That’s what I kept telling myself as I stumbled backstage. I had less than 3 minutes to change into my costume for the next scene. A cretin in the audience had just spewed racist rhetoric, and now I had to dress in full drag and wax poetic about gender fluidity and the dangers of privilege. Lucky me.
21 comments:
I was surprised by Peter Kim’s reaction to the hecklers, mainly because they weren’t heckling him. He had a more adverse reaction to the racist audience members than to the comments directed at him. In his words: “But this time, he was attacking another audience member, and that felt like a whole other level….I cannot stress how dangerous it is for a white man to categorically discount racist hate speech as “obnoxious,” or “just part of” regular life. That borders on explaining away “grab ’em by the pussy” as “locker room talk.” I think Peter is much more concerned about the climate of the U.S. than he is about his personal feelings as a stand up comedian. Once the heckling act becomes directed not at the performers, but instead the heckler’s peers this crosses over from heckling to actual hate speech. I agree with Peter’s refusal to contribute to a medium that promotes hatred.
I think Peter Kim did the right thing by leaving his job after the repeated racist attacks that he had to witness and deal with. It must be extremely uncomfortable to try and perform a show while people are yelling racist and other offensive things at you and the people around you. Yes, we have freedom of speech but those types of things should not be allowed to be said in a public place like that. I understand people are trying to be funny, but there is a line and being racist is definitely cross that line. I really respect Peter Kim for standing up for what he believes in and not continuing to condone these attacks just by being present and part of the company. He is taking a stand and hopefully showing people that this type of behavior is not acceptable. I hope that resignation has an impact on how people act at Second City and around the country in the future.
"White liberals who speak on behalf of the oppressed are more dangerous to us than any gun-toting hillbilly from Mississippi. You stand next to us as an ally, but you’d rather convince us that fear-driven hate is “obnoxious” than listen to our struggle and accept it as real trauma." What Peter mentions in this line truly represents what it means to be a fox in sheep's clothing. Like other people in this thread, I think that Peter absolutely did the right thing to leave the company. I had commented on the previous article that this one is responding to and I was shocked to learn that a comedy house that I frequented and love experienced things like this from downright rude audience members. It's pervasive and easy for those in privileged positions to brush aside legitimate frustration as being "too sensitive." I think there's a line between being ridiculous and considerate-- but people are confusing the two. Peter leaving his coveted position as part of Second City represents that words have consequences and they have more power than just a passing joke or comment. He's rightfully fed up and hurt, and his physical departure highlights that.
This is not the first article I’ve read about an uptick in hateful speech and action since Donald Trump began running for office this time around. The tenor of his campaign and his purposeful aggravation of existing suspicion and fear of ‘the other’ has given people who are already so inclined license to publicly voice their hatred. Although they are clearly wrong, they now feel it is somehow acceptable to be racist, bigoted, or xenophobic ‘out loud.’
Those of us who oppose that kind of hatred can’t stand by and be silent when we see or hear something. I’m floored that no one in this comedian’s audience spoke up with at least a “not cool, man.” I’m floored that it happened day in and day out and no one said anything. That behavior has to be publicly condemned. We have to reinforce that that kind of speech is unacceptable. And every single one of us has to participate. We will have a lot of repair work (in addition to much needed progress) to do in the coming years.
What an irony, the so-called “mecca of American socio-political satire” is so passive and powerless when faced with politically ignorant audience members. They are supposed to use humor to provoke forward-thinking, but this effort does not seem to be recognized, respected and appreciated at all. In both comedy and our daily life, oppression are often seen as a joke, and humor confused with offense, but there is a very clear line between tongue and cheeks and straight-up disrespect. Comedy should not be a context where racism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression and ostracism are justified and even normalized. It is heartbreaking to see a talented queer, Asian comedian quitting his dream job due to the common disrespect. Queer and Asian voices in comedy and in the entertainment industry in general are already so rare. I wonder what the Second City can do to protect its cast, but more importantly what this country could do to change this prevailing issue in the culture.
wow! how do I begin to explain how relevant this article felt to me. Before moving 1500 miles away from home to go to college, I wasn't really aware exactly how people of varying races were treated differently in different parts of the country. It's not like I have experience racism personally, but now I am aware of the underlining divide race faces in today's society. It hurts to hear that such an amazing environment for theatre, where innovative and creative work is being created has seen such incidences repeatedly. you would think that such audiences that are interested in this kind of theatre would be more educated and politically sound, and then to be 'resolved' with such reactions as just “obnoxious" is outrageous. While I completely understand that the author of this article did not intend to make this article fully about Trump, I have always agreed with his point that Trump has given these hidden racists a platform/ confidence to speak out and make these comments. Throughout my life I have seen growth in acceptance, inclusion, and understanding of all people, but with the appearance of Trump and his ( I don't even know what to call it; his "platform" ; his word vomit' his outdated. uneducated, low-level attacks) that progress has been hindered. This article is amazing.
