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There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over the future of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, with some even suggesting that it be discontinued. That would be a shame.
The general consensus seems to be that the event, if it continues, should no longer feature a comedian, based on the caustic and raunchy routine of Michelle Wolf and others who have preceded her recently. Is that the only choice?
Believe it or not, there still exist comedians whose idea of being “edgy” is not inundating audiences with the f-word, or crossing the line so far into rudeness that the humor becomes more abusive than funny, or cracking abortion jokes that make even the most adamant pro-choice advocates uncomfortable.
For most of my adult life, I have loved watching the correspondents’ dinner on television, along with the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner when it features the presidential candidates every four years. Regardless of political leanings, it was fun to watch everyone relax a little, take a few jibes and give as good as they got.
I agree with those who say no one should have been surprised or outraged by Wolf’s routine. It’s what she does. The shame is that dinner organizers thought she would be appropriate entertainment for their event.
Years ago, I loved watching the Dean Martin roasts on NBC, where a panel of celebrities would take jabs – PG-rated at worst – at guests of honor from the world of show business, politics and sports. The highlight was usually provided courtesy of insult comic Don Rickles, whose politically incorrect cracks about African-Americans, Jews and others (Rickles was Jewish) would probably not pass muster today (nor should they in some cases).
Several years ago, I was excited to see advertised a “roast” on Comedy Central. I was sorely disappointed. Rather than a funny and good-natured series of roasting one-liners in the traditional sense, the program was filled with f-bombs, and every “joke” seemed built around the basest sexual innuendo. I came to understand that’s what Comedy Central roasts were all about.
When I was a teenager in the 1970s, I recall friends obtaining what were considered racy routines by performers such as Redd Foxx and Cheech and Chong. We would gather in a car in the school parking lot to play the eight-track tapes, looking around to make sure no one was coming to bust us. The crude humor was amusing to us, but there was an understanding that “blue” routines like those were unsuitable for polite company.
Today, that kind of humor is mainstream, so much so that an august body such as the White House Correspondents’ Association considers it appropriate as its dinner’s main event, nationally televised on CSPAN.
All of us, regardless of political affiliation, are guilty of acquiescing to an entertainment industry that too often produces “adult” content or humor that in fact embarrasses pretty much everyone. The basement-level standards of propriety and discourse saturating our society are unhealthy, and, yes, President Donald Trump is sometimes a contributor.
But media complaints about the president’s language or behavior ring hollow, if what passes for prime-time entertainment brought to you by officials of the association is representative of the tastes of our most vaunted media institutions.
Journalists should not clamor to scrap the correspondents’ dinner, nor should they reinvent it, as has been suggested, as a solemn and self-righteous litany of protests against claims of “fake news” or a celebration of their bravery in the face of adversity. Celebrating oneself is never particularly palatable, and certainly won’t increase the media’s approval ratings.
Instead, they should return the dinner to its former glory, when next-day clips focused not on controversial bits by foul-mouthed comedians, but on a sense of camaraderie and the shared ability to laugh at ourselves and each other. For most of its history, the event was a welcome annual respite from the usual animosity.
Jokes and laughter should remain the centerpiece, but perhaps with a format that even youngsters could watch with their parents. There are plenty of comedians and witty celebrities who work clean, even if others might consider them “square.” Square is OK, especially in the world of politics and journalism.
Who knows, Trump might even attend if organizers promised a format that was more good-natured than vicious. Trump’s critics would complain that it’s one more step toward “normalizing” him, but the bigger challenge for dinner organizers after this year’s event might be proving that their standards are higher than the president’s.