekarang bukan waktunya untuk hidup di luar batas kemampuan. Jangan membeli barang-barang bermerek, merenovasi rumah, atau pergi berlibur sementara Anda masih berjuang melunasi utang dan memenuhi kebutuhan pokok yang lebih penting. Selain itu, pertimbangkan pengeluaran lain yang bisa Anda pangkas dari anggaran untuk mengencangkan ikat pinggang.
4. Bangun networking
Jika selama ini Anda masih meremehkan kekuatan networking, ubah pikiran tersebut sekarang. Jaga hubungan dengan kontak profesional dan teman-teman melalui media sosial, email, dan telepon. Datangi kegiatan-kegiatan profesional yang memungkinkan Anda menjalin kontak baru dan menemukan peluang emas. Ingat, networking berjalan dua arah. Jangan segan membantu orang lain, agar mereka dengan senang hati memberikan bantuan ketika Anda memerlukannya suatu saat nanti.
5. Tambah keahlian
Ambil setiap kesempatan belajar yang ditawarkan perusahaan, entah dengan cara mengikuti setiap kelas yang mereka sediakan atau dengan mengajukan reimburse biaya pendidikan. Jika perusahaan tidak menyediakan tawaran seperti itu, cari sendiri kesempatan untuk mengembangkan bakat baru. Hal itu akan membuat nilai jual Anda bertambah di mata perusahaan sekarang, dan perusahaan lain pun bukan tak mungkin ikut melirik.
6. Perbarui resume
Pastikan Anda terus memperbarui resume dengan mencantumkan setiap keahlian baru yang Anda kuasai, berikut setiap pencapaian yang Anda raih selama menggeluti pekerjaan. Jaga hubungan dengan orang yang mungkin mampu memberikan referensi positif tentang Anda jika sewaktu-waktu dibutuhkan.
7. Berburu di rumah
Jangan mengecek situs lowongan pekerjaan lewat koneksi internet kantor karena perusahaan dapat mengeceknya. Jika Anda berniat berburu pekerjaan baru, lakukan semua urusan dari rumah ketika Anda sedang tidak bekerja.
8. Berpikir positif
Jangan biarkan pikiran buruk menguasai Anda dengan kemungkinan dipecat. Tapi, tidak ada salahnya mempersiapkan diri menghadapi kemungkinan terburuk. Jika hal itu memang terjadi, setidaknya Anda telah siap menghadapinya.TIDAK ada seorang pun yang mengharapkan dirinya bakal mengalami pemutusan hubungan kerja (PHK) oleh perusahaan tempat bekerja sekarang. Akan tetapi, di tengah kondisi perekonomian yang fluktuatif, segalanya mungkin terjadi.
Jangan biarkan diri Anda menghadapi situasi terburuk tanpa tameng pelindung. Persiapkan diri menghadapi mimpi buruk tersebut dengan menjalankan sejumlah tindakan antisipasi berikut ini:
1. Dana darurat
Para pakar umumnya menyarankan untuk menyisihkan dana sebesar tiga sampai enam kali pengeluaran hidup perbulan (biaya sewa tempat tinggal, hipotek, makanan, tagihan listrik, air, dan lain-lain). Simpan dana tersebut ke dalam akun tabungan berbunga tinggi.
2. Lunasi utang
Cicil atau lunasi utang kartu kredit berbunga tinggi yang Anda miliki. Jika tidak mungkin, transfer ke kartu kredit berbunga rendah, atau ambil pinjaman lain dengan bunga yang lebih rendah untuk melunasinya. Setelah itu, lunasi utang Anda!
3. Kurangi pengeluaran
Sekarang bukan waktunya untuk hidup di luar batas kemampuan. Jangan membeli barang-barang bermerek, merenovasi rumah, atau pergi berlibur sementara Anda masih berjuang melunasi utang dan memenuhi kebutuhan pokok yang lebih penting. Selain itu, pertimbangkan pengeluaran lain yang bisa Anda pangkas dari anggaran untuk mengencangkan ikat pinggang.
