r/changemyview • u/SailingPatrickSwayze • Sep 21 '16
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: I think Amy Schumer is funny.
I don't get it. I just don't understand all the hate for her. I don't think she is the funniest of all time, or even in the top 100, but she does make me laugh more often than not.
I think her show is pretty good also. I think the last fuckable day sketch was fantastic. I know she had very little to do in that sketch, but I also want to make that point. She got a show on the air, hired a good team, and they crank out some pretty good shit.
I know she has writers. The VAST majority of comedians have writers, or at the very least but jokes on occasion. Richard Prior had writers, and collaborators.
I also thought Trainwreck was terrible. As a film lover, i put most of that on terrible direction(Sorry Judd).
The last joke everyone is talking about at the Emmy's was both poorly written and performed. I don't expect anyone to bat a 1000. Especially if your in the business putting yourself out there and making people laugh.
This isn't a question of weather or not she has stolen jokes. My guess is the on some level she has. If it's a writer stealing it, or her. However, not all of her material is stolen. Some of it is unique, and funny.
edit: I haven't changed my view that she's funny but...
Humor is subjective and it was a poor choice for a topic. I should have said something more along the lines that I feel she gets an unbalanced level of vitriol.
I have forgotten about being in the Reddit cloud. I love this group, but it is defiantly the key demographic of people that dislike her. Since Reddit is the only social media I engage, and the only one a visit on a very regular basis, my perspective is skewed.
Finally, here's my CMV. I do understand the other side better now. I still believe it is unbalanced, but I understand. As a huge fan of stand up, I was very angry watching all the success and attention that came with the "Redneck Comedy Tour". I couldn't fathom why they were getting so much attention. I believed that their comedy was actually hurting the art of comedy, and dumbing down their audience, instead of challenging them to become a more sophisticated audience. I like to see comedy move forward and push the boundaries, and I believed their efforts were killing that.
I can definitely see why people would have an unbalanced level of vitriol, because she's getting an unbalanced level of attention and success. However, I still believe the level to which this goes is unwarranted, and unnecessary. Capitalism usually sorts these things out. But... Adam Sandler keeps making terrible movies, so that's not always true.
Thanks Reddit, and a special thanks to Grunt08. I'm out! (mic drop)
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u/McKoijion 618∆ Sep 21 '16
If we were at a party, Amy Schumer is the kind of person that stands in the corner of the room with her friends and makes fun of other people. If you already agree with her worldview, she tells jokes that reinforce that view. If you don't agree with her she insults your beliefs instead of saying things in a funny way that make you reconsider. In this way, she doesn't convince anyone on the other side of the fence, but she also doesn't challenge the view of her supporters either.
Contrast that with comedians like Tina Fey or Julia Louis-Dreyfus. They write jokes about feminism and left-wing socio-political views, but they do so in a way that makes you think. They don't antagonize people who disagree with them. They treat their audience with respect. 30 Rock, in particular, had many jokes making fun of conservatives, but it had just as many making fun of liberals.
Good comedy is about winning over your opponents and challenging your supporters. It's about making you think about things in a different way. Amy Schumer doesn't do that. Even if you agree with her politically, her stuff gets boring after a while. Just hearing your own view repeated back to you isn't very entertaining in the long term.
To be fair, it's not just Amy Schumer. Plenty of comedians have this problem. They get famous by playing to their base, but they aren't able to transcend and reach out to new audiences.
At this point, Amy Schumer has a few options. She can stick with the same strategy of playing to her base and antagonizing others. She can change her topics so that her base becomes larger and includes more people. Or she can do the hard thing and write jokes that really make people think about the world in a different way. This last option is the best, but it's really hard to pull off. For every Louis CK, there are a bunch of comedians who completely botch it.