I think it is unfortunate that Second City seems to have created an environment where it is okay for people to yell out slurs and offensive statements. I see no reason why “obnoxious people” should be “just part of live entertainment.” That would be like if people yelled slurs and insults at waitstaff all the time and if they complained about it, people just call them overly-sensitive because it is just part of the restaurant industry, though, unfortunately, that probably does happen. Being rude to a random strange is rude, and it doesn’t become less rude if they are a performer. They are still a person. They can still hear you. Would it be good for the average person to be able to let a random insult not get to them, yes. But, what Kim is describing is not deciding to leave over a single incident. He decided to leave over frequent offensive remarks. Yes, perhaps some people can hear those kinds of things night after night and never have it bother them, but given that the point of offensive statements is to offend, I think that expecting someone to be able to listen to racist and sexists remarks night after night, without it having any negative impact on them, is completely unrealistic. I think it is unfortunate that the climate at Second City fosters racism and sexism, but given that is the case, I think Kim was completely justified in leaving.
I have never been in a show or seen a show with such blatantly racist or harmful heckling - so I do not know what it feels like to be a white bystander in that situation. Reading about it, I wonder if there was any other response besides the deafening silence, was the heckler confronted after the show? During the show did anyone mutter "asshole" or maybe even actually confront him? Probably not, as I think the article might have mentioned it somehow.
Seeing examples of continued racism in the arts brings this articles point home: racism is not over, even in what we perceive as a safe space like a theatre or other traditionally "liberal" area. White people who are not racists think because they aren't racist that there is nothing wrong anymore, and I know that I was surprised as a lot of other northern, white people were when Trump became as popular as he did in a real way. Because it is easy for white people to ignore racism as it benefits us, they forget that it is still very present and able to infiltrate our own worlds.
Beyond acting as an explanation for why Peter Kim left Second City, this article is a very powerful analysis of United States culture. This article acts as a criticism of Chicago's theatre-goer culture. It is incredibly unfortunate and disappointing that Kim, and his castmates had to experience so many offensive remarks so frequently. It is disappointing that we exist in a society that no one else in the audience called out the people making the offensive statements. What does that say about our society (especially in theatre) that no one in that room full of people said anything to defend the performers. I know that racism is part of our culture, as it has been since Christopher Columbus "found" the "new world." Racism in our culture is, of course, disappointing, but it is not surprising. What is surprising, is that no one spoke against the racism. I wonder if there is something specific about the act of being an audience member, that prevented someone for providing a dissenting opinion. Is it because, traditionally, we are taught that the audience is to essentially be nonverbal except for the occasional laugh or gasp?
I have no way of starting this comment apart from the words that describe how I feel right now: appalled, angry, and upset. These feelings come from more than the audiences’ heckling – this anger stems from the fact that Peter Kim was criticized even after he left (because he left). He had every right to pursue comedy for the sake of comedy, not hurting others. It was hard enough for Kim to choose to leave his dream job – I cannot believe people had the audacity to take this pain and suffering and augment it through Twitter commentary. I respect Kim for doing what he believed is right and I hope that some day he will see this comment and know that I am on his side. This situation actually reminds me of something that I experience every day while I watch the world finals of League of Legends (this is my first year doing so and it is surprisingly fun). I typically watch this through Twitch.tv and I have to fullscreen in order to avoid the chat because though the chat can be funny, it is extremely toxic and provides me with a terrifying view into what our society is like outside of my CMU bubble. Calling people ugly or harassing players for losing is a terrible action; just like Kim, I demand excellence from those around me and am quickly separating myself from the League of Legends game. I know now thanks to Peter Kim what it is like to experience this rude, filter-less American community and hope that we as a nation take the steps to become more accepting and less vulgar.
This is not just about an actor leaving a job. It shows how the whole country is at the moment. I was disgust reading this. If I was in the audience Im not sure what I would have done. This is not okay. It is very saddening reading about someone who is quitting there passion because of a lack of respect. People need to grow up and realize things like that are not okay. I believe that trump is allowing this talk to seem okay. It is not okay. Hopefully in the future people will become more open and Peter will get to work an environment that is not toxic.
This is horrifying and I applaud the actor greatly. No one should have been criticizing him in the first place, but it appalls me that people have continued to since his departure. Art is about being honest and vulnerable and any comments made can compromise the intention. Getting your dream job, I assume, is the best feeling- knowing you can pay your bills and do what you love. Having that ripped away because of someone else's ignorance is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with Peter Kim. We, as audience members, should be celebrating art- not victimizing its creator.
