Comedy as power. . .

[annabanana]

I am never comfortable with comedy when it is used as a "dogpile" on someone who is not in a position to fight back. There is such a thing as "oppressor comedy", and the movie Norbit is one example. People who are already marginalized by society, and not treated with dignity in the public sphere are here subjected to further humiliation.
Making fun of the powerful is a defense mechanism, and a very effective one (witness the Daily Show & Colbert Report). No one can argue that the Administration is without recourse, which also makes comedy a dangerous profession for those tweaking the beast.

I don't think oppressor comedy is particularly funny, myself. (My sympathies are with the Geico Caveman)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. "Comedy" mocking the powerless,

or worse yet, reinforcing negative stereotypes about groups, is mean and disgusting to me. I have read old books from the 1930s and '40s that had "jokes" about blacks, Jews, gays, and women that simply reinforced stereotypes about them--I felt like I was reading filth.

[Edweird]

2. I thought Norbit was just another excuse for Eddie Murphy

to prance around in womens clothing. It doesn't look the least bit entertaining or funny.