Comedian Trevor Noah- Courtesy Photo
“The Daily Show” just became a bit more controversial. When the announcement that Trevor Noah, a South African comedian and current correspondent of “The Daily Show,” would succeed Jon Stewart made waves on the Internet, the scrutiny began in full earnest.
According to the New York Times, Trevor Noah’s Twitter account has many jokes pertaining to women and Jews. This news has caused an uproar online. This isn’t surprising since we live in a world where people are angered at even the most harmless of jokes.
Many of his tweets come across as mocking or derisive to women such as this tweet “Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk and think I’m sexy!” which is a quote he attributed to fat chicks.
Other tweets pertained to a critique of Israel, such as the tweet, “South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful.”
Comedy Central has defended the comedian. Trevor Noah said, “To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian,”
reported NPR.
Other comedians have gone on to defend the comedian amid great scrutiny. Patton Oswalt posted a series of tweets explaining how insignificant a joke is and how it shouldn’t be able to offend anyone.
I think the problem here is best described by comedian Jim Norton when he wrote in a blog for Time magazine. His headline simply reads, “Trevor Noah isn’t the problem. You are.”
Norton is right. For some reason, everyone these days gets so offended at anything and everything. Maybe it’s just a part of the political atmosphere, where no one can get along on any issue. Jim Norton explained in his blog, “One activity we never get tired of is being outraged. Boy do we love it. We simply can’t get enough of that rush when someone offends us.”
There is some truth to what Norton said. People love controversy. People always feel a rush whenever they are offended in some manner. I could sort of understand someone being offended if these tweets came from someone like Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Barack Obama or anyone whose job isn’t to make you laugh.
Seriously though, come on, people. Trevor Noah is a comedian. His job is to make you laugh and he has obviously evolved as a comedian over the years.
I personally love Trevor Noah. Anytime he is on the program he is entertaining and provides hilarious insight into America from a South African’s perspective. People who find controversy in every little thing would likely have a stroke watching some of Comedy Central’s programming.
For the sake of common sense and human decency, please just stop and enjoy the program like I do every Monday through Thursday night.
