The poetry of Don Blanding / Vagabond's House - General Tiki

T Thomas Member Lake Mojave Joined: Mar 15, 2005 Posts: 372	T Thomas Posted posted on Mon, Jul 14, 2008 1:36 AM I like Blanding like I like Charlie Chan. And I like Charlie Chan a lot. My wife and I both do, though the racial stereotyping has all the subtlety of an anvil. I think the overtness of it defangs it to a large extent. Whereas when it is encoded and indirect, it often amounts to plausibly deniable malice and is thus both mean and cowardly. For example, the ditty about "Zamboanga" seems cute and harmless, but (call me slow on the uptake...) only much later did I "get" the chauvinistic dig: "...where the monkeys have no tails" is a jarringly racist putdown of people far away and of another color; I can't but see malice there. In contrast, Blanding's "political incorrectness," like the ridiculous caricaturing seen in material like the Charlie Chan movies, seems like a pretty harmless, even amusing, relic.

I like Blanding like I like Charlie Chan. And I like Charlie Chan a lot. My wife and I both do, though the racial stereotyping has all the subtlety of an anvil. I think the overtness of it defangs it to a large extent. Whereas when it is encoded and indirect, it often amounts to plausibly deniable malice and is thus both mean and cowardly. For example, the ditty about "Zamboanga" seems cute and harmless, but (call me slow on the uptake...) only much later did I "get" the chauvinistic dig: "...where the monkeys have no tails" is a jarringly racist putdown of people far away and of another color; I can't but see malice there. In contrast, Blanding's "political incorrectness," like the ridiculous caricaturing seen in material like the Charlie Chan movies, seems like a pretty harmless, even amusing, relic.

Post #393710 by Thomas on Mon, Jul 14, 2008 1:36 AM