General Larry Platt’s “Pants on the Ground” and the Intersection of Race and Comedy
In the middle of January, American Idol scored a huge ratings win when they decided to air a tryout clip of an elderly black man named General Larry Platt, singing his original composition “Pants on the Ground.” The song took off and is now a part of American pop culture…at least for the next few months.
The first time I saw the clip I couldn’t help but feel torn. I felt joke discomfort: the uneasiness I often get when someone makes a joke that I sense is not quite right, yet I still feel like laughing. “Pants on the Ground” does seem inherently absurd and there is something really adorable about Platt. Yet how should we feel about the way American Idol used his clip? Does it encourage us to laugh with Larry Platt? After watching several different Platt appearances, I’m still not sure if Platt is funny because he’s trying to be, or just by accident. If we’re laughing at Platt instead of with him, how much of this is about race?
Reader Gavin Jones sent us an email about Platt, lamenting the way Platt was the butt of jokes on Youtube and the late-night show circuit. Gavin says
It just seems like we live in a Bizzaro world where the more virtuous artists are fake blonds, singers whose subjects are ultimately selfish, and Soulja Boy types, and someone like Larry Platt is somehow not legitimate. Simon Cowell said he had a ’sinking feeling it would be a hit’. Mary J. Blige couldn’t stop laughing DURING his audition. I wonder how her (and all of our lives) would be different if he didn’t exist. SOMEONE, ANYONE should mention some of this after one of those clips or in some commentary.
In a greater sense I wonder how much this has to do with race. Obviously there’s no immediate way to quantify that but it’s curious that of all the thousands of applicants to American Idol over the years, the only objects of ridicule are William Hung and Larry Platt.
What rankled Gavin is particular is that Platt is actually a hero in Atlanta, thanks to the work he’s done for the civil rights movement. From Yahoo:
But Platt is not just some William Hungian TV clown angling for 15 minutes of YouTube fame. His real legacy in fact extends all the way back to the ’60s, when he was a teenage crusader for the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia…The man was even honored with his own holiday in Atlanta, Larry Platt Day, on September 4, 2001, for his “priceless and immeasurable contributions to society” and “his great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent and for his outstanding service to the Atlanta community and the citizens of Georgia.”
On that fateful day, the Georgia General Assembly declared: “For the past 40 years, Larry Platt has given of himself in service to the people of the City of Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the nation…Larry Platt merits the highest recognition for his many valuable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and his dedication to the struggle for equality and human rights.”
Platt was actually a student of Martin Luther King Jr. back in the day, which makes the timing of his sudden fame quite interesting, given that next Monday is MLK Day. In the early ’60s when he was only 16 (see the 16-year-old Platt in the photograph here; he’s the one on the far left), he worked with activist groups like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight racial segregation in the South. He was even beaten while participating in the infamous “Bloody Sunday” protest march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.
While Jimmy Fallon might not have recognised Platt’s proud history, The View (surprise!) did. In the clip at the top of this post, Platt performs “Pants on the Ground” on MLK day with a picture of MLK pinned to his outfit, and Sherri tells the audience about his history, then Platt’s nephew talks about how proud he is of Platt and what an inspiration Platt is.
But even if Platt’s accomplishments are becoming better known, this still doesn’t answer the question – when we see “Pants on the Ground” and laugh, why are we laughing and what are we laughing at?
So often when we see people of colour do comedy in spaces that are not anti-racist – or not controlled by people of colour – the framing of the scene encourages us to laugh at the person of colour, not with them. Think William Hung. Think Long Duk Dong. Think Virginiaca*.
Part of the joke discomfort that I spoke about earlier has to do with context and audience. Some jokes that I would happily laugh at in the comfort of my home, make me feel uncomfortable or even unsafe when I am in an environment where others don’t share my racial politics. We’ve talked about “in house” jokes before with reference to Bernie Mac. So often the appropriateness of race-based comedy depends on who the joke is for. In a discussion about Russell Peters vs Esther Ku, I argued that Peters’ jokes are funny because they are clearly made for an audience of colour, while Ku’s jokes are just plain offensive because they are about Korean people, but for white people.