4. Bangun networking
Jika selama ini Anda masih meremehkan kekuatan networking, ubah pikiran tersebut sekarang. Jaga hubungan dengan kontak profesional dan teman-teman melalui media sosial, email, dan telepon. Datangi kegiatan-kegiatan profesional yang memungkinkan Anda menjalin kontak baru dan menemukan peluang emas. Ingat, networking berjalan dua arah. Jangan segan membantu orang lain, agar mereka dengan senang hati memberikan bantuan ketika Anda memerlukannya suatu saat nanti.
5. Tambah keahlian
Ambil setiap kesempatan belajar yang ditawarkan perusahaan, entah dengan cara mengikuti setiap kelas yang mereka sediakan atau dengan mengajukan reimburse biaya pendidikan. Jika perusahaan tidak menyediakan tawaran seperti itu, cari sendiri kesempatan untuk mengembangkan bakat baru. Hal itu akan membuat nilai jual Anda bertambah di mata perusahaan sekarang, dan perusahaan lain pun bukan tak mungkin ikut melirik.
6. Perbarui resume
Pastikan Anda terus memperbarui resume dengan mencantumkan setiap keahlian baru yang Anda kuasai, berikut setiap pencapaian yang Anda raih selama menggeluti pekerjaan. Jaga hubungan dengan orang yang mungkin mampu memberikan referensi positif tentang Anda jika sewaktu-waktu dibutuhkan.
7. Berburu di rumah
Jangan mengecek situs lowongan pekerjaan lewat koneksi internet kantor karena perusahaan dapat mengeceknya. Jika Anda berniat berburu pekerjaan baru, lakukan semua urusan dari rumah ketika Anda sedang tidak bekerja.
8. Berpikir positif
Jangan biarkan pikiran buruk menguasai Anda dengan kemungkinan dipecat. Tapi, tidak ada salahnya mempersiapkan diri menghadapi kemungkinan terburuk. Jika hal itu memang terjadi, setidaknya Anda telah siap menghadapinya. puisi cinta surat cinta
Jul
17
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jennifer Lawrence, who’s been getting rave reviews for her work in “Winter’s Bone,” has been cast in the “X-Men” movie as Mystique, a role played by Rebecca Romijn in the first trilogy. cara-mengecilkan-perut
Fox has been furiously casting “X-Men: First Class,” which focuses on Marvel’s superpowered team X-Men in a younger incarnation. James McAvoy will play Professor Charles Xavier, and Michael Fassbender is portraying Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto. Those roles were originated, respectively, by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen .
Nicholas Hoult, Alice Eve , and Caleb Landry Jones are among those playing mutants looking for mentor figures and teachers to guide them with their powers. Kevin Bacon is playing the villain, whose identity has not been revealed, as the studio keeps plot details under lock and key.
Mystique is a shapeshifter who can mimic other people, though she cannot replicate superpowers. In comics lore, she was revealed to be the mother of X-Man Nightcrawler.
The movie is rolling toward a late summer start in London. Matthew Vaughn will direct.
The role is a big jump in terms of exposure for Lawrence, who is generating early awards buzz for “Winter’s Bone,” and also marks her first studio feature. The actress is about to star in “The House at the End of the Street,” a thriller that begins production in Ottawa in August, and will then segue to England for “X-Men.” cara membuat anak pintar
The actress also appears in “The Beaver,” the Jodie Foster-directed movie starring Mel Gibson . membuat anak
Jul
8
ARTI SEBUAH PERSAHABATAN
Juli 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Sinar Kasih Sayang @ Sinar Mawaddah Dunia Kita Bersama
Pernah saya dengar kata² yang boleh dikongsi bersama
( Ilmu bukan pada orang dewasa @ orang yang belajar tinggi sahaja, jadi janganlah kita tunjuk ego seolah kita mengetahui segalanya. Walaupun sesuatu teguran positif @ ilmu datang dari seorang budak kecil. Terimalah… )
Terima Kasih Pada Yang Sudi Ziarah Disini, Pandangan Sahabat² mungkin lebih baik dari saya. Sama²lah kita berkongsi ilmu untuk hari ini dan masa depan kita dan semua… Sampaikan Komen Pendapat sahabat…Mudah²an kita dapat memperbaiki diri menjadi lebih baik.Terima Kasih…
Perjalanan Kisah Kasih Azriey sinarmawaddah
This Blog
Linked From Here
Tazkirah
Perniagaan
Pilihan Hati
Pautan
Fesyen Rambut
Hiburan Mp3 & Video ( Kliklah, Lain dari yang Lain )
This Blog
Linked From Here
Tazkirah
Perniagaan
Pilihan Hati
Pautan
Fesyen Rambut
Hiburan Mp3 & Video ( Kliklah, Lain dari yang Lain )
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Erti Sebuah Persahabatan
ERTI SEBUAH PERSAHABATAN
Dalam dunia ini kita tidak punya sesiapa,
Kecuali diri sendiri…..
