Comedy and Racial Politics

One day, my friends and I were discussing the issue of racism in jokes. Particularly in the context of NZ. We were discussing how NZ seems to have a mocking culture that seems not to be racist i.e. when NZers joke about race it is just a joke – there is nothing racist about it. But this is somewhat a naïve perception. After the lecture on comedy I agree that jokes are only funny when they are made about a group by that particular group and therefore can be considered racist when the joke is made by a particular group about another group. However, I do also agree that some jokes can cater for all ethnic groups. For example, the lift plus ads can be considered funny for all ethnic groups even though it stereotypes Pacific Islanders. This is progressive comedy.