I think the actor is partly at fault here. If he was truly happy with what he was doing, he shouldn't of quit. Rather, he should have spoken with the management of Second City and stated that he was uncomfortable. Shame on Second City for cultivating an environment by which audience members were allowed to spew hate speech. That shouldn't be tolerated and audience members should have been removed for such behavior. I'm actually very surprised that as a reputable company and a long-established one, that Second City does not have postings in their theatre that set behavioral expectations of the audience. Something along the lines of "We encourage our audience members to participate in the show when invited to do so. Our community and performances will thrive from patrons that offer diversity and challenge. However, interruptions that are not welcomed by the actors in our show, or interruptions that include vulgarity that is racist, sexist, etc. will not be tolerated and may result in your removal from the production."
I don't understand why Second City wouldn't set those minimal expectations for their audience members to both protect other audience members AND their performers. What would happen if audience members didn't enjoy such racist and inappropriate outbursts and as a result refused to purchase tickets in the future? Does it take losing money for them to want to make a change? I guess the talent isn't as important. I certainly would like to hear Second City respond to this. That being said, I do not blame the actor for not wanting to remain in an environment where he wasn't respected, but I wish he would of challenged those outspoken individuals instead of quitting.
Another thing that bothered me on a different level about this article is the backlash the actor has received for quitting his job. It is possible that if he didn't want to receive such communications directed towards him, he perhaps should have chosen not to publicize his departure from Second City. More so, he is only "feeding the trolls" by fighting back on Social Media and other online platforms. I think he should accept that there are just disgusting people out there. Frankly, I agree with some of them. If you can't take the heat of (probably drunk) people yelling offensive things, don't stand in the performance of offensive things kitchen. Yes, there is a viewpoint that such a stance is part of the problem, but I do feel to an extent that he was working in a place where that type of behavior is not "encouraged" or "allowed" but is also considered "normal" or "accepted." And thus I return to my original point that if he wanted to change that, he should of chosen to push Second City to make changes, not quit.
Something that speaks to me in this article is the statement that "Until recently, it was taboo to be a racist....But this year, a presidential nominee of the United States of America gave his tribe a platform and a thinly veiled slogan, then fed them lies to turn them against the “others.”" I very much so agree with this statement. In fact, I would almost argue that Donald Trump has been a catalyst for making public displays of racism, sexism, homophobia, and other derogatory comments a "must" in 2016. It's disgusting and unacceptable. But as long as people are offered a shrine, a platform, by which they can be "excused" for doing such things, the disease will continue to spread. It is becoming the "norm" and practitioners of the arts should be the first to step in and do something about it. I believe that would start with Second City making changes about what they will accept from their audience members.
Like many have said, Peter Kim certainly made the right choice to leave his job. Kim is absolutely right - the recent uprise in racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments are a direct result of Donald Trump. Something that bothers me is if certain people can yell racist/sexist/homophobic/etc things out loud, why can't others retaliate out loud and let them know that these things are not okay? Why wasn't that audience member asked to leave? Why didn't anyone or even Peter say something at the time? Sadly, with Trump going from a joke to now an actual popular candidate for president, America has been taking huge strides backwards lately. Such actions can't be normalized, and it's so so important that we speak up against these incidents when they happen - I'm pretty sure that the audiences who made those offensive comments at Peter Kim's performance would never read this article by him and sadly will probably never be educated about it.
I read recently somewhere that political correctness is a concept invented by white men to turn basic human respect into something we could debate. Trump’s “grab em by the pussy” incident is not locker talk, it is bragging about sexual assault and he should be seriously investigated on those charges. This man and the other audience members at Second City throwing racist, sexist, and homophobic hate speech at the cast members and not hecklers trying to make a bad joke and they should not be tolerated by the theater, the other audience members, or the cast. I think Peter Kim did the right thing in leaving his job, but I am sad that it had to come to that. I wish that the audience member should have been immediately removed from the theater and that Second City should not tolerate this kind of hate. Tolerance of this kind of behavior and turning a blind eye to this kind of abuse of privilege is how we got to this point in American society, it’s why we hear about a different black man or woman killed by our own police force almost so often we start to tune it out, it’s why Brock Turner walked away with a slap on the wrist after raping an unconscious woman, and it's why we have a man running for President who is facing charges of raping a 13 year old. These people are not just obnoxious and when we start to shrug them off as part of everyday life, we are telling them that their behavior is allowed, that it is acceptable. I am furious at Second City for allowing Mr. Kim to be forced out of his job by these audience members and therefore giving more powerful and legitimacy to such racist, sexist, and homophobic attitudes.
This is a really disheartening article to read. It reminds me of another article that discusses depression among comedians. Like Kim said they had to live through personal attack hurled to them. They keep making the audience laugh but forget how to have fun themselves.
