mister d wrote:That's my take. "I'm writing this to be funny ... I mean, of course they love grape soda and basketball. That's why its funny."
If what you're saying is something you'd also say serious, its not satire, its being racist.
Spoke with the student yesterday morning, and this very neatly sums up his attitude.
I spent 20 minutes with him detailing why it was offensive, why I couldn't allow him to pitch the idea to the classes and why I shared the assignment with my Supervisor.
He said that since Adult Swim shows and "Family Guy" do jokes like this, it should be okay for him. I carefully explained that those shows typically have the person making the racist remarks end up as the butt of the joke. I explained to him how he could have presented his material in such a way that it would have been "controversial" instead of "offensive." I also explained why it is acceptable to make fun of people such as hipsters or LARP-ers as that is making fun of the choices the people have made as opposed to the way they were born. I was actually quite pleased with the way I explained things, and I THINK he understood the concept, but clearly didn't agree that the black students would be offended because he was writing it to be funny.
As I was explaining point by point why it was offensive, he actually smiled at the scenes he wrote - thought it was hilarious that the black guy's being petted like a pacified animal at the end.
He wrote an episode outline for the series - he decided that he had a better idea for the pilot. It's called "Asians." I told him that his script (the final assignment of the year, worth 20% of the course mark) can not be about an ethnic group, Gays, religion etc., or he will get zero.
Anyway, he'll get his wrist gently slapped and in a few weeks I won't have to deal with him again.