Tetapi
Dalam kita bersendirian,kita beruntung kerana….
Mempunyai seorang sahabat yang memahami kita.
Sebagaimana kita mengharapkan keikhlasan dan kejujuran
Seorang sahabat,begitulah juga dia.
Tetapi kita sering terlupa akan hal itu.
Cuma mengambil kira tentang harapan dan perasaan kita.
Kita rasa dikhianati bila dia tidak menepati janjinya.
Kita tidak memberi dia peluang untuk menerangkan keadaannya.
Bagi kita, itu alasannya untuk menutup kesilapan dan membela diri.
Kita juga pernah membiarkan dia ternanti-nanti kerana kita juga ada janji yg tidak ditepati.
Kita beri beribu alasan memaksa dia terima alasan kita.
Waktu itu, terfikirkah kita perasaannya…..?
Seperti kita, dia juga tahu rasa kecewa…..tetapi kita sering terlupa.
Untungnya mempunyai seorang sahabat yang sentiasa memahami
Yang selalu berada disisi pada waktu kita memerlukannya.
Dia mendengar luahan perasaan kita,segala rasa kecewa dan ketakutan.
Harapan dan impian juga kita luahkan. cara membuat anak kembar
Dia memberi jalan sebagai laluan penyelesaian masalah.
Selalunya kita terlalu asyik menceritakan tentang diri kita hingga
Kadang-kadang kita terlupa sahabat kita juga ada cerita yg ingin dikongsi bersama kita.
Pernah kah kita memberi dia peluang untuk
menceritakan tentang rasa bimbangnya, rasa takutnya?
Pernahkah kita menenangkan dia sebagaimana dia pernah menyabarkan kita.
Ikhlaskah kita mendengar tentang kejayaan dan berita gembiranya?
Mampukah kita menjadi sumber kekuatannya sepertimana dia meniup semangat setiap kali kita rasa kecewa dan menyerah kalah?
Dapatkah kita yakinkan dia yg kita boleh dipercayai, kita boleh dijadikan tempat untuk bersandar bila terasa lemah, agar tidak rebah….?
Bolehkah kita menjadi bahu untuk dia bersandar harapan?
Sesekali jadilah sahabat yg mendengar dari yg hanya bercerita…..
Ambillah masa untuk memahami hati dan perasaan sahabat…
Kerana dia juga seorang manusia,
Dia juga ada rasa takut, ada rasa bimbang,sedih dan kecewa.
Dia juga ada kelemahan dan memerlukan seorang sahabat…..
Sebagai kekuatan
Jadilah kita sahabatnya itu….
Kita selalu melihat dia ketawa,tetapi mungkin sebenarnya dia tidak setabah yg kita sangkakan.
Di sebalik senyumannya mungkin banyak cerita sedih yg ingin diluahkan..
Di sebalik kesenangannya mungkin tersimpan seribu kekalutan…..
Kita tidak tahu….
Tetapi
.jika kita cuba jadi sahabat sepertinya, mungkin kita
akan tahu…..
Jun
22
Bila berbicara mengenai sepeda motor, paling yang akan terbayang adalah negara-negara seperti Jepang, Italia, Amerika atau pun Jerman. Estonia pasti tidak akan ada dalam daftar Anda.