Along with the fact that [Ku's] jokes are offensive (and not really funny), they send the message that audiences of colour are not important enough to write jokes for. In fact, all they’re good for is the butt of jokes. Just like ye olde status quo, Ku’s jokes place white folks at the center of everything.
Peters on the other hand talks about relationships between Indians and Chinese folks, between Indians and Jamaicans, between Indians and Latinos. More than this it really seems like Peters is simply trying to make people like himself laugh. There’s something sorta subversive about the fact that he’s playing to himself, instead of pandering to an audience that doesn’t share his experience at all.
When we hear a large group of non-black people or white people laughing at General Platt – do you think it was a coincidence that it was Sherri, rather than Elizabeth who did most of the interview with Platt? – it’s very different from when we see black folks laughing at “Pants on the Ground.”
Last weekend I went to a massive step competition, with a DJ battle in the middle. One of the DJs slayed the crowd when, in between the usual repetoire of club hits, he dropped “Pants on the Ground.” The entire crowd stopped dancing to sing along at the top of their lungs. When I wondered (via email with the Racialicious team) whether the exuberance in that moment was based in affection or mockery, Andrea had this to say:
But affection and mockery can coincide in the same communal laughter, Thea. For example, some older Southern Black folks, in quoting the Bible, say “God is not marked.” The actual quote is “God is not mocked.” When my moms and I go into giggles about it, we’re laughing at the pronounciation (stemming from our educational privilege, which is, more than likely, higher than those older Black folks we’re giggling about), but have a deep affection for the folks who said it because we understand those elders helped get us to this historical moment, as imperfect as it is.
I suspect the same dynamic may be at play with what happened at the step show, affection through the laughter. But I also wonder about context: Jimmy Fallon and other white late-night hosts mocking Platt may be construed differently than, say, an all-Black party laughing at and dancing to the song.
What is sort of nice about Platt is that, whether or not he intended to be comedic, it seems like a lot of audiences are reacting towards him with affection and joy, more than contempt; even though his overnight success may also be based in the fact that laughing at men of colour (or even elderly men) is just par for the course in our culture.
What do you think – is Platt funny because there is just something inherently delightful about his routine, or do we just like to laugh because it maintains a racial hierarchy where people of colour are always the fools?
*In the case of Virginiaca, we are actually encouraged by Keenan Thompson to laugh at a group of colour to which Thompson doesn’t belong: black women.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
atlasien wrote:
I saw this more as an effective comedic song making fun of people with… pants on the ground.
This is an interesting post about how his performance is viewed in a broader media context. I just don’t see any way that the song is NOT comedic in intent. I think Platt is fully aware of how ridiculous he looks, and is having a lot of fun with it. It’s a kind of benevolent revenge: “well if you young folks are going to act like fools, then I’ll show YOU, old folks can act like fools just as much!”
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:22 am ¶
me and not you wrote:
I think Platt is adorable. Its guts to go up against Simon, and I love that he did that. It makes me smile at him. I’m especially happy to know that he’s a leader in the community (or, well, at least an activist).
The minute I saw the ads for “Pants on the Ground” I felt my stomach turn. To me anyway, it’s pretty damn obviously racism. There’s a lot of “how can anybody be that foolish to not realize how bad they are” kind of feel. I’d like to believe that he realizes that he’s not exactly ‘holywood material’, but rather he had something to say, something that he wanted to get out to other people, and so that was his venue. (Then again, I do tend to give people a lot of credit for self awareness, and have been burned on that kind of assumption before–so I don’t really know)
I’ve avoided looking anything up on him due what is certainly an overwhelming racist response (if not in the orginal airing, there’s certainly gobs of it on the internet by now). I am kind of surprised it took this long for racialicious to respond to it.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:34 am ¶
jen* wrote:
I got the “uh oh” vibes when I watched that AI episode. It was funny. But I get that same feeling when I know that this guy will not only be laughed at because he’s funny, but because he’s an old(er) black man. [He's not really that old, since he's my dad's age.]
