Transcription
You got me because Midoriya isn't white; he's Japanese. But white anime fans, who always like to point out how much they don't like how Black fans change the race of the characters on screen, never stop coding these Japanese anime characters as white. Because to them, whiteness is default. It's automatic.
So explaining Blackness is kind of hard. There's a lot of ways to really dig into the sense of cognitive dissonance that comes with living as a Black person in America. Living both as your own sense of personal self but also this persona that you're measured and weighed against at all times. Where you can be a completely law-abiding citizen yet be considered automatically unlawful just from your presence.
It's sometimes hard to put into words, but often, like every once in a while, a concept or an event can really just crystallize it perfectly and really get across the paradox that is Blackness in just one moment. To me, my favorite thing that describes the mental headspace of being Black comes from the movie Django Unchained.
There's a lot of attention on the set supposedly because, well, it's a movie about slaves, and it's gonna have a heavy feeling at times. But there's one story from the production that really sticks with me because it's one of those stories that really crystallizes what Blackness feels like in your head. Specifically, it illustrates the paradoxical nature of engaging with well-meaning white liberals and how, regardless of their intent, even on their best behavior, they can be kind of insufferable.
So the story goes that one day on set, Leonardo DiCaprio is struggling with a scene. It's maybe the first scene, I'm not sure, where he has to use the n-word. And we're talking about the real n-word with the hard "er." This was one of the most narcissistic, self-indulgent, racist, most despicable characters I've ever read in my entire life.
And bless his heart, DiCaprio is just not comfortable with performing. Now, mind you, Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the best actors of at least my generation. This is a man that is eating raw fish on screen, did heroin, and this—I don't really know the appropriate words to call this, but I'm gonna just put it on screen.
Gilbert, that's the law we're looking down. I was reading it, and I was like, there's no way I can pull this off. But I just tried to remain true to the character and not try to shy away from it, like deal with it head-on and not do things to cover it up. And I just tried to, you know, make sure that it was real. Make sure that it was real.
Yeah, he did that. Here he is, this Academy Award-winning actor, dressed like one of his ancestors in front of all these Black people. He knows how to do this, but when it comes to this n-word, he just can't find it.
So the story goes that Jamie Foxx, who is a good guy, comes to comfort him. He explains to him that he's not supposed to feel comfortable in this character because he's human. He's a good human. And Jamie, Jamie's a nice guy. Jamie has empathy. Jamie has all the characteristics that I try to champion on this channel.
Despite the fact that Jamie's from a small town in Texas and I'm sure had to deal with racism coming up from the bottom of Hollywood to become one of Hollywood's leading men, let alone leading Black men, he finds the empathy and the kindness within his heart to pull Leonardo DiCaprio aside and say, "Hey, we can get through this. You just have to subsume yourself in the role, and we can make it real."
We should all try to be more like Jamie Foxx, I guess. But Samuel L. Jackson, that's a real [ __ ]. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the usage of the n-word in this movie.
And no, nobody—none. The word would be—oh, I don't want to say it. Why not? I don't like to say it. Have you ever said it? No, sir. Try it. I don't know what to say. Try it. Really, seriously, we're not going to have this conversation unless you say it. You want to move on to another question?
Okay, awesome. I don't—I don't like—I don't want to say it. Come on, can you—will you say it? No, [ __ ] no, that's not the same thing. Why do you want me—? They're going to bleep it when you say it. Say it. I can't say it. If I say it, this question won't make air.
Okay, forget it. Okay, I'll skip it. Sorry, guys, it was a good question. No, it wasn't. See, Samuel L. Jackson was like in his 60s, maybe even late 60s at the time, and he was too old for this [ __ ].
Sam, who also grew up in the South and went to Morehouse College, where he actually at one point in time participated in a protest that helped Martin Luther King’s father hostage. The same Morehouse College that Martin Luther King and Spike Lee and clearly channel favorite John David Washington attended.
And he also had to deal with racism coming from the bottom of Hollywood to make it to be one of Hollywood's top leading figures. He was even a Black Panther for a little while until his mother decided, "Look, I need to save your life," and bought him a ticket and sent him to LA to pursue acting in the first place.
Samuel L. Jackson's a real [ __ ]. He wasn't for the shits, buddy. And I said, "What's the deal?" He said, "It's tough." I said, "You know what? You're human. It's supposed to be tough."
Samuel L. Jackson quickly said, "Hey, mf, get over there. It's just another Tuesday for us, and let's get going." Sam saw Leo struggling, went over to him, pulled him aside, and said, "Get over it, [ __ ]. It's just Tuesday to the rest of us." That's cold, and I love it.
I want to start there because to me, this story really illustrates a unique relationship that Blackness has to an emerging energy from white liberals. And when I say liberals, please don't get me into like the whole left-to-extra rope left infighting space. Like, I don't really want to—I don't ever want to enter that space.
Just understand, as I talk about liberals, I'm not like liberals. I'm not doing that stuff with y'all. I'm sorry. When I'm talking about liberal here, because I don't want to make this a leftist discourse video, I'm just basically saying everybody that voted for Joe Biden going left, like this is the line over there.
Well-meaning white people, people that want to be allies, that want to do better, and all that good stuff. And we appreciate that. It's nice, but we got to have a conversation.
And I'm going to start that conversation, oddly enough, with Bo Burnham. I think it's cool to start there because if there's any person that can perfectly symbolize the gap between white liberalism and Black people, or I guess maybe most people of color, it's Bo Burnham. Because it doesn't get much wider than that.
And we're reacting to Bo Burnham's country song. All right, and this is a joke on there. I don't know, somebody requested it. Y'all know to help read a book or something. I don't know. Yes, he like sang ended comedy.
And I think he's a recording artist, you guys. I'm sorry, I have no idea who he is. I need to really do some more research. Today we will be reacting to "Welcome to the Internet," Bo Burnham. Bo Burnham, okay, first time.
All right, okay. Black people don't know who Bo Burnham is, which isn't super surprising. Only churches and public schools are more segregated than the world of comedy, especially stand-up comedy.
But it feels weirder that we don't rock with Bo Burnham because he's of a—you know, he's of the millennial generation where a lot of his work started out on YouTube. And he's been in—well, I don't know what the [ __ ] he's been here because I don't watch—I don't watch Bo Burnham.
I don't—I didn't know who this dude was, and I saw a couple of his clips on YouTube. And I have to say, I feel like we're kind of missing out, y'all. But Burnham's kind of funny. He's maybe the closest thing that white people have to Donald Glover. That may be pushing it a little bit, but he's like in that same realm where it's thought-provoking comedy, but it's also a little bit of surrealism.
And there's really a lot of clever and wit wrapped into his performances and what he does. And I'll get there in a second. Back to Donald Glover and also Issa Rae, who in my opinion are the two most significant figures to get their start on YouTube.
And like I've talked about this in other videos, Bo Burnham also started on YouTube. He was only 15, 16 years old when he started releasing, you know, comedy skit song videos from his bedroom.
And the thing I bring this up for is because if you go back and you watch Awkward Black Girl or you watch Derek Comedy, some things don't age well, but for the most part, both of those products are still pretty good and relevant and like wouldn't get them canceled today.
Bo Burnham's old [ __ ] though. Now, I don't know if all Boy Scouts are gay. They could probably tie the knot in like 50 different ways. Got a safe full of cherries 'cause I poppin' and lock it. A girl's like a fridge; once a week, you should stock it.
Girl, if you're into [ __ ], it's only safe if you're swimming. Then girl, don't sit on that couch 'cause I treat my objects like women. I spit fire like I just blew a demon. My [ __ ]'s so hot, I'll leave your toilet