Hal itu mungkin disadari oleh sebuah produsen motor asal Estonia, Renard yang berniat mengikis anggapan tersebut. Dan produsen motor ini ternyata dapat dengan lugas membuat sebuah motor sport dengan desain sangat indah.
Motor single seater ini memiliki desain melengkung yang cukup revolusioner dan terlihat cukup agresif. Terlebih motor ini ternyata juga menggendong sebuah mesin V2 yang kabarnya dicomot dari mesin pesawat.
“Motor ini akan diperkuat oleh pelek yang terbuat dari carbon fiber ultra ringan, enam piston mono block calipers dan three-way adjustable suspensions yang akan membuat motor ini sempurna,” ungkap Renard seperti detikOto kutip di situs resminya, Selasa (22/6/2010).
Dan selain keistimewaan tadi, Renard pun ternyata tidak ingin membuat motor ini jadi terlihat biasa. Sebab kabarnya Renard hanya akan memproduksi motor ini secara terbatas untuk menjaga eksklusifitasnya.
Kabarnya motor futuristik asal Estonia ini hanya akan diproduksi 100 unit pertahun dengan banderol harga 75 ribu euro atau sekitar Rp 844,1 jutaan.
Sumber:
Detik oto
dan cara mengecil kan perut adalah
Latihan Praktis Untuk Mengecilkan Perut Buncit
Memiliki perut keren, dan kencang merupakan dambaan bagi hampir setiap orang, namun untuk menjadikan perut memiliki bentuk yang ideal di perlukan sedikit usaha, tidak cukup hanya dengan sit-up ratusan kali sehari. Selain sit-up olahraga seperti jogging, renang, Aerobik, Jalan Santai juga bisa membantu mengecilkan perut Anda. Tapi, latihan sekeras mungkin juga nggak bakalan bikin perut kamu oke kalau nggak diimbangi sama diet untuk mengurangi timbunan lemak di daerah perut. Oke silahkan ikuti tips berikut ini untuk mendapatkan perut seperti yang Anda idamkan.
Pertama pastinya, sit-up, cara pengecilan perut yang paling populer. Tapi sit-up ini lebih oke lagi kalau divariasikan dengan gerakan menyilang.
Mar
10
Translator from Transilia.com
Maret 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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Des
11
Why Black Comics Must Get Barack
Desember 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Fade back to 1983. Reaganomics has black America in a stranglehold, unemployment is running rampant, and my sisters and I have snuck into the basement after lights out to watch Eddie Murphy, clad in a skintight red leather outfit, tell dirty jokes. Eddie says he saw Jesse Jackson working out at the gym now that he’s running for president. He says he saw him running laps on the track.
“Why you working out?” Eddie asks Jesse.
“I gotta be in shape,” Jesse replies. “Because when I give my first speech, it will be like this.” And then Eddie darts across stage, a blur of red leather ducking and dodging, weaving and bobbing so that the sniper rifle can’t get a read on him.
Speed up a bit to 2000. Dave Chappelle is at the Lincoln Theatre in D.C., and I am in the balcony with a friend who smuggled in beers in her purse. Dave says he doesn’t want to be the first black president. Maybe the second or the third, but definitely not the first. Well, on second thought, he could be the first, but he would have a Mexican vice president for insurance.
Black president: both joke and punch line. Black president: an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp. For a long time, comedians have riffed on what having a black president would actually mean … as if that would ever happen. That if it did, there would be cookouts on the White House lawn, which would have no grass, a broken-down car sitting on bricks and an old weight set in the driveway.
It was always a fantasy, about as realistic as the Loch Ness Monster, mythical in proportion and scope. The futility of the idea was a reflection of the weight of the past and pessimism about the future. Imagine a black president and fill in the rest with stereotypes and tragedy, because there is a grain of truth in both.
The jokes didn’t land on any one person, so there was no harm. That they never would was the ultimate punch line.
We have become accustomed to using humor to push through the burdens of blackness, says Darryl Littleton, author of Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh. Even in bondage, humor helped lighten the load of slavery. “Slaves that didn’t have the commonality of language would use pantomime to make fun of the slave owners,” Littleton said.