I *do* think there are plenty of people [of color and not] who are laughing because his performance was funny and his song struck a chord [the admonition to pull up your pants makes a lot of folks happy, no matter the color]. But I’m really getting both vibes every time I see him. In fact, I don’t know if it’d be possible for him to not get both reactions.
I’m happy that the song is out there though.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:38 am ¶
merq wrote:
Not to mention the subject of the song. “Those damn [black] kids who wear their pants around their asses.” All kinds of racial shit to unpack.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:53 am ¶
jen* wrote:
You hit the nail on the head, merq. And the fact that a black man is singing the song makes it “ok” to get behind the sentiment [even when the sentiment is driven by racist idea(l)s].
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 11:16 am ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
what are the lyrics to Pants on the Ground? Hard for me to understand why the video is either funny or not funny.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 11:28 am ¶
Kandeezie wrote:
I laugh because he’s making fun of the same kids I laugh at who waddle like a duck with their…pants on the ground. This is where I must point out how we still at times see ourselves as a homogenous unit. Our own class or generation or any other form of social location shapes our perspective. Older people make fun of kids all the time. Their right to do so (even via rapping) shouldn’t be revoked because of black solidarity – regardless of the intended audience. I might be missing the mark here, but that’s what I see he was doing. I laughed because he hit the nail on the head using a style that those “pants on the ground” kids adore!
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 11:28 am ¶
Jess wrote:
OK, I don’t watch American Idol. But I clicked on the clip above. I thought he was sort of funny. And I thought he was poking fun at the kids who think they are oh-co-cool with their pants down and all that.
That kind of joke can be color independent, in one sense: I could make the same kind of jokes about the white emo kids.
Most youth fashions are just as substance-less as any other fashion, when you get down to it. (That’s why when we see how our parents dressed when they thought they were being cool and edgy we often giggle. Our kids will giggle at us, too).
I saw his joke as pretty conservative — it’s a little like the laments Bill Cosby often puts out. (I don’t think all of Bill Cosby’s targets are great, but I think you see what I mean).
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 11:42 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@DIMA –
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/pants-ground-lyrics-video-sung-general-larry-platt-2556358.html
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:21 pm ¶
Julia wrote:
I’m with merq. That the butt of the song’s joke is black, male youth makes me suspicious of the response of a non-black audience.
And I’m not sure that Platt DOES know that he looks the bit the fool. That part makes me very uncomfortable…
And, this reminds, me…wasn’t there a similarly problematic performance a few years back on Idol that sort of took off? A young Asian American who became a sensation although it didn’t seem it was his intent to amuse?
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:22 pm ¶
Thea Lim wrote:
@merq & jen*
I was hoping someone would bring that up! Representations of Platt become very tangled up when you realise that he himself is propagating a stereotype about young black people.
And just like how within a certain context I would feel comfortable to laugh with Platt but within other contexts I would not, Platt is making statements about black youth that within some (black) contexts are nothing to blink at; but when he makes the same statements to a larger (or just white) audience, these statements become uncomfortable. Because they play into outsiders’ limited and potentially racist views of young black life.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:30 pm ¶
Diana wrote:
I have lived in Atlanta most of my life and had not heard of the General until this Pants on the Ground phenomenon. I am glad his good work is coming to national light. Although we can laugh at Pants on the Ground and clearly the AI producers were using this clip to maximum affect, I’m generally not mad at it. The General makes a good point. These young people do look like fools with their pants on the ground. Case in point–Lil’ Wayne on the Grammy’s the other night. He looked ridiculous with his draws showing and his pants hanging more than halfway down his behind. Meanwhile Drake and Eminem looked trendy without needing to expose their underwear. So again, I’m not mad. I hope he gets some material benefit from the song as well.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:36 pm ¶
gillian wrote:
“is Platt funny because there is just something inherently delightful about his routine, or do we just like to laugh because it maintains a racial hierarchy where people of colour are always the fools?”
