In all the Kanye West/Taylor Swift kerfuffle, we seem to have let Russell Brand's disgusting jokes slide. In the beginning of the show, Brand addressed the rumors about Lady Gaga's sex. He said that the rumors were sexist, because people assumed that a woman with such a strong and confident expression of sexuality must really be a man. What great insight, right? That all went to crap when he ended that bit with this,
And if I pull her leotard to one side and find something a little extra there, I will just make it stiff and hang my hat on it.
He knows the rumors aren't true and, more importantly, totally sexist. But then he reignites the rumor by implying that maybe the rumors are true after all. Either put the rumors to bed, or don't talk about them at all. Don't send mixed messages like that. If that wasn't enough, he later made another really offensive "joke." This was directed at Megan Fox of Transformers fame:
"She has admitted she is a little bit cuckoo upstairs and I have trained in psychiatry. So, Megan, if you do have a little dizzy spell, love, I could probably slip you a little pill. You can go and have a lie down in my dressing room. You might get some crazy dreams about being visited by a scarecrow, a perfumed weirdo leaning over you. But let me tell you, that's a common side-effect. Megan, take your medicine."
Uh, did he just say that he was going to slip Megan Fox a roofie and rape her? Yes, he did. This story isn't getting much play at all, which goes to show how accepting people are about rape.
We really can't let things like this slide. I don't think a lot of feminists even watch the VMAs, because award shows like this are a cesspool of sexist and other highly offensive talk. But that's precisely why we should be watching these shows. We have to be on the lookout for offensive language. Shielding ourselves from it only helps us; it doesn't bring us any closer to exposing it and calling people out on it.
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Let's not forget the comment about the threesome with Beyonce and Taylor Swift.
He had to be, by far, the most annoying part of the entire program.
"Uh, did he just say that he was going to slip Megan Fox a roofie and rape her? Yes, he did."
No he didn't. His jokes aren't funny. But that should not allow anyone to read too much into them.
I know right, he said "a pill" not a roofie, that could be any kind of drug. And just because he told her to go to his dressing room doesn't mean anything, it's just a convenient location. And having a "perfumed weirdo leaning over you" A) doesn't mean he's referring to himself, it's his dressing room, but come on, somebody else could go in there, and B) doesn't mean rape or anything sexual, he/the other person in his room could just like to lean over people.
And besides, he explains at the end that it's a side-effect of the drugs, which means he didn't even do anything! It was all a hallucination!
Roofies and rape are ridiculous assertions. He just said he was going to give a woman a pill to take in his dressing room and she would have hallucinations of people leaning over her.
Exactly. There are multiple ways to interpret the joke, but only one correct interpretation.
It was a date-rape joke.
What else makes the joke funny? A pill that makes you hallucinate isn't funny. The joke is that he's going to rape Megan Fox.
There's no other correct interpretation of the joke. Without the rape there's no punchline.
You are being sarcastic, right? Sorry if I'm the one out of the know but I tend to have a clueless literal streak.
Haha, yeah, of course.
The joke obviously isn't going to literally say "roofie" and "rape" as it's a joke and it's supposed to be funny by being subtle, ya know, *wink wink*.
So saying "he didn't say that" because the joke wasn't "hey Megan, I hear you get a little crazy sometime, so how about I slip you a pill in my dressing room and then I can do stuff to you while you're unconscious" is a crazy weak defense. Either somebody is grasping for straws or they don't understand jokes.
Okay, I'll admit - I've found Russell Brand funny. BUT...the "joke" about slipping Megan Fox a pill that will induce "hallucinations" of a perfumed weirdo standing over her was totally inappropriate. Even if he wasn't explicitly making a date rape joke, it could definitely be interpreted that way, and it's still squicky and fucked up - why would you take a drug from someone you don't know that causes weird and unintended side effects? Very creepy.
I am in NO way defending the jokes that Russel Brand made, but I have to wonder if he wrote them.
I saw him do a stand up routine in New York about his experience hosting last year's VMAs. I recall him talking quite a bit about how bad the material was and how unfunny the writers for MTV were. He talked about how half of their material was cut right before the show because HE told them he wouldn't tell their jokes. I'm not sure how much of it is true, but I'm just saying that he personally does not write the material alone.
I have no proof either way that Brand did or did not write that joke. And we all know that he chose to tell it. However, I have seen several Russel Brand stand-up routines and would consider most of them to have feminist themes.
I agree. I just caught a performance of Russel Brand where he talked about last year's VMAs and can hardly believe it's the same man. He was the one who problematized the Jonas' Brothers' purity rings last year, which I thought was valid
The Megan Fox joke is absolutely appalling and even if he didn't WRITE it, he still told it, and I think he should answer for that.
This is so disappointing. I was even seriously considering finding his "Booky Wook." Now I don't think I want to encourage him. :(
If you're not sure about supporting him financially but still curious about his "Booky Wook", ask your local library. In the US, or at least in my area, if they don't have it themselves they can get it on ILL (Interlibrary loan). It doesn't cost the borrower anything extra.
I think the joke is about how Megan Fox is so hot that he would do anything to sleep with her, even rape her. Which is so problematic. The worst part? There were probably a bunch of guys who were like "I wish I could really do that to Megan Fox."
I'm going to take that a step further. It's not just that she's so hot he would rape her: another element of the joke seems to be "and it's okay because she's crazy."
First off: aargh! People with mental illness are people who have rights and boundaries and are worthy of respect. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't seem to get that, and the dehumanization of the mentally ill is a serious problem.
Secondly: Women who don't conform and do as they're told are often dismissed as mentally ill (both historically in a literal sense, and currently, in the sense of calling a woman a "crazy bitch.") The threat of rape is often used towards women to "put them in their place."
I've seen a lot of hate towards Megan Fox lately about this whole Michael Bay debacle, and a lot of that hate seems to be directed at putting her in her place for speaking negatively about the man who made her famous. Now, I am not really a fan of her brand of humor, but the way people are talking about her is really creepy, and the fact that she's made her fame as a sex symbol seems to only intensify it. What the hell is up with all of the sexualized hate? creepy.
He also made a joke about a hole in Katie Perry's outfit as soon as he came onstage. I can't remember the exact wording, but I was appalled. It had something to do with the cave he was waiting in offstage and the "cave" he could see through her costume.
All his jokes seemed to completely bomb with the whole audience, though.
Finally watched Russell's VMA opening. Gotta say I have been a fan of him but his Meghan Fox joke was way out of line. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and think he has a lot of feminist material...but rape jokes are absolute fails.
Does anyone have an e-mail or other contact where we can give him some constructive feedback?
If you really read into the megan fox joke it can be very offensive and out of line, but it can be interpreted differently by different people...
I think we should try not to read so heavily into the jokes. For the same reason people dont get offended when Russle Peters makes Arab jokes.
But I do see were you're comming from
I'm genuinely curious as to how it can be interpreted otherwise. At best it seems to me it could be seen as saying something along the lines of drugging her and getting her in his dressing room so he can stare at her and drool or something (hence the "leaning over"). Maybe not as bad as rape, but kinda close, and still creepy as hell.
And who says people don't get offended when whoever-the-hell-that-is makes "Arab jokes"?
Im not going to dissagree with you because I can see how you are offened, its just personally I am not. I think if we pick apart everything comdeians say... there wouldnt be any. I'm sure every comedian has said something questionable and offensive in there acts.
What if instead of Megan fox it was Brad Pitt? would we still be that offended?
Also, Russle peters is a an indian/canadian comedian who pokes fun at different culters. (very funny actually) I suggest you youtube him. (very off topic i know)