Humor has always been a painfully real thing for black America. It’s been a balm both to the hurtful reality of our place in America and the insufferable parts of our past. Jokes about being followed in a department store or being pulled over by the police, or not being able to hail a cab are funny because they connect the past and present struggle.
So what kind of reception should President-elect Barack Obama expect from the comedy world? Should we be on watch for tasteless racial innuendo? Or do we need to guard against being hypersensitive?
Comedian Katt Williams says black comedians won’t hold back.
Littleton agreed. “We comics unleash,” he says. “There won’t be too many things left unsaid. If he messes up, we won’t leave any meat on the bone. Truthfully, for comics, it would have been better if [John] McCain won. The worst choice is always better for us.”
The New Yorker Thelma and Lousie’d its magazine cover off the edge of comedic satire when it depicted Obama and his wife, Michelle, as Osama-loving-terrorist-fist-bumping Muslims. And Carlos Mencia, in a bit about as funny as a wet sock, dresses himself as the president in black face and afro and talks in that grating black dialect made famous by whites. Mencia’s stereotypical notion of blackness was framed by perceptions about how whites see blacks. But even the idea of a collectively clueless white mass seems quaint now that tens of millions of them voted for a man named Barack Hussein Obama.
Carlos Mencia’s routine crosses over the funny line in the same way as The New Yorker magazine cover because it isn’t edgy political humor or even a well thought-out skit. It is simply taking trash bags full of ignorance and generalizations and dumping them onto Obama because of his race.
For the comics themselves, Obama poses a conundrum. “He’s not stupid, he’s not angry, he’s not fat. Who would want a jerk like that in office?” Bill Maher joked on “Larry King Live” after the election. “We need to get over our nervousness about making a joke about a black person. Obama isn’t black, he is the president. And when we make fun of him, we aren’t making fun of all black people in the same way when we make fun of George W. Bush, it isn’t like we are talking about all mentally challenged people. But he has got to give us something to joke about.”
One place that comedians can look back on for guidance into the future of comedy is the late, great Richard Pryor. In 1977, on the short-lived “Richard Pryor Show,” he does a skit in which he walks out as the first black president and fields questions from the press.
President Pryor explains that the 5 percent unemployment rate only reflects that of whites and that the minority unemployment rate has always been around 45 percent. He thinks that the increase in the space program funding will help send blacks to space, “…white people have been going to space and spacing out on us. …”
He declares that Huey Newton will be in contention for director of the FBI since he knows the ins and outs. That there will always be black players in the National Football League and that if he can help it, there will be black coaches and owners, too. The skit ends with a white reporter asking President Pryor about his mother being a maid. “After your tenure, will yo mama do my house?” The bit ends with Pryor rushing from the podium and charging for the man.
The skit has everything in it that comedy can be: brash-abrasive-cultivated nuance that illuminates the struggles of being both black and president.
For the next four years, America will learn to adjust to a new punch line.
Des
11
Why White Comics Don't Get Barack
Desember 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
A black president. Now that’s funny!
So why are so many political satirists crying about how unamusing the Obama presidency will be? The standard reasoning is that, unlike Bush, McCain, Palin, the Clintons or even Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama is “too perfect” and does not provide material for good jokes. But the inability of “Saturday Night Live” to produce one hilarious sketch on the Obamas has little to do with the quality of comedic material Michelle or Barack offer. It has more to do with the fact that mainstream American comedy has been, for far too long, racially segregated and has relied on two formulas in dealing with black people: one is racial stereotyping and the second is black invisibility.
Both the right and the left used stereotypes in their attempts to satirize African Americans during this past election season. Most egregious was a mailing by the Chaffey Community of Republican Women’s Group, which included faux “food stamps” with the image of Obama surrounded by images of watermelons and fried chicken. This sort of imagery dates back to D.W. Griffith’s racist 1915 film Birth of a Nation in which newly elected black senators run the federal government into the ground and litter the floors of the Capitol with chicken bones. The members of the Chaffey Community group defended their actions by saying it was simply satire.