I laughed when I saw Pants on the Ground for the first time this weekend. Far from a buffoon, I found Platt to be charming and fun. But yes, I did feel the “joke discomfort” you speak of when I saw Simon and the other judges laughing AT him.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:42 pm ¶
atlasien wrote:
@Kandeezie: Ha… maybe it’s because I’m edging into middle age, but I definitely identify more with the older generation when it comes to the “pants on the ground” issue. I often see examples while driving my son to school… he’ll yell “LOOK MOM HIS PANTS FELL DOWN!” at the most extreme examples.
I also agree with others that, yes, it’s very often used as a racist code. That is, instead of saying “I have an irrational hatred, disgust and fear for young black men”, which is what they really mean, people will instead say “I hate those people with saggy pants”.
But sometimes, it IS really just about the saggy pants… it’s all context, context, context.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 12:43 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
I’ve been working on a documentary about, um “New Raced Humor” and it’s like everyday? I have something to add to my ‘tackle’ list. Excellent points about in-group vs. out-group context and laughing with vs. laughing at.
jen & merq
Yes and yes. This is what I call a double-arousal comedic incident. It offers certain audiences the pleasure of laughing at the performing subject (for reasons that extend beyond the actual jokes) as well as their direct object of ridicule.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 1:02 pm ¶
Val wrote:
When I first saw Mr. Platt singing this song I immediately thought of William Hung.
I remembered the way the nation laughed at and not with William Hung.
So this makes me uncomfortable.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 1:21 pm ¶
Erika wrote:
“I suspect the same dynamic may be at play with what happened at the step show, affection through the laughter.”
That’s sort of the feeling I got. I don’t think I would have laughed so much if it was a younger dude performing that song, because I doubt I would have felt the same sort of affection towards him.
I think William Hung is different because people seemed to just be laughing at the fact that he was a tone-deaf crazy Asian guy.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 1:24 pm ¶
moth wrote:
I’m a WoC who went to a private, white school. The teenage girls were ALWAYS wearing trashy mini skirts and nobody told them anything about breaking the dress code. Why is that not criticized? — b/c it’s ok to be degenerate if you’re white. And b/c of that double standard, pants on the ground makes me sick. I’m waiting for “Skirts in the Sky.”
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 2:07 pm ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
i read the lyrics… and now I get what you guys are saying. It seems like an inside joke for the black community– white people have no right to laugh at and mock black youths!
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 2:20 pm ¶
Olivia wrote:
Something else to consider: I do not watch A.I., but for weeks the radio station I listen to at work has been playing a clip of “Pants on the Ground”. The clip is always followed by the (white) DJs laughing. Not knowing the context really makes it sound like a bunch of priviledged, white people making fun of young, black men.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 2:48 pm ¶
Andrea Plaid wrote:
I spoke with my own mom about General Platt and who’s laughing at and with him, who he’s aiming his message at, and some of the other issues surrounding “Pants on the Ground.” Here’s some of what we said, to further add to what I said in the OP:
1) General Platt believed and espoused a certain strain of “racial uplift” namely one doesn’t show one’s draws in public, which stems from a sense of “Black people must be at their best at all times to counteract the existing stereotypes that most (white) folks have about us.” I can easily see Platt going onto AI out of a sense of activism, to send a message to those young Black men (though the “pants on the ground” fashion” has certainly been picked up by some Black women and some other POCs as well as some white people of different ages and genders) to “straighten up and fly right,” clothing-wise at least.
