I wish to register a complaint...

[blufive]

Avedon Carol points us in the direction of Kip Williams' Useless Invasion Sketch.

Comments

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's grand.
(Except for the retro-racist take on CP, that is.)

[blufive.livejournal.com]

I assume you mean the "boy" bit at the beginning?

I have to say I didn't see it that way (mostly thanks to the "stands up"). But then what's racist in the UK and the US can often be different¹. And, of course, I can miss the bleedin' obviousby about a radian, with ease.

It definitely IS a nod towards the original sketch, though (which has "Miss" instead)

¹There's an essay in there somewhere, but I don't think I'm the person to go digging for it

[blufive.livejournal.com]

Arg. That could get mis-parsed. I'll try again:

"What's seen as racist in the UK can often differ from what's seen as racist in the US"

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

The "boy" bit at the beginning, yes.
Also, the bad grammar (very much NOT typical of CP) and several other characteristics of the dialogue were very reminiscent of the "yes, massah!" portrayals of darker-complected folk in the 'Mer'can movies and literature of the early 20th century. (But which, quite possibly, may not have ever made it into British culture.)

"an essay"

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there've been any number of doctoral theses, for that matter!

I wish to register a complaint...

[(Anonymous)]

As the writer of the sketch, any disrespect I have for Colin Powell has nothing to do with his race. "Boy," as noted above, is a nod to the line "Excuse me... Miss!" I've never heard anyone say that was sexist. "Colin Powell"'s speech patterns are based upon those of the character played by Michael Palin ("...played by Michael Palin") in the original Dead Parrot Sketch and are not intended in any way to represent any American dialect.

Kip W

Re: I wish to register a complaint...

[blufive.livejournal.com]

Thanks for dropping by. Yeah, I thought so. It certainly looked like you were working hard to mirror the text of the original.