The satire defense was also deployed by the liberal New Yorker magazine when it donned Barry Blitt’s cover of the Afro-sporting, gun-toting Michelle Obama and the turban-wearing Barack Obama back in July. In both cases, the racial stereotyping was so obvious that it produced loud public outcries.
For obvious reasons, the invisibility problem generates less outrage, but it is equally dangerous.
Each week, as I watched actor Fred Armisen imitate Barack Obama on SNL, I tried to figure out why I did not laugh. Armisen has Obama’s cadence and facial expressions down pat, but as Kelefa Sanneh noted in the New Yorker, there is no “back story” to this character. Likewise, when Maya Rudolph temporarily returned to play Michelle Obama, the skit between Michelle and Barack Obama was successful, not because it has anything to do with the personalities or personas of Michelle and Barack, but because anyone singing “Solid as Barack” to the Ashford and Simpson tune, “Solid as a Rock” is funny.
It’s not just that SNL does not give a back story to the Obamas or that a non-African-American actor plays Barack Obama; it is that these skits miss the complexities, contradictions and the interior features of African-Americans lives. On SNL and other mainstream political comedy shows like “Real Time” and to a lesser extent “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” the cast and writing staffs lack diversity, and it shows in the racial parochialism of the humor itself.
Perhaps Bill Maher was right when he said that Barack Obama leads to bad comedy because he is “too perfect” as a presidential candidate and that “liberals” and “comedians” (both of whom in Maher’s calculations all appear to be white) are “afraid of laughing at anything with a black person in it.” But, I think it goes deeper than that.
For such comics to consider Barack or Michelle funny, one of two things now has to happen: Either the Obamas must begin to feed into prevailing racial stereotypes (and therefore be seen as unfit for the presidency), or mainstream satirists will have to learn the cultural nuances of black America.
This would include not simply making fun of how white CNN pundits developed a media crush on Obama, but lampooning, as one YouTube skit shows, how Obama preps his swagger before each debate. SNL focuses on Obama’s intellect and verbal pauses but does not satirize his performance of the “cool” black man. Understanding both his swagger and cool requires an understanding of black bourgeois respectability, not just in opposition to caricatures of working-class blacks but as a source of potential contradictions and comedy.
There is a great debate about whether CNN’s “D.L. Hughley Breaks the News” and David Allen Grier’s variety show “Chocolate News” on Comedy Central are funny or offensive. The verdict is still out. I can’t help but wonder what kind of cathartic laughter Dave Chappelle would have been able to provide for us this year.
Imagine what he would have done with Jeremiah Wright or Barack’s unannounced visits to the home of white undecided voters in Ohio. It’s not that Barack and Michelle aren’t funny; it’s just that those who have been able to thrive in a predominantly white comedic universe will now have to hire more writers and actors (and hopefully producers and directors) who know how to work with the material that Barack and Michelle will serve up. If they are going to stay on top of their games over the next four years, white comedians and comic writers will have to acknowledge black interior lives and class and ethnic diversity. Then we’ll all have something to laugh about.
Salamishah Tillet is an assistant professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of the non-profit organization, A Long Walk Home, Inc., which uses art therapy and the visual and performing arts to document and to end violence against underserved women and children.
Des
11
Why White Comics Don't Get Barack
Desember 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
A black president. Now that’s funny!
So why are so many political satirists crying about how unamusing the Obama presidency will be? The standard reasoning is that, unlike Bush, McCain, Palin, the Clintons or even Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama is “too perfect” and does not provide material for good jokes. But the inability of “Saturday Night Live” to produce one hilarious sketch on the Obamas has little to do with the quality of comedic material Michelle or Barack offer. It has more to do with the fact that mainstream American comedy has been, for far too long, racially segregated and has relied on two formulas in dealing with black people: one is racial stereotyping and the second is black invisibility.
Both the right and the left used stereotypes in their attempts to satirize African Americans during this past election season. Most egregious was a mailing by the Chaffey Community of Republican Women’s Group, which included faux “food stamps” with the image of Obama surrounded by images of watermelons and fried chicken. This sort of imagery dates back to D.W. Griffith’s racist 1915 film Birth of a Nation in which newly elected black senators run the federal government into the ground and litter the floors of the Capitol with chicken bones. The members of the Chaffey Community group defended their actions by saying it was simply satire.