2) And I bet you the young folks who’s pants are on the ground (and those older folks who cop the style–yes, they do exist) *are* the folks who go into gales of laughter and get on the dance floor. They probably view Platt as a cross between that proverbial drunk uncle who’s always giving advice at the family gathering (like how to dress “like a gentleman”) and the old dude at the club who thinks he can show the young(er) ones how dancing is done “’cause they don’t know anything about this”…while giving advice on how to dress in public. So, even with the AI judges, I wonder if someone like Mary J. Blige’s ROTFL’g is coming from the same place as Simon Cowell’s.
3) What Platt is saying about “pants on the ground” isn’t just “the older folks” not getting it. His sentiment crosses generations and socio-economic classes (SECs). I have a dear friend, a 26-year-old hip-hop-loving working-class Black man who grew up around young Black men with their pants to the ground, gives the style the side-eye. And my friend doesn’t suffer from a “false consciousness” of looking down at his peers in an effort to come off “bougie”, either. And I know young women of similar SEC and mindsets who wouldn’t be bothered with any young man with his pants to the ground.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 3:06 pm ¶
Boadicea wrote:
Is Omaha, NE the only town where young men of ALL races wear their pants somewhere around their knees?
I live less than a block away from a high school and work at a University, and I see LOTS of young men who wear the very style parodied in this song. I see black men, true – but I also see whites, Latinos, Asians, and mixed-race.
Is this only Omaha?
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 3:07 pm ¶
t. allen-mercado wrote:
This raises many AI related issues for me, and I’m an avid watcher. From William Hung to Norman Gentle and now Larry Platt the show has a way of highlighting the sheer
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 3:09 pm ¶
queerhapa wrote:
Oh!!! I don’t watch AI and had no idea about this whole “Pants on the Ground” phenomenon, so when Wyatt Cenac started singing it during his critique on the Daily Show of Chris Matthews’ “I forgot Obama was black” gaffe, it totally went right over my head.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-28-2010/speech-therapy—post-racial
Cenac comes on at about 4:20, and starts singing and dancing at 5:30. I thought he made it up as some sort of neo-minstrelsy. Hmm… gotta think about this some more.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 3:37 pm ¶
Andrea Plaid wrote:
@Boadicea–Nope. I live in Brooklyn, NY, and some young men of all races and ethnicities *still* rock that look–it’s been going strong for 30 years–thought more of them are pulling up their pants and and more solidly belting them around their waists.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 4:21 pm ¶
T.Allen-Mercado wrote:
Oops…
This raises many AI related issues for me, and I’m an avid watcher. From William Hung to Norman Gentle and now Larry Platt the show has a way of highlighting all that is wrong with whole concept of an American Idol. As much as I enjoy the show, the producers without overtly being sexist, racist, {insert uncool “ist”] manage to do just that.
I laughed at Mr. Platt’s performance initially, but knew it had the potential to bite him on the ass. Now hearing of his previous civil rights accomplishments, it seems even more disturbing that he would shuck and jive for the media whilst capitalizing on the mockery of his own.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 4:30 pm ¶
eh wrote:
All one has to do is look at the jugaloos (sp?) to that this fashion statement has crossed “racial” lines. I am upset when people label this as “black” fashion. I agree that this song is funny to different people for a variety of reasons. I also think that as a general rule, society tries to make fun of people who won’t conform to social norms, even if the only way those people don’t conform is by dress. I also went to a few private schools and noticed the girls that hiked up their uniforms. At those schools (just like at public schools) those girls did not get in trouble if their parents were very rich/old money/ connected. It didn’t mean that teachers didn’t give them the side eye, or people didn’t talk about them.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 5:02 pm ¶
Anne wrote:
Honestly, I think a lot of the comedy comes from the generation gap that Platt is presenting. I don’t think it’s possible to completely separate out the potentially problematic racial implications, but so much of what makes Platt’s performance so entertaining is the idea of a man who is far, far too old for the Idol crowd mocking a youthful style.
