Pick Carl

Im a Urban Lenny.

What?

In article , Stoneco864 wrote:

I might be able to explain this, assuming that you're actually asking about the origin of the joke and not just being droll. ;)

In the radio business, "urban" is the adjective used to describe Rap/Hip-Hop stations, a sort of PC workaround for the word "black". There was actually a funny usage of that term on the Larry Sanders Show a few years back. The musical guest was going to be the Wu-Tang Clan, and some studio executives were trying to talk Rip Torn (the producer, I think?) out of it. They said, "We feel that the Wu-Tang Clan is a little... urban for our demographics." Torn replied, "Well, maybe I can call my friend Lenny Kravitz. He's only half urban, will that help?"

   Cheers,
      Shi Bao Nai

On Mon, 19 Nov 2001 05:03:06 GMT, Shi Bao Nai wrote:

Thanks, Shi, I'm sure no one understood the reference.

Kelly wrote:

Ur-ban? Sincerely, Little Girl

well that's quite a revelation you've got there. but it still doesn't explain how carl is the urban lenny. carl is black, but he is in no way urban. he lives in the suburbs. if anything, carl is the black lenny, just as lenny is the white carl. they're basically interchangeable characters and the show has poked fun at that in the past, with much greater success than last night.

"white people have names such as lenny, while black people have names like carl" - homer

"lenny = white, carl = black" (written on homer's hand)

"urban lenny" sucks.

"Langdon Alger" wrote in message news:9tbn96$d1l$[email]...

just

I thought that was one of the funniest bits! Urban has been used as a euphemism for being black. It's got nothing to do with where you live.

James Gennero wrote:

I'm glad that you guys have decided that "urban" is a PC word for black.

Being a white guy in the heart of an urban area that listens to hip-hop,

I find that completely false. Over half of the listeners/buyers of hip-hop merchandise are white people from the 'burbs. Urban is a culture, not a PC workaround for racism. It's like saying that "country" is a PC term for hillbillys just because most country singers are from rural areas.

I don't exactly remember the episode in question, but I remember the exchange, and I'm thinking that Carl just described himself in a way that perpetuates this kind of thinking because that helps some of the more ignorant(by the way, that's not an insult) people in Springfield identify him. Or, we could chalk it up to what he said in the latest episode: "See, this is why I don't talk very much."

Greg Bair

Drunk and full of pie, Greg Bair wrote:

Of course, it's completely false. It's a stereotype, and that's what "The Simpsons" mocks. It always has.

Warning: the following may offend some people, who get pissed whenever the subject of race comes up (not the author of this comment, I'm just making a general point at this stage of the discussion--I haven't been offended by anything here, and I don't think anyone else has either). Just a quick disclaimer for the easily offended... And hey, I'm half Chinese, so don't I get some leeway here? ;)

I agree completely--there's some question as to whether or not rap/hip hop would be economically viable if it only relied on young black customers. I don't personally listen to it, but I have nothing against it. (I'm more of a reggae/jazz/classical/80s pop/electronica man... Keepin' it real...)

I don't think it's racist, or connected to racism, aside from uptight executives who are afraid to say the word "black". There are two quotes that cover this subject well... Unfortunately I don't have the sources available right now, but I'll try to capture the spirit if not the exact text:

The first is from Spider Robinson, author of the great Callahan's novels. A weird character (aren't they all?) called a cluricaune goes off on a rant about the word black, and how it means the absence of color, and why on earth would such a word be used to describe the most colorful people on the planet? He then goes on to list a couple of dozen different shades of brown... It's pretty cool.

The second is from George Carlin, who had a rant about the "black accent". He suggested a situation in which you take six black guys and six uptight white guys and stick them in a room for two weeks. When they come out, are the black guys going to sound like uptight white guys? Hell no... The white guys are going to sound black, because they've been entranced by the beauty and lyrical nature of the accent. (It's really quite funny, I'm not doing it justice.)

I've always felt that the black characters on the Simpsons were pretty underdeveloped... There's Dr. Hibbert, who's a straight parody of Bill Cosby's "Cliff Huxtable" (and the rest of his family fills out the TV Huxtable family). Carl is, as many have pointed out, the Tweedledee to Lenny's Tweedledum, pretty much interchangeable. One wonders what it would be like to exchange their dialogue...

What other black Simpsons characters have there been? There's Janey (Janie? Lisa's sometimes friend), but she's never been prominently featured. One of Nelson Muntz's cronies was black in "Bart the General". There are a couple of black students at SES who don't have speaking roles. Smithers was black in one episode (an inking mistake). Several baseball players in the "Homer at the Bat" episode were based on real-life black athletes... I can't think of any others at the moment. (Lousy cheap vodka... I should have *no* memory at this point.) Wasn't one of Bart's "long lost triplets" a rasta?

The exception, of course, is Bleeding Gums Murphy, who was one cool cat, but was unfortunately killed off pretty early in the show. Damn them!

   Cheers,
      Shi Bao Nai

Drunk and full of pie, Shi Bao Nai wrote:

This happens with Homer in the last episode; Bart says Homer keeps yelling that "whitey" is keeping him down.

Shi Bao Nai wrote:

Hee hee. What a hippie. :) So well-meaning; so pedantic.

And Lucius Sweet and Drederick Tatum; Gary the nerd from the three nerds from college; Sideshow Rahim; and Lou the cop.

Greg Bair wrote:

Exactly.

When Carl said "I'm an urban Lenny" he meant it in the sense that network executives use it as a euphemism for "black." It has nothing to do with where he lives.

That's the joke.

No you moron, we're not saying that or making that judgement, its a joke on how the tv networks do so and use that terminology. In their language, an urban sitcom is not one that takes place in a downtown area, its one such as Moesha. Of all people to be offended by this conversation though, it should not be a white guy from the city, damn...

Langdon Alger wrote:

Exactly.

When Carl says "I'm an urban Lenny" he means "urban" in the sense that network executives use it to mean "black"--it has nothing to do with where he lives.

That's the joke.

He says he's an "urban Lenny" which sounds like Urban Legend.

That's the joke.

No its a joke on Carl being black, what the hell does urban legend have to do with anything

Everybody talks about urban legends today. If they are trying to make fun of Carl/Karl for being black, they need to take the show off the air and that's not the joke.

No their not making fun of Carl being black, their making fun of Television demogaphics. "Urban" is a demographic, or another way of networks saying "more black people watch this show". Call that racism if you want but blame TV networks, the Simpsons are only making a joke and commenting on reality, not advocating it.

Shi Bao Nai wrote:

I believe his post was "I'm an urban Lenny" and the "What?" was just his signature. His e-mail address is "stoneco" and "What?" is the current catchphrase of wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

I guess they need to "rastafy him by ten percent" or so before people get it.

Wiggity wiggity wack!