The satire defense was also deployed by the liberal New Yorker magazine when it donned Barry Blitt’s cover of the Afro-sporting, gun-toting Michelle Obama and the turban-wearing Barack Obama back in July. In both cases, the racial stereotyping was so obvious that it produced loud public outcries.
For obvious reasons, the invisibility problem generates less outrage, but it is equally dangerous.
Each week, as I watched actor Fred Armisen imitate Barack Obama on SNL, I tried to figure out why I did not laugh. Armisen has Obama’s cadence and facial expressions down pat, but as Kelefa Sanneh noted in the New Yorker, there is no “back story” to this character. Likewise, when Maya Rudolph temporarily returned to play Michelle Obama, the skit between Michelle and Barack Obama was successful, not because it has anything to do with the personalities or personas of Michelle and Barack, but because anyone singing “Solid as Barack” to the Ashford and Simpson tune, “Solid as a Rock” is funny.
It’s not just that SNL does not give a back story to the Obamas or that a non-African-American actor plays Barack Obama; it is that these skits miss the complexities, contradictions and the interior features of African-Americans lives. On SNL and other mainstream political comedy shows like “Real Time” and to a lesser extent “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” the cast and writing staffs lack diversity, and it shows in the racial parochialism of the humor itself.
Perhaps Bill Maher was right when he said that Barack Obama leads to bad comedy because he is “too perfect” as a presidential candidate and that “liberals” and “comedians” (both of whom in Maher’s calculations all appear to be white) are “afraid of laughing at anything with a black person in it.” But, I think it goes deeper than that.
For such comics to consider Barack or Michelle funny, one of two things now has to happen: Either the Obamas must begin to feed into prevailing racial stereotypes (and therefore be seen as unfit for the presidency), or mainstream satirists will have to learn the cultural nuances of black America.
This would include not simply making fun of how white CNN pundits developed a media crush on Obama, but lampooning, as one YouTube skit shows, how Obama preps his swagger before each debate. SNL focuses on Obama’s intellect and verbal pauses but does not satirize his performance of the “cool” black man. Understanding both his swagger and cool requires an understanding of black bourgeois respectability, not just in opposition to caricatures of working-class blacks but as a source of potential contradictions and comedy.
There is a great debate about whether CNN’s “D.L. Hughley Breaks the News” and David Allen Grier’s variety show “Chocolate News” on Comedy Central are funny or offensive. The verdict is still out. I can’t help but wonder what kind of cathartic laughter Dave Chappelle would have been able to provide for us this year.
Imagine what he would have done with Jeremiah Wright or Barack’s unannounced visits to the home of white undecided voters in Ohio. It’s not that Barack and Michelle aren’t funny; it’s just that those who have been able to thrive in a predominantly white comedic universe will now have to hire more writers and actors (and hopefully producers and directors) who know how to work with the material that Barack and Michelle will serve up. If they are going to stay on top of their games over the next four years, white comedians and comic writers will have to acknowledge black interior lives and class and ethnic diversity. Then we’ll all have something to laugh about.
Salamishah Tillet is an assistant professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of the non-profit organization, A Long Walk Home, Inc., which uses art therapy and the visual and performing arts to document and to end violence against underserved women and children.
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11
5 Obama Hair Don'ts
Desember 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Our 44th president can change many things in the next four years–his hair isn’t one of them. The high-top fade worked for Kid, and we love Charles Barkley’s shiny chrome dome. We even have a soft spot for James Brown’s process. But sadly, none of these beloved styles can make the cut in the White House.
Des
11
5 Obama Hair Don'ts
Desember 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Our 44th president can change many things in the next four years–his hair isn’t one of them. The high-top fade worked for Kid, and we love Charles Barkley’s shiny chrome dome. We even have a soft spot for James Brown’s process. But sadly, none of these beloved styles can make the cut in the White House.