This came across our Twitter feed a few days ago and we set it aside as an oddity … did someone approach the Los Angeles times with a pitch about racism in improv comedy troupes, or did the idea just come to some reporter who went out looking for it?
There is finite room in the top ranks of L.A.’s leading improv and sketch comedy groups, and the performers selected have long been white https://t.co/69KwY7wIdZ
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 13, 2020
And we all know that the Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade are made up of Trump-supporting white supremacists.
Kelly Park, who used to work for the Groundlings, called the group “the Whitelings” and said she endured pain and humiliation while trying recruit and retain BIPOC students https://t.co/69KwY7wIdZ pic.twitter.com/1ZRd5HzR3p
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 13, 2020
“The Whitelings”? Was that the caliber of comedy we should expect?
I’ll take reasons I stopped doing stand up comedy in perpetually offended LA years ago for $500, Alex. ??
— Mindy Robinson ?? (@iheartmindy) July 13, 2020
Woke comedy is shit.
— Big Jim (@CatchYrselfOn) July 13, 2020
The only thing worse than improv is racism.
— Dave Weasel (@DaveWeasel) July 13, 2020
No way, LA Times found more racists, it’s almost like it’s all they do
— Mean Lantern (@MarlaYouTourist) July 13, 2020
Thank god the la times is finally on the case.
— Thomas Jefferson (@jeff1743_thomas) July 13, 2020
As we said, we set it aside as a curiosity, but then we noticed Thursday that the Washington Post was on the hunt for racism in classical music.
Recommended
Perspective: That sound you’re hearing is classical music’s long overdue reckoning with racism https://t.co/bQk9EZv66i
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 16, 2020
Wow, did the Washington Post find Mozart’s old tweets pic.twitter.com/gu8gLskQ6i
— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) July 17, 2020
Nope. We are not doing this. https://t.co/cWdesRyaoI
— Classically Abby (@classicallyabby) July 17, 2020
— SeldenGADawgs (@SeldenGADawgs) July 16, 2020
WaPo, you are running out of sharks to jump. Please stop the nonsense.
— leegeanuleas (@Leegeanuleas) July 16, 2020
Suggest you guys google "tipping point." You're at it.
— Today in Danistan (@RealDanLee) July 16, 2020
If that is what you “hear” when you listen to classical music, I feel sorry for you, and I’m happy I’m not you.
— Emilio Betech R. (@emiliobetech) July 16, 2020
Really? Because to me it sounds like the death throes of neoliberal corporate media.
— Matt MacGyver ▶️ (@TheMattMacGyver) July 16, 2020
Oh lord. Stop.
— Dog guy (@Catsorange1) July 16, 2020
Opinion: This constant whining is boring.
— I'm To Blame (@im2blame4) July 16, 2020
What is wrong with you? Do you have no actual news stories to publish?
— Dr Alice (@DrAlice) July 16, 2020
Nightly update:
The corporate press is your enemy. It despises you. It wishes to destroy your mind and your connection to your family and to your community.
The corporate press is evil.
— Josh M. (@GammaLucra) July 17, 2020
This is racist! And this is racist! And this is racist!!! pic.twitter.com/QOCOopTqWf
— Chris McKeever (@TheRealMcKeever) July 17, 2020
Hold on — the same day the Washington Post blew the lid off classical music, the New York Times was making the connection between the coronavirus, opera, and systemic racism:
Critic’s Notebook: The upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic presents an opportunity to end excuses and truly reform opera’s culture — to place anti-racism front and center as the industry rebuilds itself, Joshua Barone writeshttps://t.co/7aEOO4jVyQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 16, 2020
“Opera can no longer ignore its race problem” and “long-simmering issues of representation.”
Perhaps the epitome of a first world problem
“Niles, did you notice that tonight’s production of Turandot was not a perfectly diverse milieu? Brandy?” pic.twitter.com/v0vlDGmIst
— Billy Gribbin (@BillyGribbin) July 16, 2020
Just stop. For heavens sake.
— Karyn Lisignoli (@KarynLisignoli) July 16, 2020
??♂️??♂️??♂️
— Oludipe (@dapodipe) July 16, 2020
We haven't yet hit the bottom of the barrel. Please do "Melodic Death Metal" next. I have a feeling the Scandinavians are secretly keeping Black folks out of the genre. Something has to be done before it's too late…
— XLColdJ (@XLColdJ) July 16, 2020
Yeah, In today's current situation, I am sure OPERA is one of the big time race issues we have in the world. GMAFB
— politibull (@bigbrothercfg) July 16, 2020
It's crazy to me that people sit around and think up this stuff
— George Washington (@G_dubyaP85) July 16, 2020
They're required to to keep their jobs. Failure to virtue signal = racism. But everything = racism, so…
— Dicky Seamus (@westleysnoops) July 16, 2020
I look forward to BLM protests and riots outside La Scala.
— SeniorCitizen (@BSchipperke) July 16, 2020
At this point, is there any doubt that nothing about this “upheaval” is organic?
— turdferguson (@moldlines) July 16, 2020
It is beginning to sound a bit contrived.
Related:
‘Sleep is racist’: Teen Vogue explains how two women are addressing systemic racism in sleep https://t.co/J4POpnqliq
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 16, 2020
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