Okay, so Margaret Cho is not what I was expecting to be watching for our theory class. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had something this fun to watch for any class. That being said, I’d like to try to digest the hour and a half I spent in front of my computer watching this video. (Thank you Joei for finding the movie on Youtube! I’m poor and couldn’t afford to rent it!)
I was talking to my dad online when I started to watch it. (Yes, I know, my parents have figured out AIM, and it’s scary.) When I told him what I was watching he told me that she was hilarious. So I went into this thinking it was going to be great, and I wasn’t disappointed at all.
I was slightly nervous when she started off using faggot repeatedly at the beginning, but then she settled into her routine and I learned to deal with it. I’m not sure that her using it as much as she does in the beginning is really effective, but it shows that she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind. And can I say that a fan made of spoons sounds awesome, haha. I loved her discussion on gay men and how they will leave you at the bar if they find a guy to go home with. The part where she said when she was little she wanted to be surrounded by gorgeous guys and she said “I am, but I should have been more specific.” It was awesome.
Her depiction of gay men, and then her girl friend were hilarious, but I felt like Butler’s commentary on gender could have come into play here. Cho overemphasizes the ditziness of her female friend, making her out to be a super girly, super dumb, woman. The way that Cho was dressed for the movie also could be discussed through gender. She was where a nice sweater and skirt, but also pants underneath the skirt. The part of this section that I felt stuck out with Butler’s gender questions was when she came back from the cruise. I loved when she was said “Am I gay? Am I straight? Then I realized, I’m just slutty. Where’s my parade?”
The racial issues that she faced reminded me of Fanon’s work. It just proves that we are still constantly grouping people into what they’re “supposed to be.” The fact that on her own show she was forced to take “Asian Lessons” from someone so she could be more Asian was just wrong. Another factor that played into her show was her weight. She was forced to lose a ton of weight in order to play herself on her own show. Does that make any sense? And then she went and added in the Jesus Christ, Superstar reference, which was hilarious. “You’re doing arms, and cardio.”
Favorite quote that dealt with the racism that she faced as well as the Ku Klux Klan was, “Is there like a KKKmart that they go to?”
I was surprised that she made fun of her family, as well as Asians in general as much as she did. There was so much prejudice she had faced, and I guess that by making fun of what was held against her, made it easier to explain.
The mother’s phone messages were hilarious – Grandma and Grandpa are going to die. I just wanted to tell you so when they die you’re not surprised. My favorite one was when her mother called her after the cruise and left her the long message. “Are you gay? Are you gay? If you don’t pick up phone, you gay.”
As you can see by the following clip, one of the most awkward, yet hilarious parts of this video was, “Hi, my name is Gwen, I’m here to wash your vagina.”
I believe Margaret Cho is my new hero. She took many very serious topics and problems she has faced in her life, and mixed them evenly with comedy. At times I felt that the mood got a little too heavy, but I had to realize that she was sharing her life with all of us, and not everything she was going to say was going to have us in stitches.
I think that it was kind of long, but it was still pretty funny throughout the whole video. I honestly think that my neighbors must think I’m crazy. I live in a single room in my house, and I had turned the tv off, so the usual background noise of my room was gone. But then I’d randomly laugh out loud during the video, and then it would go back to dead silence in here. I really think that they must have been like, “Well Meg’s finally lost it and is laughing alone in her room.” So worth having people think I’m crazy though!
I have to say that I enjoyed your blog! I agree with you that Butler’s work of gender could have interacted with Cho’s work. Your example of the ’super girly, super dumb, woman’ was a perfect example of how Butler would focus on the roles of gender and the stereotypes they fulfill. I also thought it was interesting how you discussed what Cho was wearing to her event. Since she was wearing bright colors, yet she was wearing pants, with a skirt over it. And her debate over if she is gay/straight would be another perfect example of how Butler would argue about the presence of categories. I think that your references to the typical body image of a woman that was discussed by Cho was also great, yet do you think that this could be tied to Horkeimer and Adorno’s view regarding media? When the producers of her Asian show were giving her lessons to become more Asian, and making her lose weight, isn’t this just re doing everything that we’ve lived in life and experienced? Just some things to think about! Great Blog!