Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Melissa Harris-Perry on The Colbert Report is "the Strong Black Woman"


Damn right! Black women carry the burden for the absence of the black male in the African American community. We are indeed yetis. Some of us are even kinky koalas...inside joke.

The strength of the Colbert character is his honesty. He is so wonderfully flat and transparent that one can easily imagine that there are many such white male conservatives: they are self-entitled, narcissistic, and can't imagine a world outside of their own experiences. In all, they are not "bad" people. Rather, the Stephen Colbert's of the world are just ignorant of the great depths and magnanimity of their own ignorance.

[Talk about a turn of phrase.]

Melissa is good in this spot. Unlike some heavy hitters like the genius historian Nell Irvin Painter who crashed and burned on The Colbert Report, Dr. Perry plays the role nicely--she is not too serious and maintains a good sense of humor about the whole matter...while still keeping her game face on.

There is also a nice bit of self-deprecating humor as Melissa describes herself as a "strong black woman"--one who is black on most days.

In all this is some good stuff. And of course, congrats to Melissa on her new MSNBC show. She knows how to shine and get her hustle on. Melissa is also cool people who will most certainly bring some new voices (and faces) to the table at MSNBC.

I am looking forward to her debut. Are you?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was AWESOME.

Oh Crap said...

She's so cute.

Henri B. said...

I loved this!

Mrs. Chili said...

I have always been very fond of Dr. Perry. I'm looking forward to her show.

Anonymous said...

She's gotta a nice ass...I would buried my lips into her body parts..

ervgopwr said...

Her apperance on the Report was great.

CDV, I bet you would perform just as well in the world fake/mocking conservatism. It's a shame sometimes that the bits are so short.

I'm looking forward toward your debut on her show.

RiPPa said...

I wish they'd give Pat Buchanan his own show.

Constructive Feedback said...

My dear friend Mr DeVega:

If I told you that as a casual observer of your antics - you make sure that you qualify your criticism of WHITE FOLKS by making sure you specifically focus on "White Conservatives" - would you then check yourself?

You see - It is my opinion that your specificity has more to do with your new BFFs Schultz and the lawyer guy (Palisimo - or what ever his name is) more than it has anything to do with your heartfelt belief that WHITE RACISM is containerized by ideology.

By the way - When you cast an eye over to Nigeria, the Congo or Syria and see factional VIOLENCE between people where there is shootings, bombing and assaults - do you at all feel cheap in your ability to SUPERIORIZE even the slightest insult from the 'White Conservative' from a relative perspective?

Mystere said...

Why did you say that Nell Irvin Painter "...crashed and burned on 'The Colbert Report'"? I thought she did an excellent job of creating a persona for herself that quite elegantly danced with Colbert's on-air persona. I thought that was a splendid interview, one of the best I've seen on that show. Perhaps some viewers were tricked by Colbert's bombastic obviousness, so that, in comparison, Ms. Painter seemed very serious. I think she demonstrated a very dry wit in that interview and seemed to be enjoying it as well. YMMV, maybe?

chaunceydevega said...

@erv. If I am so invited I will go. Would be worth it.

@Rippa. I like Pat. He is comedy gold.

@Constructive. You gonna take my advice?

@Janbo. I felt that she took it too seriously and the chemistry wasn't there. She is so brilliant, but sometimes one can have a style that is not a good fit for a show like that. A History of White People is so rich, how does one do it justice in 7 minutes?

anonymous said...

She has a very nice ass