Besides that, the lyrics are so hilariously simple and delivered with such enthusiasm, it might be best to give the American Idol audience the benefit of the doubt in this context.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 5:10 pm ¶
urban Suburbinite wrote:
I don’t think Gen. Platt was intentionally shucking and jiving. I read it as him mocking not only the baggy pants dress but also hip hop music. Even the way he rapped reminded me of my father “rapping” as part of his hip-hop is NOT music talk. (Some older black people do not perceive rap/hip hop to be a musical art form.) To me, even the faux break dancing was meant to be making fun of what the older generation thinks the younger one looks like.
While I too am sick of seeing peoples drawers, I don’t think white people picked up on the intergenerational commentary. I think they just saw a older black man jumping around and making them laugh.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 8:29 pm ¶
Matt wrote:
It seems like every person who has ever been extensively made fun of for “failed tryouts” on American Idol has been a person of color, female or flamboyantly gay.
Consider that relative to South Park style humor which is all about fingering someone as “retarded” or “fags,” the “Pwned” concept and the idea that nothing is really funny to young, hip people anymore unless somebody is being mocked or dominated as weak or inferior.
I’m not sure what I can say of this, but it makes me uncomfortable too. It seems that his age and race are both elements in it. If you think anyone in the audience would think “I’m glad I’m not that guy” or reveal that sentiment if pressed for it, the situation has problems.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 8:50 pm ¶
miga wrote:
I don’t know about other folks, but to me it could easily have been one of my uncles (or even my dad at his sillier moments) doing it at a family gathering. So I thought it was funny. I thought he was playing it intentionally- he knew very well he was over the age limit, and yet he still went on and they let him all the way up to the judges, so everyone involved behind-the-scenes knew it was a joke.
And I’m young and black, and I STILL hate it when people sag. Not all YBMs sag, you know, just like not all YWMs are emo-hipsters.
I can understand why it could be problematic when taken into a larger audience, though…
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 9:21 pm ¶
merq wrote:
A.D. Nix:
Intrigued at the mention of your doc. Let us know when it’s ready.
Andrea Plaid wrote:
I’m a mid-twenties, (older-)hip-hop-loving Black man who grew up as part of a black peer group that loved the saggy-pants thing. For us out there in Lagos, it was what we were “supposed” to do. America, we all know, is a cultural imperialist giant. But being that the dominant image of black youth we saw was from the Hood oeuvre, it was as if “our” slice of the Global American culture pie had already been prepared for us.
As I grew out of that and moved to the States, I also got into that “look down on them for dressing like that” frame of mind, but luckily I realized that outlook wasn’t right either. Just because the way they dress isn’t to my personal taste, doesn’t mean I need to (or have the right to) grab a megaphone and yell from the high heavens about how their mode of self-expression is wrong.
Consciously or not, I believe those who do that still are giving the “I’m not like them” shpiel.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:31 pm ¶
anon wrote:
I laughed when he sang the song and I was laughing with him, not at him. I thought he was pretty witty. I have seen younger guys of all races dress like that, so in my mind, I thought of it more as a class issue. Of course, on a national level, a lot of people only associate it with race and I understand that. Is it a bit mean to laugh at people for how they dress? Yeah, I will admit that is true. But I agreed with him that they look stupid, so I laughed.
On the other hand, I was laughing at William Hung, not with him. Big difference. The guy couldn’t sing his way out of a paper bag and he thought he could. And I laughed at all the other contestants like him, of which there were many. Race had nothing to do with why I laughed at him, but yeah I definitely laughed at him.
That’s just my $0.02. I’m sure there are some idiots out there who laughed at William for being Asian. But there were many people like myself, who weren’t bothered with that part of it.
