Not afraid to offend in quest for learning
The show: Chelsea Does, Season 1, Episode 3, Racism The moment: The round table
Comedian and talk-show host Chelsea Handler sits at a boardroom table surrounded by members of several anti-defamation leagues. “When you make fun of Asian people on television, it gives other people permission to,” the spokesman from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans tells her. She replies that she makes fun of everyone. The advocate from the NAACP tells her that it’s racist to joke that black men have large penises. She insists that he should be flattered, not offended. “If you’re attacking everyone, you eliminate the concept of racism,” she maintains.
In all four Chelsea Does episodes (the others are “Marriage,” “Silicon Valley” and “Drugs”), Handler sets herself up as a typical American: ignorant, but with strong opinions. As in the scene above, she appears to be listening, but she’s mainly talking. Then she travels around the U.S., or the world, and asks a lot of questions. By the end, she’s learned (and taught us) something.
It’s a simple conceit, but the strength of Handler’s interviews makes it work. She’s not afraid to offend, so she asks bold questions; she’s genuinely curious, so she sparks conversations. Ultimately, what she thinks doesn’t matter; what matters is the forum she gives others.
In the final minutes of this episode, a native American spokesman tells her that America is in trouble because it’s all about “me,” whereas his people think in terms of “us.” If we could all do that, racism would evaporate. A sign that Handler has learned something: She doesn’t retort. Chelsea Does streams on Netflix. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.