Kevin Hart Thug Not Funny Cuz Meme
Then and Now — Kevin Hart vs the Pressure to Fight
Ever heard of the phrase, "I ain't no bitch"? Kevin Hart has, and he isn't ashamed to admit that he does not fit that criteria. Hart has been using his masculinity as the punchline of his jokes ever since he was starting out at nineteen years old all the way up to his current career in comedy. But what makes this material funny enough to audiences that it has lasted the test of time? Perhaps it has something to do with the ironic way his lack of height reflects his lack of bravery. Ultimately, Hart gets the reaction he wants from his audience by presenting himself as the opposite of the racial and gender stereotypes society has placed on him.
Kevin Hart grew up in a generation where rebellion was at the height of its trend. Raised in Philadelphia, he was exposed to the stereotype that comes with being an African American male from a very young age. In a city where the streets run rampant with gang activity and the assumption that black adolescents are more prone to violence than others, this is undoubtedly the root of Kevin's insecurity surrounding his "lover not a fighter" mantra.
The stereotype that black men are dangerous predators stems from the negative effects of thug culture. The media and music industries have been promoting glorification of the gangster lifestyle for decades, making it appear essential to African American men that they possess thug qualities, including aggression and violence, as well as creating the stigma associated with black men that they pose a threat. Kevin Hart contrasts this idea in his 1998 stand up performance by exaggerating his cowardliness, claiming that his first instinct at the sight of danger is to take flight. He takes it even further by saying that he will run on his friends if they are attacked in order to ensure his own safety. The crowd goes wild when he exclaims that, "and for some reason, until this day, my girl does not understand why I ran on her." They were already laughing at his candid "I'm a bitch" disclaimer, but they were roaring when he asserted that he doesn't have the balls to stick up for his girlfriend.
Over a decade after this performance, a meme surrounding the expectation put on men to protect their girlfriends began circulating the internet, involving a picture of a buff African American male with the caption, "you're in the club and this guy smacks your girl's ass, wyd (what [are] you [going to do])?" The meme implies not only that the man in a relationship has the responsibility of defending "his" girl, but also that black men use intimidation to get away with violating women.
As part of his act, Hart reverses these implications by making himself out to be the victim of female crime. He introduces the subject by asking the audience not to make any sudden movements during the show as he has been robbed on various occasions and is easily scared. He goes on to explain that his jumpiness is partially due to the characteristics of the people who have robbed him. "It would be different if I was getting robbed by big people, you know what I mean, people that should be robbing people… but it's not going down like that. I'm getting robbed by women." He strategically pauses right before he says the word "women" to engage his audience before he delivers the punch. The audience finds his spin on role reversal absolutely hysterical because it breaks the boundaries of social norms.
In 2009, Hart gave yet another crowd pleasing performance using tactics that bare a strong resemblance to the ones used in his 1998 act, joking about abandoning a close friend at the sight of violence. He approaches it slightly differently by directly calling out females for their unreasonable expectations of men in between jokes. "I don't like the pressure that women put on men, I think women put way too much pressure on men." He goes on to classify himself as a provider, not a protector, and proudly admit that he is not a fighter and will never pretend to be. The laughter emerges when he suggests that if a fire were to break out in the room, women would turn to their significant others and expect them to get them out of the situation. He draws attention to the oppressive tendencies of gender roles through a ridiculous scenario.
Kevin Hart reveals the negative effects of stereotyping by expressing the sense of inadequacy he feels as a result of it through comedy. As a black man, he feels as though he is expected to intimidate and protect, but he does not posses to hostility to achieve either. Hart dramatizes the characteristics about himself that conflict with what society says a "real man" must behave like in order to elicit laughter from his audiences as well as deliver an underlying message about the toxicity within racial and gender stereotypes.
Source: https://medium.com/@carolinerigdon/im-a-bitch-and-i-will-let-it-be-known-then-and-now-kevin-hart-vs-the-pressure-to-fight-8978697e3af1
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