And for the record, I do think AI has been pretty “diverse” as far as who gets mocked. I’ve seen a little of everything and everyone on that show in the early episodes.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 12:10 am ¶
Valkyrie607 wrote:
Merq, it’s interesting you say that “It was as if ‘our’ slice of the Global American culture pie had been prepared for us.” I live in a the most diverse city in a very white state, and that diversity is in large part thanks to an influx of immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Congo, and Burundi. In contrast to immigrants from other places like Nepal and Burma, they seem to already be immersed in street hip hop styles when they arrive here. Meanwhile, across the state, veritable armies of young white boys are also adopting the pose and uniform of America’s black ghettos. It’s a little bizarre sometimes that so many people who have so little direct experience with that culture should be so fixated on it. What does it mean that this is “your” piece of the American pie? Why are the other slices not for you?
It wouldn’t matter except many of the immigrants also seem to be seizing on other aspects of that culture, like dealing drugs and having guns in the nightclub–where my honey works, the bastiches! Which is why it bothers him, a black man from NYC, to see them looking like fools with their pants on the ground.
Anyway, it’s these guys I thought of when I first saw the “Pants on the Ground” clip a couple weeks ago. Which made me laugh, but I did cringe at the way Simon especially seemed to be laughing at him, not with him.
Also, kids should pull their damn pants up! *shakes cane* If I wanna see your ass, I’ll undress you, young man.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 12:46 am ¶
liqwid_k wrote:
I may be way out to lunch here, but given Platt’s role as an activist, I could see this performance as a commentary on the ghetto-ization of Black culture. While clothing has always been a means of expression it seems like excessive sagging to the extreme of ‘pants on the floor’ seems to be the glorified “gangsta’ image. Which unlike hip-hop, nothing positive can be produced with the promotion of that image. I definitely see the generation gap and I would like to think that Platt was using mockery as a way of reaching out to try to politicize the younger generation and to stop thinking about “image” so much.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 4:36 am ¶
Renee wrote:
Honestly I saw this as social commentary attacking young males who wear their pants low to emulate prison culture. The Black community is already plagued with problems and having our children think that this is the best path forward is extremely problematic. It also made me laugh for every time I have had to say to my son, boy pull your damn pants up. I think it is relate-able for a lot of people and this is why it stricks a note with Black audiences. I think internally (i.e. in the “family) it is funny but it is understood quite differently when viewed by Whiteness.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 9:16 am ¶
Andrea Plaid wrote:
@merq–
Well then, don’t. However…
Whatever you believe doesn’t make it *true* for others.
At this point, you and I agree to disagree.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 9:41 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@ merq
Always looking for additional interviewees . . . I’m heavy on visual culture academics, 3rd graders, neuroscientists and professional-funny-people-I-know at the moment.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 11:06 am ¶
doudc wrote:
A.D. Nix:
Your documentary sounds very interesting! Re: additional interviewees — perhaps you could contact Cynthia Fuchs, an Associate Professor in the English department at George Mason University. She specializes in African American Studies and Film and Video Studies. http://english.gmu.edu/people/details/cfuchs
I took two of her English classes as an undergrad and very much enjoyed them; she’s a great professor. She also writes for PopMatters (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/72).
Good luck with the documentary, and do let us know when it’s available for viewing.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 12:46 pm ¶
Winn wrote:
@merq,
I’m with your critique. I don’t care for the sagging pants mode of expression either, but I have always felt that much of the criticism from the black community had an element of that “We are acceptable Negroes” vibe to it. Not that critique was wrong or inappropriate, just that it is difficult to simplify it into a generation divide, a class divide, a critique of “ghettoization” or emulation of prison culture, or any of those individually. I think it is more a complex mix of all of those, many of which may be operating at a subconscious level. My problem with “Pants on the Ground” is that it wasn’t presented in a “family” context, but on American Idol. People who want to make race-based critiques of black culture but don’t want to come off as bigoted are very effective as using black “spokespeople” as a conduit for that criticism. I do not watch American Idol, and I discovered the “Pants on the Ground” phenomenon through tweets, blog posts and FB links, all of which were posted by whites. I agree with atlasien in that context is important; the problem is, here, the context from the very start made it impossible for this to be simply a generational or intraracial admonishment. If it was consciously undertaken as some sort of activism, I would suggest the wrong forum was chosen for that admonishment.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 12:56 pm ¶
Sean wrote:
I admit I’m conflicted on this one. I totally agree that jokes that are told “in house” can take on a whole new context when told to the public at large. Case in point: Chris Rock. Many of us remember his infamous “Black people vs. n—–s” skit. The joke became so popular that non-black people began adopting the rationale that “there are black people and there are n—–s.”