It seems all these years some people have been hiding what they really are and finally under the "guidance" and encouragement of a presidential nominee who throws unbridled racists and xenophobic comments during his speech, these group of people begin to "speak up". I wish Kim shut these losers up onstage and public-shamed them and kicked them out of the theatre. But I guess there may be some clauses or rules from the company that you should deal with/tolerate "hecklers" as a tradition or culture of interactions between comedians and audiences. But it seems like things are out of control.
Leaving the second stage is a right choice. People shouldn't work in an environment that they deem hostile and harmful to their personal mental health. I hope the company takes his quitting seriously and takes a stand against any racism. Racist jokes are not funny. They are STUPID.
I dream of a day when performance is a safe place for performer and audience alike. While I understand that comedy/ improv shows have a different set of social norms for performer and audience than say, a traditionally staged straight play, I believe that there's never room for hateful commentary in performance.
It's one thing to heckle a performer based on performance, or simply because you're plastered and the show doesn't have enough explosions for you. It's another thing to insult a performer's ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. A performer performing for you is not a free pass to spew hate. Yes, your performers are putting themselves out there and doing crazy things for your entertainment. Yes, your performers are vulnerable and exposed onstage, as they aren't necessarily able to defend themselves from hateful commentary. Does this mean you, as an audience member, should take advantage of this and take out your privileges and insecurities on said performer? NO!
Respect, people.
It is really quite disappointing when you hear of things like this happening in the theatre. Yes, it is hard to hear in the "real world", but theatre has always been thought of as a truly accepting place. I certainly felt welcomed when I first walked into Purnell. A big part of theatre is pointing out people's flaws in shows, and how are actors expected to take on the flaws of someone else when they can't feel safe going up onstage. They are sometimes asked to strip down completely, physically and emotionally, and let the audience experience what they do. If you chose to trash talk a show or someone's work, you should expect to hear the same things come along when you present your work. It is also very disappointing that a candidate for President would say the things he does say on a day by day basis. It excuses other people to say whatever they want to with out any means of it being right or wrong. I do personally believe that a person who will be the president should set an example for everyone else. There should be a higher amount of respect for people in general, especially in theatre.
I can not believe that this is an actual thing that has happened. How are we as a country still at this point? I have never been to any kind of theatrical performance where people generally call out during the show. The closest thing I can relate to this is the most recent revival of Cabaret, in which two audience members per performance are invited onstage to dance with Alan Cumming, as he asks them a few questions. However, people are usually too star struck about dancing with Alan Cumming to say anything rude or offensive. It's hard to imagine something like this happening in the theatre, but I 100% believe that it does. I think Peter Kim was extraordinarily brave to leave his job at Second City. Not only was it his dream job, but it was also a pretty decent acting job, which are few and far between. Especially after receiving all of the hateful tweets after deciding to leave, it is great that he stood strong in what he believed and how he felt.
I personally have an extremely high emotional tolerance for offense language a bigotry, as a black male who grew up in northern central Florida I have experienced a good bit. That is not to say that I find it to be acceptable though. It saddens be that a comedian was pushed so far as to quitting his job because of such hate speech. I 100% commend him due making the decision that he felt easbest for himself. I can't say I know exactly how I'd feel in his situation, but looking from the outside in, I think performers like Peter Kim have a real power to put hecklers like the one he faced in their place. Why not use those comedic skills to call out those hecklers, flip the coin on them and let them realize what insensitive pigs they are being. I'm not entirely sure if this works logistically but I know I'd personally have a hard time leaving my job due to the comments of some ignorant people.
I really agree with Peter Kim’s article here, and while it’s a total bummer I do think he did the right thing by leaving. You have to respect yourself, first and foremost. I do wonder what can be done to change the environment that caused him to leave. It definitely seems a bit unfair to be like “Hey Peter, why didn’t you set them straight?” and expect those affected by the racism to deal with the racism. That’s partially what allies are supposed to do, but as he points out in his article, white allies aren’t doing too great of a job as of recent. I am still frequently surprised at just how racist many people still are, and I think because we don’t deal with it as frequently—because we aren’t forced to confront it—white people don’t realize how much of society is permeated by ‘casual racism’ and hate speech. And so for white people to discredit that these things are happening just makes matters worse. This is why micro aggressions are a problem – not only is the act hurtful, but for people to then gaslight you and be like “oh that’s not what they meant” or play-down whatever it was that offended you, just makes one feel even worse. Overall, I think it’s a bummer that Peter Kim felt he had to leave, but I’m glad he did what was best for him. I just hope we can change the climate of audiences for comedy shows to stop these instances of hatred and racism from occurring.
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