Desteny Maragh – Reporter
Bill Burr’s controversial “Saturday Night Live” opening monologue on Saturday, Oct. 10 on race and Pride Month caused an array of student opinions, even if it is what his fans expected.
“Cancel culture is not about ending someone’s career it’s about holding them accountable,” said biology major Jada Vernon, a sophomore. “I love comedy and I am fond of Bill Burr, but I don’t like when people discuss cancel culture as a negative thing because it’s not. It’s actually sort of needed, especially in our climate.”
Vernon said she is an avid Twitter user and normally gets most of her news from the platform.
“When he was trending on twitter, I went to watch the SNL clips and I was not against most of his set. I thought he made some good points, but his thoughts on cancel culture is the one part he got wrong,” said Vernon.
She said cancel culture is not a new concept and it is not made to just end a famous person’s career, but to acknowledge the negative attributes of people in power that may be overlooked because of their status.
Vernon said that R Kelly is a good example.
“For years, R Kelly had allegations, trials and multiple incriminating evidence against him, but no one ever spoke up and said don’t listen to this guy anymore,” said Vernon.
Vernon said Twitter users were the ones who brought R Kelly’s past to light and canceled him and his music in support of the women he hurt.
“Cancel culture should not be feared among celebrities, but it should be something to keep them in check,” said Vernon. “You should just do the right thing and you won’t get canceled.”
A student who said he thought Bill Burr’s monologue was hilarious is secondary education major John Green, a freshman.
Green said he loved when Burr spoke about people’s reaction to COVID-19 and how he didn’t care if the audience wore masks or not.
During his stand-up, Bill Burr said “take out your grandparents. Take out your weak cousin with the asthma, I don’t care. It’s your decision,” he said. “If you’re that dumb and you want to kill your own family members, by all means, do it.”
Another student who said he thought Burr’s stand up was great is physics major Austin Stewart, a junior.
“The digs he took at white women were spot on,” said Stewart. “It’s funnier when it’s true.”
Stewart said he knows a few people who could have been offended while watching Burr’s standup.
“Comedy is not meant to be taken offensive. It’s meant for people who it applies to reevaluate what they’re doing because it’s silly, that why it’s made into a joke,” said Stewart.
Some of Burr’s comments on white women were: “you guys stood by us toxic white males through centuries of our crimes against humanity.”
“I was on Twitter and I saw a lot of white women get upset at some of the comments Bill made, but it’s true you know,” said Stewart.
Stewart said if someone is making a joke about you and you don’t think it’s funny, it is because the joke is true.
“If more people took the time to listen to what he was saying, they would understand that it is real life problems disguised as jokes,” said Stewart.
Burr also said that white women “rolled around in the blood money, and occasionally, when you wanted to sneak off and hook up with a Black dude, if you got caught, you said it wasn’t consensual,” during his monologue.
Stewart referenced the 1962 novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee and said the whole story is about a “white women lying on a black man.”
“That was from the 60s, we’re in 2020 and it’s still a conversation that we make into entertainment, it’s a serious conversation but people have a hard time discussing it,” said Stewart.
Another student who said he thought Burr’s monologue was funny is history major, Tyron Jenkins, a freshman.
“Bill Burr is a funny dude, anyone who can make fun of white supremacy while pushing the conversation forward is a good guy to me,” said Jenkins. “I hope we as a culture don’t cancel him because he looks like he’s on the right side of history.”