I remember being at the home of a friend of a friend one time. Her non-black,but still a POC husband and I were having a really good conversation until he uttered the dreaded n-word. He must have sensed me go cold because he kindly explained the difference to me. I guess since he figured neither one of us was white, that somehow made his comments acceptable.
Interestingly enough, Rock himself expressed regret at having told this joke to a national audience for that very same reason.
When I watch Mr. Platt go into his routine I’m sort of taken back to that house… especially with Simon grinning. While I understand that sagging pants can be considered tacky as a matter of personal taste, (I wear belts, myself) I also understand that it’s every generations duty to differentiate and piss off the one that went before. Some of the youth culture bashing does come across as a sort of “Get off my lawn” sentiment.
Conflicted indeed.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 1:42 pm ¶
J. Jones wrote:
I find it interesting that the assumption is Platt intended his song as a joke. The song’s subject suggest Platt intended it to be a message in a format (a song) that would reach his intended audience. Although I’m not convinced that those wearing baggy saggy pants watch American Idol. So I too question Platt’s intended audience. If he intented the song for a larger audience (which going on American Idol suggests), then is Platt knowingly tapping into white America’s bias and sterotypes of young black men with baggy pants, resulting in giving white America another source of pleasure at the expense of black men?
Either way–whether Platt wanted to speak to the saggy pant wearers or the American public at large–the audience seems to be ignoring the message and just laughing. I don’t think they are laughing at “silly” people with their pants on the ground, as much as they are laughing at what they percieve to be the “silly” old man singing the song. Perhaps Platt doesn’t mind being laughed at if people get the message, but I’m not convinced people are listening to the meaning behind the song.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 1:49 pm ¶
Sean wrote:
@ Winn
That’s ironic. The first time I heard of the Pants On The Ground thing, it was brought up on a guitar-oriented message board with an overwhelmingly white male membership.
The sly, snarky remarks was enough to make me want to reach through the screen and throttle a few people.
Posted 09 Feb 2010 at 1:54 pm ¶
michelle f. wrote:
From everyone I’ve talked to about Platt’s performance, I’ve gathered a positive notion…all of my friends who have seen it enjoyed it from a comedic perspective and I really don’t believe that the “racial” issue played a part in that. There are a lot of African American comedians who have achieved the highest level of “celebrity” status and I truly don’t believe it has to do with their race. Yes, we may laugh at race related jokes but the simple fact is that they’re funny PEOPLE…be it white, black, or any mix of things, audiences enjoy comedy and comedians come from all different backgrounds and races. When people watch Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle, I don’t think they’re getting entertainment from the fact that they’re black or laughing AT them. They’re laughing because they’re being made to laugh. I would argue that the same holds true for Platt. I would strongly disagree with anyone who says viewers were laughing at Platt to maintain a “racial hierarchy” in which people of color were always the butt of jokes and agree that there is definitely something delightful and simply comedic about “Pants on the Ground.”
Posted 12 Feb 2010 at 12:46 am ¶
DovS wrote:
I think Platt did intend this song to be received with laughter but that is not to say that he does not truly mean what he is saying in this song either. Comedy is a powerful tool for communicating social concepts. People don’t like being lectured about their own failings. It is much easier to get someone to listen to your message if you can get them to laugh along with you while doing so.
As to why Platt’s routine is amusing, I think it is less a matter of his race than it is a matter of his age. His style of dance reminds me primarily of a father doing the universal silly dance to amuse his children.
Posted 13 Feb 2010 at 11:32 pm ¶